Elite Warriors: Vietnam is a first- and third-person shooter war-based video game. This game was developed by nFusion and published by Bold Games in 2005 for Windows. Elite Warriors: Vietnam sheds light on a little-known unit of soldiers that were specially trained for squad-based combat behind enemy lines. Called the SOG, they were feared by the Cong who in turn trained teams to counter the SOG units. These elite warriors deserve recognition, but this game does little to promote them properly. The real question is whether or not this game is worth investing in. Let’s take a look.
Elite Warriors: Vietnam Gameplay
At first, the player would suspect that EWV is a shooter. It is but that’s only half of the story. Plan to spend a lot of time with the interface. Players will have some RTS elements to grapple with, but the least of them is strategy. There may be a lot of choices to make in this game but there’s not a lot of ways to deal with them when things go bad.
Waypoints are chosen for each mission. The unit moves up the map not unlike a board game. You’re informed of your progress, good and bad, with little to do other than see what other random surprises awaits.
Commands Made Easy
Commands are relatively straightforward. Players can select each character and arm them with various weapons such as a knife, sniper rifle and semi-automatic. Enemy AIs often give themselves away as you can hear them firing in the distance. As long as characters don’t leave the topographical map, they’ll find them very easy to defeat. All the players will have to do is keep firing into their nest from a long distance. They won’t even know what hit them as they are unaware of the characters presence until you cross that scripted trigger.
Missions are rated on time, effectiveness and damage received. To make the unit more effective, take a rest but at the expense of a good time score. Characters will also be more vulnerable to attack. Players can also choose to go through the mission in half-time or double time but the faster you go the bigger the risk. The risks don’t seem to be consistent, and all bets are off when the character leaves the map, and the enemy becomes incredibly aggressive. If a player calls for an emergency extraction, they’ll automatically end the mission.
Last Thoughts
With insects buzzing, birds singing and tribal drums beating the soundtrack is a little more reminiscent of Africa than Vietnam. The radio chatter helps keep it real and reminds the player that they are in a war and not on a safari. The guns’ sounds are good though they sound a little subdued. The voice acting is too serious and monotone. Graphically it’s pretty decent but there are a lot of areas that the player can’t interact with thanks to invisible walls that force the character to stay on the chosen path. All in all, this game is lacking in a few departments and is at best worth a few days rental.