Vietcong Purple Haze (PC)

By PETER ELEY

(Herald rating: * * * *)

The Vietnam War was a turning point for the US. Despite sending 500,000 men and spending billions of dollars, they lost — or at least didn't win. And that may be the reason games about this conflict took a while to filter through.

But there are a few around now, and the original Vietcong was one of the first. Purple Haze combines this and an expansion pack, Fist Alpha, into one box, representing excellent value in the amount of time it will take to clock.

Vietcong missions were huge, and Fist Alpha adds new maps, new weapons, and fixes some of the bugs of the original.

In the first game you play Sergeant Steve Hawkins, an all-American hero who leads a Special Forces team into enemy territory in the steamy jungles of this southeast Asian country.

For some reason best known to the developers, Sergeant Hawkins' tour of duty seems to have ended for Fist Alpha, and another sergeant, Warren Douglas leads a similar team on similar missions in a similar steamy jungle.

While many of the aspects of these games are generic to similar first-person shooters, this sense of facing danger in almost claustrophobic surroundings adds a touch of realism.

The artificial intelligence is good, and attempts to blast your way out of trouble will invariably see you killed by the hidden enemy, who may be lying in ambush just metres away.

The game came out last year, and the graphics look a bit tired in close-up mode but the depth of the game and its complexity make it challenging. It also has a good multiplayer mode which lets you play from the perspective of a soldier from the People's Republic of North Korea.

It is probably one for seasoned war gamers looking for a different environment from the usual World War II theatres, or the modern-day haunts of terrorism in the Middle East and South America.

And it does have an excellent sound track. The Vietnamese experience may have traumatised America, but the conflict spawned some of the best popular music of last century, a good selection of which features on the game's soundtrack.

Gathering, MA15+


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