Battlefield Vietnam

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Battlefield Vietnam
Developer(s)	Digital Illusions Canada
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Designer(s)	Armando "AJ" Marini
Series	Battlefield series
Engine	Refractor Engine
Version	1.21 (December 2, 2004)
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	NA March 14, 2004 PAL March 19, 2004
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: T PEGI: 16+ USK: 16
Media/distribution	CD-ROM (3), Redux edition CD-ROM (4) Bonus Disc
System requirements 933 MHz CPU, DirectX 9.0b, 3D accelerated AGP Nvidia GeForce 3 or ATI Radeon 8500 64 MB or equivalent DirectX 9 compatible video card, DirectX 9 compatible sound card, 256 MB RAM, 2.0 GB free hard drive space

Battlefield Vietnam is the second video game in Electronic Arts' Battlefield franchise after Battlefield 1942. The game was developed by the Swedish company Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts on March 15, 2004 in North America and days later in other parts of the world. Battlefield Vietnam takes place during the Vietnam War. It is first-person shooter (FPS) games and features a large variety of maps based on historical settings, such as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Battle of Hue, Ia Drang Valley, Operation Flaming Dart, The Battle of Khe Sanh and Fall of Saigon. Many parts of the game have been influenced by popular Vietnam War movies. Examples are the player's ability to play Ride of the Valkyries on the radio and the tiger striped M79 from Apocalypse Now.

On March 15, 2005, EA re-released the game as Battlefield Vietnam: Redux (as a reference to Apocalypse Now: Redux), which includes the 1.01, 1.02, 1.1, 1.2 , and 1.21 patches, new vehicles, maps, and an EA-produced World War II mod, based on the previous Battlefield 1942.

Gameplay

Battlefield Vietnam has the same point by point objectives of Battlefield 1942; In most maps, your objective is to take Control Points around the map to enable friendly players and controllable vehicles to spawn. Like other Battlefield games, Spawn tickets play a vital role for defeat of a Team.

Battlefield Vietnam features a revolutionary form of asymmetrical warfare gameplay. The two teams (US or Vietnamese) are given wildly different kits and vehicles, making the US rely more on heavy vehicles and the Vietnamese rely more on infantry tactics. The US, for instance, will get heavy tanks, helicopters, and even bombers, while the Vietnamese are forced to rely on anti-tank/anti-aircraft weapons in order to stop the American side. This gameplay was intended to reflect the actual conditions of the war. The inclusion of a "Sipi Hole" for the Vietnamese - effectively a mobile spawn point, representative of the vast tunnel networks the Vietnamese used in the actual war - did a great deal to balance the gameplay.

Factions

Battlefield Vietnam features the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Viet-Cong.

Features

Built on a modified Battlefield 1942 engine, Battlefield Vietnam had many new and improved features from its predecessor. The game gives the player a variety of weapons based on the war. Various contemporary weapons and concepts are featured such as the AK47 assault rifle and punji stick traps. It also has several additions to it, such as air-lifting vehicles and, while in a vehicle, playing the vehicle's radio, which featured 1960s music. Players can also replace the vehicle soundtrack with their own music tracks. Players are able to fire from the passenger sides of vehicles, rather than leaving the player defenseless. The game is the first in the Battlefield series to utilize a 3D map, allowing players to see icons that represent the position of control points or friendly units, giving the player an increased situational awareness.

The game features a variety of famous military vehicles from the war, that are drivable by players. These include vehicles such as the M551 Sheridan, M48 Patton, the AH-1 Cobra, F-4 Phantom II, M-113 APC and the Huey chopper. North Vietnamese and Vietcong players also get access to a wide range of vehicles, such as the MiG-17 & MiG-21 jet fighters, Mil Mi-8 Hip helicopter, ZSU-57-2 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, PT-76, T-54 tank and even a Vespa scooter.

Modifications

There are numerous modifications (called mods) to Battlefield Vietnam available for download. One of these modifications was produced by DICE, and is called Battlefield: Vietnam World War II modification. This modification consists of the Pacific maps of Battlefield 1942 remade with BFV graphics. New weapons such as a flamethrower and a mortar launcher were added to this version.

Music soundtrack

The track list for Battlefield Vietnam included throughout the game play is as follows

1. Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Fortunate Son"
2. Edwin Starr - "War"
3. Martha and the Vandellas - "Nowhere to Run"
4. The Troggs - "Wild Thing"
5. Rare Earth - "Get Ready"
6. Canned Heat - "On the Road Again"
7. The Guess Who - "Shakin' All Over"
8. Count Five - "Psychotic Reaction"
9. Deep Purple - "Hush"
10. The Kinks - "All Day and All of the Night"
11. The Kinks - "You Really Got Me (Live)"
12. The Box Tops - "The Letter"
13. Jefferson Airplane - "Somebody to Love"
14. Bobby Fuller Four - "I Fought the Law"
15. Budapest Symphony Orchestra - "The Ride of the Valkyries"
16. The Trashmen - "Surfin' Bird"
17. Jefferson Airplane - "White Rabbit" (Menu theme, instrumental remix)

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	90%[1]
Metacritic	84%[2]
Review scores
Publication	Score
GamePro
GameSpot	8.5/10[3]
IGN	8.2/10[4]
X-Play

Battlefield Vietnam received generally positive reviews. Critics praised the graphical improvement, vast selection of maps, vehicles, and weapons, and online multiplayer. Heavily criticized was the single-player enemy AI, which would often ignore the player even while being attacked.

References

External links

• Battlefield Vietnam at the Internet Movie Database
• Battlefield Vietnam at MobyGames