I actually played this game with my Vietnam vet grandfather back in the day, who actually introduced me to video games as a whole. We were very close. He lost an arm & a leg during the war but it never stopped him from spending time with his grandkids, and in the late 1990s--early 2000s, we were big into video games. He learned how to hold a N64 controller and play Mario Kart 64 despite his handicap. I got Vietcong when I was 7~8 years old and it used to scare the hell out of me; the sound design is very, very good and the bullets will snap over your head. My grandad would sit with me and, every time I would get shot, he'd say something like "You're not shot in real life, get after him!" He wound up beating the game (on Easy, mind you) before I did. He would move with his one hand, stop, then move the mouse to shoot. He hated the tunnel missions because it was so easy to get turned around and lost. He passed in 2014. Watching him play and playing Vietcong with him is one of my core memories growing up. I miss him dearly.
@@mitchlovesgames7281 It did. He and my grandmother had separate bedrooms and I never understood why until I was older. But he was Superman. He held a job with the IRS for 30 years as a collector and, instead of carrying a gun as per the standard, he carried dog treats. His wounds, mental and physical, never got in the way of who he was as a man.
@@blazinsaddles19 Thats a great story man. I grew up idolizing my grandpa as well. Im glad yours lived a full life given the circumstances he dealt with.
Something I have always loved about this game, which I have never seen anyone talk about anywhere. On the first mission when you arrive at the base, if you stand still in the open looking at your map for too long, you will get killed by a VC sniper
As someone who played this game for years and was arguably one of the best in the world in the mid 2000s (i met a couple guys in ladder tournaments who were good competition but it was rare), this game is near and dear to me. I made lifelong friends and attended weddings, all because of the games I played there. The things I loved about this game would make most FPS players today go nuts. Because as challenging as it might feel navigating without radar against the AI, the PVP was on a whole other level. It was one of the few games anywhere that things like cover, cammo, and fields of fire really mattered in - especially in those days. I would argue that while many FPS games today feel faster paced, players accustomed to name tags, radars, hit indicators, and aiming reticles, would find themselves completely torn to shreds and outmatched by a team of experienced Vietcong players. Sadly, the sequel was such a letdown that this franchise wasn't able to get off the ground. But the original will always be a masterpiece in my eyes.
@cycomiles4225 it's been a long time, but I was in 100% clan. We competed on a ladder that was third party off some website that one of the other guys signed us up for. It's been too long so I've forgotten the name of it.
I got it in November 2003 and it quickly became my favorite game for many years. It's so nice to see people talk about this game so many years later. :)
Bro. Multiplayer was fucking incredible. I genuinely feel sorry for you that you can never experience that remington 870 just blowin someone way in multiplayer. The maps were so fun. Had lots of vertical depth. Just super fun.
i think it was around 2009-2011 when there were multiplayers servers and they were full (like in TF2). It felt more engaging then in the new CoD games. Sadly i can't even run the game on newer OS
It was. Im hrco from 420 greens clan and later from nGG clan (we migrated to 1.6 version). Still the best shooter expirience to date. I played from 2007-2013 (the game was dying and we moved to BF3) Online was so much fun and hardcore, 2-3 bullets and you are a dead, throwing grenades was an art form in itself and the maps were perfect. Coop servers with realistic rules were also mindblowing.
There's a Czech game studio called Ingame Studios, which is wotkin' on a brand new game from Vietnam so maybe it's gonna be somethin' like Vietcong (the lead designer of that new game is Jarek Kolář - he was also workin' on Vietcong) :)
Onya for covering this game ya little ANZAC! It captures the firearms so well in terms of their impact, sound and weapon-sight use. The maps and mission variety was great and it's a real shame there wasn't a worthy successor to this gem. The closest substitute to Vietcong on modern systems is a mod on ARMA3 which is awesome, not perfect... but captures the best of the game for the most part. Great review Tantwo! If we're lucky GOG will find a way to acquire the rights to run and offer Vietcong on modern systems, if we're very, very lucky someone will do a remake/remaster.
Vietcong is a classic. This game was absolutely unforgiving and would probably be very frustrating for modern "spoiled" gamers. You could have died suddenly by stepping into a trap, enemies were extremely hard to see etc... The only way to survive was to go extremely slowly forward, hide behind every rock and tree etc... (as in real life). But it was very rewarding when done right and felt pretty realistic. The graphics was nothing special even back then. The game was made by a small Czech studio and it used and in-house engine ("Ptero-Engine"). But it was functional. The jungle scenery was very atmospheric. Overall the atmosphere in this game was amazing. Also this game had pretty dedicated online / pro-gaming scene back then. Unfortunately it seems that proper widescreen support and FOV setup is impossible in this game which makes it very inconvenient to play these days. This game would deserve a proper remaster.
first vietcong suffered terribly from 2 reasons: 1. cheater AI that sees through bushes and hears you walking, despite making no sound themselves 2. shitty sound engine, which makes it impossible to detect threat (distance and angle) by sound...while VCs hide in bushes they can see through beating it on max difficulty is definitely an "experience", but outside from that it has a good gameplay
played multiplayer from 2011 to 2017, it was super fun especially for me bc i was a kid at the time and couldnt afford a good pc, but the community was really strong in those servers. youd play custom made maps, jumping maps, coop, ctf. oh the one with the 4 glass buildings. i had so much fun. this game was really ahead of its time with all the modding and multiplayer modes. all in all, ive had more fun w this game than any other fps game ive played since, and yes i mean that.
Why no one is making "tactical", story driven, squad commanding shooters anymore? Vietcong, SWAT 4, and even Republic Commando were one of the best games of the 2000s
Thank you so much for making these memories alive again. I loved vietcong! It was such a revolutionary game! I think it was the first time, when the game plays this heartbeat, when you are under fire. With headphones you got so sucked in, in this atmospehre of vietnam war. In the tunnels i almost shit my pants, back then. And vietcong2 was such a great game again. I even had about 3 years a coop-multiplayer server running. About 15GB custom maps. It was a really a great time.
