Viet- Goddamn! -Nam!

[Souplex]

Speaking as a person who has never owned any contemporary-ish shooters but has still played them briefly, I have come across an interesting question; can a successful, worth playing Vietnam war game be made? My friends came to the conclusion that it would have to pull the Saving private Ryan *I never saw it but everyone knows the gist of it* war is hell what were we doing type plot and if you dealt with the stuff involving the French the Japanese the brief civil war and all that other stuff I was not caffeinated enough to absorb in history class.

Gameplay wise it would allow for a guerilla warfare, limited ammo type experience that might be interesting.

That said gimme' your two cents.

 

[quiet_samurai]

God Dammit Walter what the fuck does anything have to do with Vietnam!?!?

 

[Flying-Emu]

I was just thinking this today. Why the HELL hasn't there been a Vietnam shooter? It's the perfect setting for a new style of gameplay! Combining military shooter with stealth gameplay equals Guerilla warfare. How awesome would that be? Setting an ambush rather than BEING ambushed!

But it'll never happen. Ever. Unless they made it an alternate reality where the U.S. WON in Vietnam.

Oh, and Nixon would have to be a playable character. Just for shits and giggles.

 

[TaborMallory]

There's no difference between Vietnam War games and World War games except for the timeline, enemies, and weapons.

So basically it boils down to whether or not you can stomach another war game.

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

Shellshock? I have no idea if its good but its a Vietnam game.. and Tunnel Rats.

 

[YuheJi]

Battlefield Vietnam was pretty good (IMO of course). I liked the different weapons and vehicles, and the music you can play while on the vehicles.

 

[RyQ_TMC]

Why no Viet War games? (A) "The good guys" (i.e. people who make English-language movies) lost that conflict. (B) It just wouldn't be too marketable outside of the US, losing to WW2 with its "world" part.

Well, there were actually a few Nam games. "Lost Patrol", "Shellshock" and "Platoon" I can name off the top of my head. The first one was the only good one. And it wasn't a shooter.

 

[zoozilla]

There's no difference between Vietnam War games and World War games except for the timeline and the enemies.

So basically it boils down to whether or not you can stomach another war game.

Yeah, I think a Vietnam war game would be quite similar to some of the jungle levels in World at War.

Although I think a Vietnam game would be expected to have some sort of heavy, morally grey theme that WWII games don't need to bother with.

 

[Souplex]

God Dammit Walter what the fuck does anything have to do with Vietnam!?!?

I was born in 91' and as such don't get your references, humor me please.

 

[Psypherus]

Whether they can pull it off or not, I doubt any American game company will try to recreate an illegal war which they lost.

 

[SilentHunter7]

Because the majority of Vietnam was spent either slogging though the jungle, dodging hit and run attacks and not being able to fight back for political reasons, being forced to kill women and children being used as human shields, or being ordered to give up territory you lost half your men trying to capture. Try to make THAT into an entertaining game experience.

 

[quiet_samurai]

God Dammit Walter what the fuck does anything have to do with Vietnam!?!?

I was born in 91' and as such don't get your references, humor me please.

Ah, a youngling. Watch the movie The Big Lebowski and your confusion will evaporate completely.

 

[The Madman]

Vietcong was buggy as hell on release but otherwise was generally praised by the community as the best Vietnam game out there once some patches and mods had fixed the thing up.

That said there isn't much of a market for Vietnam games. World War 2 was popular because not only were the sides clearly defined, but because it was the shinning moment in many peoples history; The English, the Americans and the commonwealth nations primarily. It's when the good guys came in, kicked ass, and were praised as hero!

Vietnam.... not so much... things don't just get morally gray when that wars involved, they get downright *nasty*.

 

[YuheJi]

There's no difference between Vietnam War games and World War games except for the timeline and the enemies.

So basically it boils down to whether or not you can stomach another war game.

Aren't the guns, vehicles, and tactics all different? The US Army started using the M16, and AK47s obviously became popular. Not to mention the gunboats, villages, and helicopters that also came to define Vietnam. (Battlefield Vietnam has this!)

 

[Fallswhale]

God Dammit Walter what the fuck does anything have to do with Vietnam!?!?

I was born in 91' and as such don't get your references, humor me please.

Strangely enough the movie takes place during the year of your birth...
You being 18 you might even get some of the humor [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/]

 

[TaborMallory]

There's no difference between Vietnam War games and World War games except for the timeline, enemies, and weapons.

So basically it boils down to whether or not you can stomach another war game.

Aren't the guns, vehicles, and tactics all different? The US Army started using the M16, and AK47s obviously became popular. Not to mention the gunboats, villages, and helicopters that also came to define Vietnam. (Battlefield Vietnam has this!)

EDIT: oops.

 

[cirkux]

The first Vietcong is still the best Vietnam shooter so far and still has a dedicated online following. Check out the servers at 6thsense.eu for some structured teamplay gaming. The second VC however was a disaster.

 

[Naeo]

For it to be good you'd have to be able to switch the radios to Robin Williams' station. Otherwise there won't be a damn thing about it I can't get elsewhere.

(cheers if you get it)

 

[Psypherus]

Whether they can pull it off or not, I doubt any American game company will try to recreate an illegal war which they lost.

War is never illegal, just wrong depending on the cirumstances.

Why don't you look up Military law and then tell me the war was not illegal dumbass

 

[RavingLibDem]

God Dammit Walter what the fuck does anything have to do with Vietnam!?!?

god damn, I came to this thread wanting to make that exact same comment!

anyway, yeah, game idea sounds cool, but most ideas can be good, its all in the execution