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ShellShock Nam 67 Review - PS2

When I previewed ShellShock Nam '67, I became very excited about the game and couldn't wait for its supposed July release. Unfortunately the game's release date was pushed back to September, so I was forced to wait a couple of long months more before I could enter the Vietnam War for the first time on the PlayStation 2. Close to and shortly after the game's release, however, some average reviews and poor comments about the game arose. With this I began to lose interest in the game altogether - that is, until I was told to review it. After playing just a few missions I began to wonder if all those reviewers and gamers dishing out bad comments about the game were playing the right game. I'm going to take this opportunity to tell you that ShellShock Nam '67 is definitely not as bad as what you may have heard; in fact, it's one of the best games I've played all year.

ShellShock Nam '67 is no half-hearted attempt at a Vietnam War game; Guerilla Studios has really known what they were doing in developing it. Everything about the game is authentic: the locations, the uniforms, the languages, the atmosphere and the weapons. The game is set in the middle of the war, but loosely focuses upon General Ngo Dinh Diem of the Vietcong. Amidst other tasks, you and the rest of your squad are chasing down Diem, who is terrorising villagers and torturing them in more ways than one, leaving a bloody mess of gore in his path.

Gameplay

You begin the game by selecting one of three new recruits in the United States Army to play as with the intent of stepping into their shoes and pretending you are them; throughout the game, your character doesn't talk at all, helping to convey the feeling that they are you. From here you're thrown into your first mission - without any training - in a matter of seconds. This is a nice touch as it represents what soldiers back then went through, and it starts the game off on a tense and action-packed note.

The missions in ShellShock Nam '67 each have a small number of simple objectives to complete, from destroying sampans carrying supplies to uncovering enemy weapon caches. In the bottom right area of the screen is a handy little compass that points you in the direction of your objectives and other important objects, indicated by small coloured circles and squares.

The game's environments are nicely designed and realistic yet some are fairly restrictive and linear, with logs, rocks and ledges blocking alternate paths. Some missions do feature a number of paths leading to one place, some more dangerous than others, and some feature large, open areas such as paddy fields where deadly firefights take place, but there aren't enough of these to break up the linear feeling. Not all of the missions take place in jungle locations; you'll also fight through ancient (continued next page)