Oh yeah.. I used to own people in MP at Halong Port. Well, it was 2003 then. Now I do not even play MP games cause the lack of time.. - What a good game and what memories... :)
Dude, this game is severely under-rated and what I believe to be WAY ahead of its time! Such an immersive experience. I hope they remake this proper GEM! What a game.
The fact that you have to use your muzzle flash and tracers to shoot at night is such a good detail cause that’s actually how they had to shoot at night. I think it was John Stryker Meyer that was on a podcast and said that but I could be wrong.
My favourite FPS of all time. Immersive, historically accurate, hard and with strong multiplayer modes. I spent thousands of hours of this game. I wish they could release a remake/remaster to bring back more players on it.
I used to play the multi-player all the time as a young lad. My favorite was the long range bolt action rifle and finding ways to glitch out of the maps or climb where you shouldn't be lol. Good memories
Still ahead of it's time than some games today. Save game feature incorporated in actual gameplay was brilliant. Squad dynamic in general really enjoyable with having time back at the base too. Hand help map likewise well done, very few games done it since. Could call artillery on it too. The patrol option with pointman in lead was very well done & immersive. Sound & atmosphere great. When I look at games like this from 20 years ago, I scratch my head what happened. They had 5% of the graphics we have today, but still managed to immerse you more somehow
Multiplayer was amazing as well. CTF (theres other modes, but this was mostly played), coop and I competed in ESL with a clan. I still cant find a shooter that comes close to it. No health regen, bullets absolutely punish you, 1 headshot=death, throwing grenades properly was a required skill...it was such a great FPS.
I went to EB Games back when Conflict: Vietnam came out. My brother and I were kids, and my dad got it for us because he liked Back to Baghdad and wanted to play C:V with us. We got home, opened the used copy we bought, and it contained Vietcong: Purple Haze. Going back to the store, my brother went in alone to be quick and was laughed away from the counter. "You probably mixed them up, kid." So my dad goes in and tears the guy up verbally and we got C:V. But yeah I got to play Purple Haze a bit and eventually the first one. These games are shamefully underrated. Some of the reviews from the time are blatant sabotage and don't even speak of the game itself, talking about anticipation of another unrelated title.
I played this way back during my early college years. I was enraptured by it, not the least reason being I've studied a decent chunk of Vietnam War-era history and am somewhat knowledgeable of the gear, tactics, etc., along with the social aspects, etc. The multiplier was stellar. Nothing quite like it back then. Matches were huge and could go on for an hour at a time with players coming and going; the game had an auto-balance mechanic so if teams got too far out of balance, on the next player's death they would get swapped to the other team. The atmosphere was top-notch and really sold the experience. From the ambient sound (as you aptly made good example of), to gunfire, distant explosions, etc., to the hazy fog and use of color, etc., they just nailed it. Stupendously claustrophobic at times, which made the few scenes with open vistas even more gratifying. IIRC the developers did a lot of research on the weapons and took the time to do their own sound samples and handling of many of the period firearms. They honestly did a great job in that way. IMO it was really only missing a couple oddball guns, like the CAR-15, etc. But really given context of gameplay that's almost irrelevant. Yeah the facial animations and voice acting were pretty rough at times, but the feeling and spirit still got across IMO. Some of the language was pretty 'offensive' to people even back then, but many forget both then and now that media, games, shows, etc. aren't *just* for entertainment, they're meant also as commentary, and Vietcong was very much a sort of pseudo-documentary. The game has satire: to the perceptive, they'll notice there is a commentary going on: should the 'good' guys really be calling people those sorts of slurs? Anyway, glad to see some recent coverage of the game.
Loved this game, played Fist Alpha too, the online community created tons of cool maps for the multiplayer. In Fist Alpha you can also deploy bayonets. Probably one of the first game where you have to loot the singles magazines from dead body of VC.
THIS GAME SLAPS SO HARD !!! This game should be played on the hardest difficulty. Funny thing your game has no gore or blood whatsoever but I remember it beeing pretty gory
I beat this for the first time recently, and I have to say it is the Stalker of military sims and is in my top 20 games of all time. Top notch atmosphere and level design. The terrains are gorgeous for a game from 2003. I've been to Vietnam several times and this game completely captures the spirit and aesthetic of the country. Patrolling with your squad through the dense jungle, being lead by a Vietnamese interpreter, watching out for booby traps and ambushes...it's done almost perfectly well. Not a single vietnam war game compares to Vietcong, it's on its own island of greatness.
I got this game when it came out and got stuck in the tunnels till I realized I had a flashlight lol. I was throwing glow sticks and getting shot. It was scary!
@@Billyd4Reellol nbk be having multiple full servers of 50 players, never had I say anything bout how good they were. I’m not sure I can say that bout RS clan
I played this from release until about 2010 and found it captivating! Used to play for like 100 hours a week online with the Clan I was in - Lone Fighting Wolves - had some fantastic multiplayer games lasting hours....
My son and I were 2 of the top ranked Vietcong multiplayer gamers in the "world" for many years. We started a clan with some buddies called Ruthless Soldiers. I was [RS]Hannibal and my son was [RS]Cannibal. That game was a blast.
This game rates as some of the most intense online firefights for me. It was brutal and unforgiving. The hill map was just insane and soul-destroying. It has been a long time since I have had a similar experience. Probably red orchestra 2 comes the closest and tarkov.
