LOS-Vietnam [old review found]

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dosraider
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LOS-Vietnam [old review found]

Post by dosraider »

and found another ol'one I wrote .....
Line Of Sight: Vietnam

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Publisher: Infogrames Inc.
Developer: nFusion Interactive LLC
Platform: Windows 95 and better
Released: 05 march 2003.
Genre: Action, War, Historical, Tactical shooter.
Player view: First person, third person.
Multiplayer: Internet, LAN, up to 32 players, DM, CTF, COOP.
Single player: full.
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ESRB: 17+ Mature, blood and violence.
PEGI: 16+
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System requirements:
800 MHz
RAM 256 MB
Video: 32 MB
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http://www.n-fusion.com/nFusion/vietnam.html
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This is the third war game developed by nFusion using the their game engine. Some improvements make this release the graphical better one, the first two war related games were the two Deadly Dozen ones. This is a pretty good game engine; the only three flaws are the enemy AI, the view dept and surroundings interacting. You could state that the enemies aren't very clever. They duck and jump around to find some cover, but they lack at least a bit of common sense, sometimes the kamikaze behavior of the Vietcong isn't improving the gameplay.
The second mentioned flaw is the dept of view, better said the lacking of view dept. They have employed an old trick: to improve the nearby graphical details without demanding a high-end PC they mask the details at greater distance in fog. The nearby details are really good looking, every raindrop splashing into the soil, the detailed close surroundings and plants, the furniture in the villages.
The third flaw is the lack of interacting with the scenery, you can shoot what you want you can't lay a tree down or cut some vegetation. The only destructible items are some furniture in the villages or the scripted target interactions.
Great advantage is of course that you can play this game fluid in let say 800x600 resolution on a P3/800 with a 32 MB video card. On a newer PC the eternal distant fog looks a bit weird in a 2003 release, of course it also means that more people can play this game and more gamers who are hosting_joining on the multiplayer scene.

The story? Not much to tell, you are a green barret, second tour of duty in Vietnam, so you aren't a rookie who needs his mammy. The game is about rescue, escape, elimination, destroying, and the usual stuff. Missions are in daylight or spooky nightmissions. If you never have heard of the Vietnam conflict it is time you get back to school or go to the movies.

The gameplay in single player is pretty good. A good thing are the difficulty settings, you have a choice between the always present easy, medium and hard setting but also you can play it in arcade or realistic mode.
The arcade mode makes it really an arcade shoot-em-up, go in and shoot, you can take a lot of direct hits before dying, and the enemy needs only one or two good aimed hits to hit the dirt. You finish every mission in less than 15 minutes.
In realistic mode combined with the hard setting you can only take a couple of direct hits and die. Get caught, as an idiot in crossfire and you are dead. Stumble as an uncouth over a wired trip mine and you are dead. Things are more balanced that way and gives the game a really interesting gameplay. You will have to crawl a lot and sneak around, taking the Vietcong by surprise, even do silent killings with your knife: the game becomes a pretty good tactical wargame. You also need to spend a lot more time to finish a mission. Carefully sneak, crawl and playing this game tactical in hard and realistic mode is a must, and also the advisable way to play this game. Nothing beats a challenging game mode, the easy arcade setting is to be considerate as an extra tutorial, nothing more.

Multiplayer can be achieved via gamespy or via own-hosted games, dedicated hosting server possibility is included and runs steady, without demanding a super fast internet connection. All game variations regarding hardness setting of the game and game style are present. Friendly fire or not, enemy respawning or not, item availability, more whatnot's.
To enjoy LOS_Vietnam fully you should play the game with some mates. Multiplayer is really good, again try to avoid the easy setting combined with the arcade mode. Play it hard and realistic in COOP, cover eachother, help eachother with ammo, weapons, share medipacks and items, plan your inventory, it is needless to carry four or five radio sets, one set is enough, better take more medipacks or grenades. If you expect a COOP a la Serious Sam you will be disappointed, this is a serious game in the hard settings, and you will need to play this game tactical and with full concentration to accomplish the mission goals.
The obligate DM or CTF multiplayer mode is also present, you will not get info about them from me, I dislike those in any game, so write your own remarks regarding those.

Time to conclude this review and set the score for Line Of Sight: Vietnam.

The good:
Doesn't demand a high end PC to run smoothly.
Good graphics and detailed in closer view range.
Full game in single player.
Really good tactical COOP in hard and realistic setting.

The bad:
Everlasting reduced dept view towards a foggy horizon.
Arcade mode makes it an uninteresting arcade hall shooter.
Barely any interaction with surroundings.
The enemy AI (lack of it).

Conclusion:
Enjoyable Vietnam war game, some flaws, good COOP multiplayer gameplay.

Replayability:
Is the single player not really a game you will replay the same month that you finished it, on the other hand the multiplayer has a great replay value.

Gameplay: B+
Story: B
Tech details: B
All round: B+


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wardrich wrote:The contrasts in personalities will deliver some SERIOUS lulz. I can't wait.
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