Line of Sight: Vietnam – PC – Review

In 1968 the U.S. Army
assigned a young sniper to the 5th Special Forces compound in Nha Tong,
Vietnam. His mission: disrupt the
enemy’s command structure, scout Vietcong positions, and ambush the enemy in the
dead of night. For him, success depended on a rifle, a target, and a clear Line
of Sight. In LOS VIETNAM, your job is to locate elusive enemy soldiers and pick
them off one-by-one. Whether patiently waiting for the enemy to show himself or
delivering a pre-emptive strike, the method is the same – be quick, be quiet,
and be careful.

You have quite an
assortment of about 13 weapons to carry out your missions.  Some you start out
with, others you may find or acquire from the dead.  You have a weight allowance
so you can’t carry everything.  You can use knives, AK 47, SKS carbine, CAR 15,
M-21 sniper rifle, SVD sniper rifle, Pump action shotgun, M-79 Grenade Launcher,
M-60 Light machine gun, RPD; Rocket propelled grenades, LAW, .45 auto and the
9mm Tokarov.  Needless to say there is enough weaponry to choose from.

Multi-player like most FPS
is really where the fun is.  It would be safe to say that you could use the
missions as a sort of training for the big fight on the multi-player end of
things.  Here you will find few that are as accurate and attuned to the
environment as those pesky Charlie are in the standalone version of the game.
There are many games to choose from.

Stalk and Kill
– you will receive a point
for each kill that you make.  The player who scores the highest wins. 

Capture the Flag
– to score points you must enter your opponent’s base, capture his flag by
running over it, and make it back to your base.  You drop the flag if you are
killed, and others can pick it up.

COOP
– just like the single player mode, but your friends can join to play through
nay or all of the game missions.

Mission-Based
– like COOP mode, but squads take turns trying to finish the mission quickest,
while others try and stop them.

Multi-player games ran
mostly without a hitch, there were those few instances where I had to exit the
game and get back in when a new game loaded.  This did not cause any hindrance
in play at all, and was really no big deal.  Team based games are a blast.  If
you don’t like the competitiveness of all real human opponents, the COOP games
are a nice alternative, and do make the games a bit easier if you find the enemy
AI on single player games is just too much.

The graphics on the map
end were quite realistic.  The lush vegetation of jungle was stunning.  Trying
to pick out an enemy that is camouflaged is quite difficult, but this adds to
the realism that our boys had to deal with during the conflict.  There were some
glitches or bugs I found like when you get to close to an object and you can see
through it, or guy falls in combat and ends up under a boulder.  These were few,
but yet still apparent in almost every map. The weapons didn’t really look any
different from anything else we have seen before, so nothing really new here.
The audio end was pretty decent as well.  Though the sound effects like gunfire,
explosions, and footsteps were pretty elementary, the environmental effects like
thunder and rain, together with the graphics had me wanting to pop up an
umbrella or find a big leaf to hide under to get out of the rain.  The realism
here in my opinion made the game seem very realistic.

All in all for a MSRP of
about 20 bucks, and from what some are calling a "value title", I think any fan
of the genre will find hours of enjoyable play here and is still money well
spent!

Reviewer’s Scoring Details

Gameplay: 7
Though a snap to learn, The enemy AI
is just way too accurate even on the easiest difficulty setting.

Graphics: 8
The environments
in my opinion were nicely done.  The lush vegetation, along with the constant
rain showers is very realistic.  I was quite impressed with the way the Vietcong
camouflage blended in to add realism to the game.

Sound: 7.5
Sound was pretty
decent.  The environmental sound effects were very realistic.  Thunder, rain,
footsteps, crickets, etc.  No big change in weapons from any armed forces type
of FPS, but that’s not really a bad thing.  Nothing groundbreaking, but not too
bad either. 

Difficulty: Medium
A breeze to learn, but difficult.
The enemy AI is just too accurate.  Once you pattern their movements, and ride
the quick save key. (Recommended for Newbies) you will find yourself through the
12 missions in no time.  Internet and LAN play will add replay-ability and
difficulty for months to come.

Concept: 7.5
Though we have
seen many war titles of this genre before, we have not seen as many Vietnam
titles, as we have the countless WWII games.  This title emphasizes a sneak and
shoot style of play. Most other games just make that a viable option.

Multiplayer: 7.5

At time of review very few
Internet games available, or should I say very few players.  Easy to get going
and like most FPS very fun to play.
Hopefully as this game gains popularity, games and players will increase.

Overall: 7.5
Could use some
finishing touches, but overall for a value price of 20 bucks, you really can’t
go wrong if you are a fan of the genre.