@@TantwoIts a cult classic. Lots of Czechs in the multiplayer. The gane sold over 1 million copies, which for a European country that just recently got out of communism is a major succes. The game was and is epic, too bad gamespy went down.
i know a little bit about the weapons used in Vietnam not an expert at all but i think the weapon are pretty accurate those weapon where indeed used during the Vietnam war props to the developper actuly showing lesser know weapon used in the conflict
Reviewed the game myself not too long ago and came across this video. Great review! Really well done and straight to the point. I have no experience with multiplayer, but the campaign, the skirmish and the Fist Alpha expansion all make for a great time! Its also really funny to see you play on easy and just Quake-ing your way through it. XD PS: Damn, the english VA is bad.
4:30 I noticed some VC would charge, then go prone. Then another line would charge, go prone, then a 3rd line would charge and they'd all stand up and run at me at once. Noticed that on the first level and was fairly impressed. Not sure if that was just.... randomly how it worked out or if it's an actual behavior programmed. I dug it though. Game is so janky on Xbox though. Aiming is.... tough.
Always be using the point man. He's useful as hell and you don't get surprised so often by the enemy. Playing this like a COD game is not recommended so as a person who has played quite a lot of tactical shooters this was a good experience. Then again there were some tough situations to get through.
The game also discourages run-and-gunning in difficulties above Easy, because any damage you take strips a little bit of your max health away from the remainder of the mission, putting a red segment of increasing size at the top of the healthbar whenever you get healed.
Is there any way you can play this now a days? I remember you could "open it with an older version of windows" but i dont think thats possible anymore. Is there a way i could play this classic game again on a modern PC/Mac?
Having played the game relatively recently I can confirm that it has a great atmosphere. You *know* the enemy is there but you can never really tell where until you're dead. Sadly for me I could only beat it using an extremely crappy laptop and the frequent slideshow periods didn't have a positive effect on the immersion. (Any time when more than 3 characters were shooting at the same time it would freeze) The main tunnel mission is a serious brainfuck. After you reach some point there are multiple paths you can take, and all of them except for one take you to the beggining of that 'sublevel'. And yes, there are traps in the tunnels aswell. Also, to me, the Czech dubbed version seems a lot better than the English one.
Played the crap out of this around 2007. Such nostalgia. Wish I could have tried its multiplayer, too. I remember exploring the multiplayer maps and thinking how cool it would have been to play with other people, but I never got the chance.
The graphics stands up well for a game from 2004! Look at the jungle, the design of the map (bridge, training ground, pillbox/sentry post guarding the road, etc). I remember when I saw the screenshots of this game in local PC game magazine back then, when I was a kid. And the developer put so many research on this game as you show it: the weapons are historically accurate, small details like trap signs, booby traps, etx
I used to spend many many hours playing this online with friends as a kid. Still my favourite online experience with a surprisingly atmospheric single player campaign too. If I were to build another pc (I long since gave up on pc gaming) it would be just to play the best version of this game again. Fist Alpha was a great add-on also, m14, svt 40 or pps 43 were spot on.
I have this game and the Purple Haze expansion pack, and I played them so much when I was a kid. I even bothered to get the things running on Windows 10 a couple years back to play for nostalgia's sake and man I should probably do so again soon.
I’m honestly surprised we haven’t gotten many video games set in the Vietnam war in the last couple generations of gaming. CoD Black Ops and it’s latest reboots have some levels set in Vietnam but not exclusively.
I remember playing this game with my dad, The gore wounds, aim down sight, everything is good in this game, I prefer Vietcong 1 over Vietcong 2, Vietcong 2 is kinda downgraded imo
If you play this on the hardest difficulty, you'll understand why the AI move so slow. its seriously hard, you have to stay in cover alot and peak real quick.
yeah I can imagine, I was trying to rush the game slightly so I could make a video on it, but i'll replay it on the hardest to get that true Vietnam experience
I remember playing this on release... And I remember that at the time, it was pretty much pioneering the ADS system. It was the first shooter I ever played online as well, it was a really great multiplayer.
I remember this game so much, the damn tunnel rats missions scared the living shit out of me as a kid. And the multi-player coop and custom coop maps was awesome, I sank over 800 hours into this game before it faded away. Vietcong 2 was also awesome, but didn't really go all the way. I wish 2k would revamp the series
I don't know exactly how accurate the weapon selection was, but they did put some effort in. Like the M16 doesn't show up until it's historically appropriate. Games at this point did have ADS. VC just did it weird.
i remember using the hack for unlimited ammo in the underground missions, because i couldn't just make the sticks glow, but also drop them on the floor
I got Purple Haze: Vietcong for Xbox from Blockbuster back when I was like about 7 or 8? All the other kids had the new Xbox 360 by then and I was still playing OG Games haha
This was amongs the very first games that I have played when I was 6 years old, still the best campaign from any Vietnam game, fun fact: it was supposed to be a Rambo game but devs did not get the license. Also for anyone interested do not forget to play First Alpha expansion!
@@Tantwo yeah it's called Fist Alpha (not first, my bad) basically it's a prequel to the main game where Nui Pek is just being built and you play as Douglas, I believe he was mentioned in the first 5 minutes of the main game in the helicopter.
Copy paste from another review: Made it through the main game and its expansion on Vietnam difficulty several times. Great game. For getting through the expansion on Vietnam, an editor I know from the German PC Games magazine sent me a gift! :) Those were good times. I sold my boxed German versions for cheap years ago; the game came out in 2003 but still had DirectX 7 graphics, so for example the water has no shader effect :(. But the gun handling was awesome, I spent hours on the shooting range trying out new weapons: Early in the game, use the Mosin Nagant, it reloads slow, but has a decent zoom and kills with one shot. Later, the MP32, or what its name is fires very fast, and even later, stick to the AK47.
I played this in the late 2000's but it still felt ahead of its time, especially compared to the COD games that were coming out then. This game could use a remaster.
What I did enjoy about this game where some small details you did not have in other FPS games at that time. Aiming over some cover would have your guy use the cover to also rest the gun ontop for more stable shooting. Thats something some modern games get praise for...it is not even something new.
