Vietcong: Purple Haze
Score: 83% ESRB: Mature Publisher: Gathering Developer: Illusion Softworks Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Squad-Based/ First Person Shooter/ Stealth
Graphics & Sound: What can I say about the graphics of Gathering’s Vietcong: Purple Haze? When compared to its PC counterpart, of course the PS2 version won’t stack up. However, on its own, VPH for PS2 looks quite nice. While attempting to accomplish your missions, looking for cover in the jungle is only a few steps away. The foliage (trees, bushes, etc.) is very well done, and adds to the overall feeling of really being thrust into the middle of the jungles of Vietnam. On the audio front of the, ah, battlefront, Purple Haze takes a trip back to the sixties. Set in 1967, in both body and mind, the music of the game is pure perfection. Added to the cinematic displays through cut-scenes, and the feeling of watching a movie is overwhelming. Of course, no war game would be complete without its share of battle-type explosions, gunfire, and screaming people; in this respect, VPH also delivers.
Gameplay: From the opening intro movie, you’ll be drawn into Vietcong: Purple Haze without even realizing it happened. The presentation and depiction of the 60's through both video and audio immediately takes you back to a day when peace was on so many minds. Unfortunately for many, this also meant the Vietnam Conflict, in which many brave soldiers gave their lives on both sides of the war. In Vietcong: Purple Haze, you take control of a small squad of troops deep in the jungle on reconnaisance missions. It is your job to lead your team on missions of infiltration to perform such tasks as destroying enemy equipment, gathering enemy intelligence, and rescuing POW's from certain death. In order to succeed in your missions, you will have a truckload of weapons at your disposal, both courtesy of homeland U.S. Special Forces, and of the Vietcong enemies that you gun down. The bloody and brutal Vietnam Conflict is brought to the safety of your home, and is recreated fairly well. Using the jungle to your advantage, you’ll have to use your surroundings to hide, crawl, and peek around obstacles to get past the enemy. This is not your typical run-n-gun first person shooter. Instead, taking your time to get the jump on "Charlie," while avoiding booby traps, is essential. And when needed, you can also drop the bomb on the Vietcong, literally, because you’ll be able to call in air strikes too. The only real problem that some may have with the gameplay of Vietcong: Purple Haze is that sometimes the missions can take too long. It’s not necessarily that the goals would take that long, but to truly have the best experience, you have to wait for your unit. You can actually instruct them too, and doing so with the point man will help lead you through the jungle. Just be patient, as it will often be difficult (but not impossible) to do things yourself. The biggest disappointment in Vietcong: Purple Haze is unfortunately for PlayStation 2 owners. VPH is only a single-player game for PS2, unlike its Xbox and PC siblings. While the console versions do have 2 exclusive levels that PC owners won’t see, only the Xbox and PC will enjoy online multiplayer support (10-player on Xbox; 64-player on PC). It’s too bad, because the Quick Fight matches just aren’t that fun when you know it’s a computer-controlled player that you’re aiming at.
Difficulty: Vietcong: Purple Haze has an interesting difficulty to it. Overall, the game really isn’t that hard to get into. If you have patience, you and your unit will not have trouble with most missions. If you try to play Rambo, however, you may be on your own, and without your medic. But even if going straight into the enemy’s territory with your guns blazing is your style, you’ll be able to save at any point in time. This in itself decreases the difficulty of Purple Haze tremendously, and in a way, takes away from the overall feel of the game. Be careful, however, as you will overwrite any previous data every time.
Game Mechanics: As far as the controller setup goes, Vietcong: Purple Haze couldn’t be better. The problem is that aiming is extremely difficult due to the fact that the translation from mouse to analog joystick did not work all that well. It would have been more forgiving if a sensitivity slider would have been included in the options. As a result, pinpointing your target is sometimes next to impossible, especially in a firefight. What’s more, the collision detection of bullets hitting people isn’t quite on, so it is likely that missing the enemy is possible even at close range. Killing an enemy soldier can also be frustrating in that it will often take three shots to take him down. As mentioned above, the PS2 version of Vietcong: Purple Haze does not include any sort of multiplayer (not even split-screen), unlike its Xbox and PC brethren. However, as a single-player game, Purple Haze is a very solid game. While suffering from a few setbacks, the overall experience of infiltrating the enemy through Vietnamese jungles is addictive fun. Fans of war games will likely eat this one up.
-Woody, GameVortex Communications AKA Shane Wodele
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