If you want to play Battlefield Vietnam, then there's a Arma 3 mod that has remade alot of the features of the original game, you can even play against bots.
I last played this 18years ago and yet here i am looking only on videos because i dont know where i can play this again. Anyone who has an idea? Please
I was working in another team in the office next to Vietcong team office (I was in Hidden&Dangerous team). It's like eternity already :) After more than 20 years in few other companies I'm working with couple of people from the original Vietcong team today :)
Whaaaat... In all seriousness, both Vietcong and H&D were my childhood games and I'm damn so proud of my fellow countrymen pulling this shit out, none of the modern games I've played, and I've played a lot, were this advanced and deep in their mechanics. Maybe Arma but that's again, Czech 😂 Do you happen to have any insight about why these kind of complex games are not made anymore? Besides soulless cash grabbing?
@@Tantwo Im hrco from 420 greens clan and later from nGG clan (we migrated to 1.6 version). Still the best shooter expirience to date. I played from 2007-2013 (the game was dying and we moved to BF3) Online was so much fun and hardcore, 2-3 bullets and you are a dead, throwing grenades was an art form in itself and the maps were perfect. Coop servers with realistic rules were also mindblowing.
vietcong (hardest difficulty) 3mouths of love-hate releationship.... gamers preparation for an Italian marrige. My personal expyrience... i loved it anyway. It was very realistic and quite GORY btw.
I never played this game but it looks like an awesome experience. It need a remaster, and with no bullshit "current year" censorship. "Oh boohoo, he said Gook", fuck you! That's Nam, baby!
You know, when czech people made this game, they wanted it to look authentic and they made it look like real life. Not like the last cod which was nothing but political bs. Vietcong is the true vietnam based game. AND I LOVE IT.
Vietcong is high on my list of best games I ever played for both single- and multiplayer. Don't try the Vietnam difficulty, near the end there's a bug that prevents you from finishing the game.
I actually played this game with my Vietnam vet grandfather back in the day, who actually introduced me to video games as a whole. We were very close. He lost an arm & a leg during the war but it never stopped him from spending time with his grandkids, and in the late 1990s--early 2000s, we were big into video games. He learned how to hold a N64 controller and play Mario Kart 64 despite his handicap.
I got Vietcong when I was 7~8 years old and it used to scare the hell out of me; the sound design is very, very good and the bullets will snap over your head. My grandad would sit with me and, every time I would get shot, he'd say something like "You're not shot in real life, get after him!"
He wound up beating the game (on Easy, mind you) before I did. He would move with his one hand, stop, then move the mouse to shoot. He hated the tunnel missions because it was so easy to get turned around and lost.
He passed in 2014. Watching him play and playing Vietcong with him is one of my core memories growing up. I miss him dearly.
I wonder if the game was cathartic for him, having seen so much.
@@mitchlovesgames7281 it’s really time to dispel the myth and belief that every fucking vet has PTSD, I’m so tired of dealing with that shit
@@ViktoriousDead The guy lost a fucking arm and a leg, it probably affected him somehow
@@mitchlovesgames7281 It did. He and my grandmother had separate bedrooms and I never understood why until I was older. But he was Superman. He held a job with the IRS for 30 years as a collector and, instead of carrying a gun as per the standard, he carried dog treats.
His wounds, mental and physical, never got in the way of who he was as a man.
@@blazinsaddles19 Thats a great story man. I grew up idolizing my grandpa as well. Im glad yours lived a full life given the circumstances he dealt with.
I am Czech and this game is one of the gems of our gaming industry alongside with Mafia. I hope somoene will remake or remaster this game one day.
I hope so too tbh
I hope so 2 :) I was thinkin' about Bohemia Interactive (if they would buy the ip from Take 2) :) btw I'm also Czech (Czech dubbin' is awesome) :)
You read my mind man... Čteš mi myšlenky kámo... Stará dobrá hra.
The Czechs did Mafia as well!? Damn fine work. The world still owes you thanks for the ZB-26
Vietcong is great. Hope the team finds a studio to remake the game without losing the "Nam" feeling to it.
Something I have always loved about this game, which I have never seen anyone talk about anywhere. On the first mission when you arrive at the base, if you stand still in the open looking at your map for too long, you will get killed by a VC sniper
As someone who played this game for years and was arguably one of the best in the world in the mid 2000s (i met a couple guys in ladder tournaments who were good competition but it was rare), this game is near and dear to me. I made lifelong friends and attended weddings, all because of the games I played there.
The things I loved about this game would make most FPS players today go nuts.
Because as challenging as it might feel navigating without radar against the AI, the PVP was on a whole other level.
It was one of the few games anywhere that things like cover, cammo, and fields of fire really mattered in - especially in those days.
I would argue that while many FPS games today feel faster paced, players accustomed to name tags, radars, hit indicators, and aiming reticles, would find themselves completely torn to shreds and outmatched by a team of experienced Vietcong players.
Sadly, the sequel was such a letdown that this franchise wasn't able to get off the ground. But the original will always be a masterpiece in my eyes.
You were in ladder? Im hrco from nGG clan.
@cycomiles4225 it's been a long time, but I was in 100% clan.
We competed on a ladder that was third party off some website that one of the other guys signed us up for. It's been too long so I've forgotten the name of it.
@@theovernight1915 Oh, we were on ESL
I got it in November 2003 and it quickly became my favorite game for many years. It's so nice to see people talk about this game so many years later. :)
all good, gotta appreciate the past
Bro. Multiplayer was fucking incredible. I genuinely feel sorry for you that you can never experience that remington 870 just blowin someone way in multiplayer. The maps were so fun. Had lots of vertical depth. Just super fun.
it is a shame tbh, when i was growing up we didn't have internet good enough to play online games, I remember playing 2142 with 10fps and 300 ping
@@Tantwo Just played Arma 3 DLC prairie fire. Pretty sweet and reminded me of vietcong
i think it was around 2009-2011 when there were multiplayers servers and they were full (like in TF2). It felt more engaging then in the new CoD games. Sadly i can't even run the game on newer OS
MP was so broken man, you turned off grass and everyone stuck out like a sore thumb. SP was epic though, hardest SP game I ever played.
It was. Im hrco from 420 greens clan and later from nGG clan (we migrated to 1.6 version). Still the best shooter expirience to date. I played from 2007-2013 (the game was dying and we moved to BF3) Online was so much fun and hardcore, 2-3 bullets and you are a dead, throwing grenades was an art form in itself and the maps were perfect. Coop servers with realistic rules were also mindblowing.
vietcong is so gritty, thats why it feels so interesting to play
really captures the atmosphere
GRIDDY?!?
There's a Czech game studio called Ingame Studios, which is wotkin' on a brand new game from Vietnam so maybe it's gonna be somethin' like Vietcong (the lead designer of that new game is Jarek Kolář - he was also workin' on Vietcong) :)
hopefully more information gets released soon
@@Tantwo Hope so 2 :) I believe it's gonna be an awesome game :)
Onya for covering this game ya little ANZAC! It captures the firearms so well in terms of their impact, sound and weapon-sight use. The maps and mission variety was great and it's a real shame there wasn't a worthy successor to this gem.
The closest substitute to Vietcong on modern systems is a mod on ARMA3 which is awesome, not perfect... but captures the best of the game for the most part.
Great review Tantwo! If we're lucky GOG will find a way to acquire the rights to run and offer Vietcong on modern systems, if we're very, very lucky someone will do a remake/remaster.
I don't know why but I really love these 2000's graphics. the way each trees, bush, grass look, and the blue sky....
Loved this and Shellshock Nam '67. Played these a lot as a teenager.
woah u just unlocked a core pc memory
I gotta check out shellshock nam
Shellshock is GOAT of vietnam games
Nam '67 - woah! those were the days!
Vietcong is a classic.
This game was absolutely unforgiving and would probably be very frustrating for modern "spoiled" gamers. You could have died suddenly by stepping into a trap, enemies were extremely hard to see etc... The only way to survive was to go extremely slowly forward, hide behind every rock and tree etc... (as in real life). But it was very rewarding when done right and felt pretty realistic.
The graphics was nothing special even back then. The game was made by a small Czech studio and it used and in-house engine ("Ptero-Engine"). But it was functional. The jungle scenery was very atmospheric. Overall the atmosphere in this game was amazing.
Also this game had pretty dedicated online / pro-gaming scene back then.
Unfortunately it seems that proper widescreen support and FOV setup is impossible in this game which makes it very inconvenient to play these days.
This game would deserve a proper remaster.
first vietcong suffered terribly from 2 reasons:
1. cheater AI that sees through bushes and hears you walking, despite making no sound themselves
2. shitty sound engine, which makes it impossible to detect threat (distance and angle) by sound...while VCs hide in bushes they can see through
beating it on max difficulty is definitely an "experience", but outside from that it has a good gameplay
played multiplayer from 2011 to 2017, it was super fun especially for me bc i was a kid at the time and couldnt afford a good pc, but the community was really strong in those servers. youd play custom made maps, jumping maps, coop, ctf. oh the one with the 4 glass buildings. i had so much fun. this game was really ahead of its time with all the modding and multiplayer modes. all in all, ive had more fun w this game than any other fps game ive played since, and yes i mean that.
I like how the M16 has 18 rounds, since that's how they loaded the 20 round mags due to jamming
Rising Storm 2 Vietnam does the same thing
Why no one is making "tactical", story driven, squad commanding shooters anymore? Vietcong, SWAT 4, and even Republic Commando were one of the best games of the 2000s
yo u missed Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising & Red River
try arma 3 or ready or not
if on console insurgency sandstorm is good
@@kuroiuzu9754 I'm well aware of them, Sandstorm and RoN don't have real campaigns and Arma 3 is just not for me
Is this game that "tactical"
@@kuroiuzu9754 arma 3 is a milsim.
Thank you so much for making these memories alive again. I loved vietcong! It was such a revolutionary game! I think it was the first time, when the game plays this heartbeat, when you are under fire. With headphones you got so sucked in, in this atmospehre of vietnam war. In the tunnels i almost shit my pants, back then.
And vietcong2 was such a great game again. I even had about 3 years a coop-multiplayer server running. About 15GB custom maps. It was a really a great time.
Still the best game ever imo, played it for years. MP was great. Miss it. So much nostalgia.
Oh yeah.. I used to own people in MP at Halong Port. Well, it was 2003 then. Now I do not even play MP games cause the lack of time.. - What a good game and what memories... :)
Yep, me too!
Dude, this game is severely under-rated and what I believe to be WAY ahead of its time! Such an immersive experience. I hope they remake this proper GEM! What a game.
definetly a game that needs a remake, there aren't any narrative driven Vietnam games these days
The fact that you have to use your muzzle flash and tracers to shoot at night is such a good detail cause that’s actually how they had to shoot at night. I think it was John Stryker Meyer that was on a podcast and said that but I could be wrong.
My favourite FPS of all time. Immersive, historically accurate, hard and with strong multiplayer modes. I spent thousands of hours of this game. I wish they could release a remake/remaster to bring back more players on it.
Nice to see you going back and covering some historic games tantwo, in this bright future, you can't forget your past.
it's amazing how far we've come, we don't have any narrative driven Vietnam games these days, btw love ur username
I used to play the multi-player all the time as a young lad. My favorite was the long range bolt action rifle and finding ways to glitch out of the maps or climb where you shouldn't be lol. Good memories
With Czech Dabing is even better , great video.
Thanks!
Still ahead of it's time than some games today. Save game feature incorporated in actual gameplay was brilliant. Squad dynamic in general really enjoyable with having time back at the base too. Hand help map likewise well done, very few games done it since. Could call artillery on it too. The patrol option with pointman in lead was very well done & immersive. Sound & atmosphere great. When I look at games like this from 20 years ago, I scratch my head what happened. They had 5% of the graphics we have today, but still managed to immerse you more somehow
Multiplayer was amazing as well. CTF (theres other modes, but this was mostly played), coop and I competed in ESL with a clan. I still cant find a shooter that comes close to it. No health regen, bullets absolutely punish you, 1 headshot=death, throwing grenades properly was a required skill...it was such a great FPS.
I went to EB Games back when Conflict: Vietnam came out. My brother and I were kids, and my dad got it for us because he liked Back to Baghdad and wanted to play C:V with us.
We got home, opened the used copy we bought, and it contained Vietcong: Purple Haze. Going back to the store, my brother went in alone to be quick and was laughed away from the counter. "You probably mixed them up, kid." So my dad goes in and tears the guy up verbally and we got C:V.
But yeah I got to play Purple Haze a bit and eventually the first one. These games are shamefully underrated. Some of the reviews from the time are blatant sabotage and don't even speak of the game itself, talking about anticipation of another unrelated title.
I played this way back during my early college years. I was enraptured by it, not the least reason being I've studied a decent chunk of Vietnam War-era history and am somewhat knowledgeable of the gear, tactics, etc., along with the social aspects, etc.
The multiplier was stellar. Nothing quite like it back then. Matches were huge and could go on for an hour at a time with players coming and going; the game had an auto-balance mechanic so if teams got too far out of balance, on the next player's death they would get swapped to the other team.
The atmosphere was top-notch and really sold the experience. From the ambient sound (as you aptly made good example of), to gunfire, distant explosions, etc., to the hazy fog and use of color, etc., they just nailed it. Stupendously claustrophobic at times, which made the few scenes with open vistas even more gratifying.
IIRC the developers did a lot of research on the weapons and took the time to do their own sound samples and handling of many of the period firearms. They honestly did a great job in that way. IMO it was really only missing a couple oddball guns, like the CAR-15, etc. But really given context of gameplay that's almost irrelevant.
Yeah the facial animations and voice acting were pretty rough at times, but the feeling and spirit still got across IMO. Some of the language was pretty 'offensive' to people even back then, but many forget both then and now that media, games, shows, etc. aren't *just* for entertainment, they're meant also as commentary, and Vietcong was very much a sort of pseudo-documentary. The game has satire: to the perceptive, they'll notice there is a commentary going on: should the 'good' guys really be calling people those sorts of slurs?
Anyway, glad to see some recent coverage of the game.
The opening theme is a legendary piece of guitar music. I loved it.
always love a good sound track
Loved this game, played Fist Alpha too, the online community created tons of cool maps for the multiplayer. In Fist Alpha you can also deploy bayonets.
Probably one of the first game where you have to loot the singles magazines from dead body of VC.
The Coop used to be so much fun, aunts husband used to host a server almost daily where they played on the highest difficulty
there needs to be more Vietnam games, would love one similar to hell let loose
you might like Burning Lands then
THIS GAME SLAPS SO HARD !!! This game should be played on the hardest difficulty. Funny thing your game has no gore or blood whatsoever but I remember it beeing pretty gory
lol the limbless bodies when grenades went off
I beat this for the first time recently, and I have to say it is the Stalker of military sims and is in my top 20 games of all time. Top notch atmosphere and level design. The terrains are gorgeous for a game from 2003. I've been to Vietnam several times and this game completely captures the spirit and aesthetic of the country. Patrolling with your squad through the dense jungle, being lead by a Vietnamese interpreter, watching out for booby traps and ambushes...it's done almost perfectly well. Not a single vietnam war game compares to Vietcong, it's on its own island of greatness.
Speaking of Czech historical war games, you should try Hidden&Dangerous 2.
i'll be sure to add it to my list of games i gotta play, thank you for the suggestion
@@Tantwo No problem. Hardly anyone covers this gem on RUclips.
I got this game when it came out and got stuck in the tunnels till I realized I had a flashlight lol. I was throwing glow sticks and getting shot. It was scary!
yep....I'm in the exact same boat
@@Tantwo Right! There was a keyboard button for it but it wasn’t an obvious thing to select in the loadout lmao 🤣
You should have seen the how happy 11 years old me got when I figured out the flashlight key😂
If anyone else is having a game, for old times sake, then reply here - if we can get a few then I'd definitely open a server!
Let's do it! I still have all the old disc's
a common joke is that Hawkins is afraid of actually looking down the sights
probably got hit in the eye once due to recoil and he's afraid to repeat the same mistake
@@Tantwo makes sense
If y’all remember seeing NBK’s clan servers on top list, you know what’s up
I do not know what's up but I admire your nostalgia
Nah we whooped NBKs clan folk all the time. Respectfully, [RS]Hannibal
@@Billyd4Reellol nbk be having multiple full servers of 50 players, never had I say anything bout how good they were. I’m not sure I can say that bout RS clan
@@YamahaR6xr NBK had servers later, but we were there!
Remember Greens? nGG ?
I wanna play just to hear that drill sergeant acting sus.
he mentions that he wants to rear end you a lil too much for comfort
I loved this game for the ads which was rare at the time, the foliage and what felt like a realistic shooter compared with other games at the time.
I played this from release until about 2010 and found it captivating! Used to play for like 100 hours a week online with the Clan I was in - Lone Fighting Wolves - had some fantastic multiplayer games lasting hours....
My son and I were 2 of the top ranked Vietcong multiplayer gamers in the "world" for many years. We started a clan with some buddies called Ruthless Soldiers. I was [RS]Hannibal and my son was [RS]Cannibal. That game was a blast.
This game rates as some of the most intense online firefights for me. It was brutal and unforgiving. The hill map was just insane and soul-destroying. It has been a long time since I have had a similar experience. Probably red orchestra 2 comes the closest and tarkov.
Sealed copy of Vietcong was sold for 2000usd last year in czechia.
bruh wtf
@@TantwoIts a cult classic. Lots of Czechs in the multiplayer. The gane sold over 1 million copies, which for a European country that just recently got out of communism is a major succes. The game was and is epic, too bad gamespy went down.
i know a little bit about the weapons used in Vietnam not an expert at all but i think the weapon are pretty accurate those weapon where indeed used during the Vietnam war props to the developper actuly showing lesser know weapon used in the conflict
A fun challenging game. Sounds and atmosphere is fantastic. Good job by these Czech developers for the time.
This channel needs to blow up.
I prayto Susan Wojcicki everyday hoping that it does
Reviewed the game myself not too long ago and came across this video.
Great review! Really well done and straight to the point. I have no experience with multiplayer, but the campaign, the skirmish and the Fist Alpha expansion all make for a great time! Its also really funny to see you play on easy and just Quake-ing your way through it. XD
PS: Damn, the english VA is bad.
4:30 I noticed some VC would charge, then go prone. Then another line would charge, go prone, then a 3rd line would charge and they'd all stand up and run at me at once. Noticed that on the first level and was fairly impressed. Not sure if that was just.... randomly how it worked out or if it's an actual behavior programmed. I dug it though. Game is so janky on Xbox though. Aiming is.... tough.
Always be using the point man. He's useful as hell and you don't get surprised so often by the enemy. Playing this like a COD game is not recommended so as a person who has played quite a lot of tactical shooters this was a good experience. Then again there were some tough situations to get through.
0:45 one of examples of human/animal hybrids. Vietcong used to experiment on human and animal dna but the government doesn't want you to know!
The game also discourages run-and-gunning in difficulties above Easy, because any damage you take strips a little bit of your max health away from the remainder of the mission, putting a red segment of increasing size at the top of the healthbar whenever you get healed.
The very first games I’ve ever played is that Black Hawk Down and a Vietnam War game called Marine Heavy Gunner: Vietnam
Delta Force black hawk down was so much fun, ill check out that Vietnam game
Is there any way you can play this now a days? I remember you could "open it with an older version of windows" but i dont think thats possible anymore. Is there a way i could play this classic game again on a modern PC/Mac?
Having played the game relatively recently I can confirm that it has a great atmosphere. You *know* the enemy is there but you can never really tell where until you're dead.
Sadly for me I could only beat it using an extremely crappy laptop and the frequent slideshow periods didn't have a positive effect on the immersion. (Any time when more than 3 characters were shooting at the same time it would freeze)
The main tunnel mission is a serious brainfuck. After you reach some point there are multiple paths you can take, and all of them except for one take you to the beggining of that 'sublevel'. And yes, there are traps in the tunnels aswell.
Also, to me, the Czech dubbed version seems a lot better than the English one.
Thank you for covering one of my favorite childhood games
it's all good mate
Played the crap out of this around 2007. Such nostalgia. Wish I could have tried its multiplayer, too. I remember exploring the multiplayer maps and thinking how cool it would have been to play with other people, but I never got the chance.
Multiplayer was grand. I was like 14 and got my ass kicked constantly, but it was pure fun! It would be nice to live that again :)
Thank you sir for reviewing my favorite game! That's my childhood right there
no worries mate, was an incredible experience
The graphics stands up well for a game from 2004! Look at the jungle, the design of the map (bridge, training ground, pillbox/sentry post guarding the road, etc). I remember when I saw the screenshots of this game in local PC game magazine back then, when I was a kid. And the developer put so many research on this game as you show it: the weapons are historically accurate, small details like trap signs, booby traps, etx
I used to spend many many hours playing this online with friends as a kid.
Still my favourite online experience with a surprisingly atmospheric single player campaign too.
If I were to build another pc (I long since gave up on pc gaming) it would be just to play the best version of this game again.
Fist Alpha was a great add-on also, m14, svt 40 or pps 43 were spot on.
I have this game and the Purple Haze expansion pack, and I played them so much when I was a kid.
I even bothered to get the things running on Windows 10 a couple years back to play for nostalgia's sake and man I should probably do so again soon.
I’m honestly surprised we haven’t gotten many video games set in the Vietnam war in the last couple generations of gaming. CoD Black Ops and it’s latest reboots have some levels set in Vietnam but not exclusively.
I remember playing this game with my dad,
The gore wounds, aim down sight, everything is good in this game, I prefer Vietcong 1 over Vietcong 2, Vietcong 2 is kinda downgraded imo
Besides multiplayer if i remember, enjoyed the jungle setting in 1 over the urban setting in 2 but i love both ngl
If you play this on the hardest difficulty, you'll understand why the AI move so slow. its seriously hard, you have to stay in cover alot and peak real quick.
yeah I can imagine, I was trying to rush the game slightly so I could make a video on it, but i'll replay it on the hardest to get that true Vietnam experience
I remember playing this on release... And I remember that at the time, it was pretty much pioneering the ADS system.
It was the first shooter I ever played online as well, it was a really great multiplayer.
I remember this game so much, the damn tunnel rats missions scared the living shit out of me as a kid.
And the multi-player coop and custom coop maps was awesome, I sank over 800 hours into this game before it faded away.
Vietcong 2 was also awesome, but didn't really go all the way.
I wish 2k would revamp the series
How did you manage to get the game?
Ive tried downloading it but I didnt have a CD key, is there an emulator?
I still play this game quite regularly as well as it's DLCs
Did you find any open servers for multiplayer?
Everyone who was born after 2000 - has no fkin clue, what we - the greatest gamer generation - had in those glorious days!
I don't know exactly how accurate the weapon selection was, but they did put some effort in. Like the M16 doesn't show up until it's historically appropriate. Games at this point did have ADS. VC just did it weird.
i remember using the hack for unlimited ammo in the underground missions, because i couldn't just make the sticks glow, but also drop them on the floor
I got Purple Haze: Vietcong for Xbox from Blockbuster back when I was like about 7 or 8? All the other kids had the new Xbox 360 by then and I was still playing OG Games haha
no UI when for switching weapons or searching bodies ....and keep your head down....love this game
Love it, and still play to this day. Still my favourite nam game along with sog prairie fire cDLC.
This was amongs the very first games that I have played when I was 6 years old, still the best campaign from any Vietnam game, fun fact: it was supposed to be a Rambo game but devs did not get the license. Also for anyone interested do not forget to play First Alpha expansion!
I will be sure to check out that expansion
@@Tantwo yeah it's called Fist Alpha (not first, my bad) basically it's a prequel to the main game where Nui Pek is just being built and you play as Douglas, I believe he was mentioned in the first 5 minutes of the main game in the helicopter.
This game remastered with the RS2 Engine would be amazing 👌
damn right it would be
I loved Vietcong. It was one of the first multiplayer games I played in earnest.
pretty sure Ingame studios is working on something similiar if you check their website ingamestudios.com/
Copy paste from another review: Made it through the main game and its expansion on Vietnam difficulty several times. Great game. For getting through the expansion on Vietnam, an editor I know from the German PC Games magazine sent me a gift! :) Those were good times.
I sold my boxed German versions for cheap years ago; the game came out in 2003 but still had DirectX 7 graphics, so for example the water has no shader effect :(. But the gun handling was awesome, I spent hours on the shooting range trying out new weapons: Early in the game, use the Mosin Nagant, it reloads slow, but has a decent zoom and kills with one shot. Later, the MP32, or what its name is fires very fast, and even later, stick to the AK47.
I played this in the late 2000's but it still felt ahead of its time, especially compared to the COD games that were coming out then. This game could use a remaster.
Back in the days, ive missed Vietcong and played Line of sight Vietnam, and elite warriors: Vietnam
Damn..Vietcong is such a great game to play.
I remember thinking this looked the nuts when it was released, I loved it!
What I did enjoy about this game where some small details you did not have in other FPS games at that time.
Aiming over some cover would have your guy use the cover to also rest the gun ontop for more stable shooting.
Thats something some modern games get praise for...it is not even something new.
One of my favorite fps game
Very realistic, a lot of background ( weapon history, history etc...)
The expansion fist alpha was very good too
I will be sure to check that out
I loved the game back in the day. Combat was so tense, I think playing it on easy is the worst thing you could do
There is still people playing online everyday! You can even find good coop custom missions with 10/15 players on it
💯💯💯
goes to show you how good the game is
@@Tantwo one of my all time favorites 🙏
Where and what servers?
If you want to play Battlefield Vietnam, then there's a Arma 3 mod that has remade alot of the features of the original game, you can even play against bots.
was looking where to get fist alpha and turns out the whole things an Arma mod lmfao
One of my all time favourites
I last played this 18years ago and yet here i am looking only on videos because i dont know where i can play this again. Anyone who has an idea? Please
I’m in your same boat dude… I’ve been desperate for years looking for an answer
I was working in another team in the office next to Vietcong team office (I was in Hidden&Dangerous team). It's like eternity already :)
After more than 20 years in few other companies I'm working with couple of people from the original Vietcong team today :)
Whaaaat... In all seriousness, both Vietcong and H&D were my childhood games and I'm damn so proud of my fellow countrymen pulling this shit out, none of the modern games I've played, and I've played a lot, were this advanced and deep in their mechanics. Maybe Arma but that's again, Czech 😂 Do you happen to have any insight about why these kind of complex games are not made anymore? Besides soulless cash grabbing?
Yes, Vietcong's multi was solid.
what was it like?
@@Tantwo Enemies pretty well camo'ed and hiding places on the map.
@@Tantwo Im hrco from 420 greens clan and later from nGG clan (we migrated to 1.6 version). Still the best shooter expirience to date. I played from 2007-2013 (the game was dying and we moved to BF3) Online was so much fun and hardcore, 2-3 bullets and you are a dead, throwing grenades was an art form in itself and the maps were perfect. Coop servers with realistic rules were also mindblowing.
I remember playing the coop mode on xbox a lot as a kid. I didn't think anyone else remembered this game.
didn't play it as a kid, but got recommended to play it
vietcong (hardest difficulty) 3mouths of love-hate releationship.... gamers preparation for an Italian marrige. My personal expyrience... i loved it anyway. It was very realistic and quite GORY btw.
I never played this game but it looks like an awesome experience. It need a remaster, and with no bullshit "current year" censorship.
"Oh boohoo, he said Gook", fuck you! That's Nam, baby!
gotta agree hope they remaster it and don't censor it,
You know, when czech people made this game, they wanted it to look authentic and they made it look like real life. Not like the last cod which was nothing but political bs. Vietcong is the true vietnam based game. AND I LOVE IT.
My brothers and I loved Vietcong. We’d take turns on the computer playing when we weren’t playing MOHAA
Please review Vietcong 2 , You are making memories live again
I'm in the process of playing it as I type this
Vietcong is high on my list of best games I ever played for both single- and multiplayer. Don't try the Vietnam difficulty, near the end there's a bug that prevents you from finishing the game.
This game had me at the stooges playing at the main menu. Awesome awesome game.
Lrrps and dog were allowed to use anything in terms of guns, all the ones playable were used
This game deserves a reboot