Oh the irony of war. What could possibly seem more ridiculous than naieve American GI’s sat clinging to the netting of a circling Huey, firing hundreds of M60 rounds at North Vietnamese soldiers, whilst listening to Creedance Clearwater Revival songs lamenting the unfairness of it all. Back in ’67, many of those lads didn’t have a choice, so you could well forgive them for indulging themselves in the malaise that must result from fighting in a war which even many of your own countrymen don’t want you to win. Battlefield: Bad Company 2′s first major add-on however, poses players with a more difficult choice – to go to Vietnam, or not…. And even to fight on the ‘other side,’ as it were.

BF:BC2: Vietnam (or just BC2:V from now on) does a fantastic job of bringing the sights and sounds of Vietnam to your consoles. Unlike many of the fantastic films you’ll have seen, BC2:V pitches Vietnam as a much less enclosed place to wage war, with huge, open theatres of war being the order of the day. Jungle and heavily overgrown areas are fairly rare, probably due to both the technical limitations of the target hardware (consoles) and the frustrating lessons learned by games such as Vietcong, where players would often be left shooting wildly into the trees because line of sight was impossible to establish.

Certain levels, such as the infamous ‘Hamburger Hill’ (Hill 137) feature a variety of foxholes, bunkers and trenches but certainly with respect to the map in question, most players will spend their first five or ten minutes staring into the background at some of the fantastic scenery. Hill 137 is not the most interesting map featured in BC:V from a gameplay perspective, but with a backdrop of smouldering trees and scorched earth which extends far beyond the playing area, it certainly forces players to think about what a terrible and brutal war Vietnam was.

This feeling is often captured by the generally strong level design and well balanced Rush or Conquest game dynamics. Rush involves a team of attackers who have a limited number of spawns with which to destroy a set number of objectives, fighting against the other team who must defend them. The map becomes accessible in stages as objectives are taken, meaning that the action is heavily concentrated around 4-6 key locations.

Conquest on the other hand provides a fairly stark contrast by using the same maps, with no restriction on movement (within the combat area) and typically featuring 3 or 4 objectives which can be captured and held. In this mode, chokepoints and bloody battles for supremacy still occur due to the ‘Squad’ mechanic used in BC2:V, but there is ample opportunity for crafty players to circumnavigate the big fights and capture lightly defended positions behind enemy lines.

The Squad mechanic used in BC2:V is DICE’s way of ensuring that the action stays constant even though maps are so large. Squads are formed when playing either in a party, or when prompted by the game and basically allows players to respawn near a known friendly. At the very least, this means that if at least one member of your squad stays alive when you have died, you can spawn in at their current location and, as the loading screen suggests ‘maintain a strong front line.’

For more organised parties and especially clans, this approach helps to ensure that reinforcements of the correct type arrive based on a given situation – Engineers to destroy vehicles for example, or Medic’s to revive other members of the squad in particularly harsh and prolonged battles. Pleasingly, squads are limited in size, meaning that (although possible) it is unlikely that all members of a given team will spawn into the same gunfight and again, when playing as part of a clan or organised party, each squad can be assigned a given objective to defend/attack.

Vehicles remain a Battlefield USP and provide an entertaining and useful addition to the Vietnam arsenal of period weapons. Most maps feature a couple of Tanks, as well as a number of light vehicles such as Jeeps or Patrol Boats. Helicopters are appropriately rare and people who can fly them properly even more so. In general, many players have learned that proper use of vehicles is difficult to achieve on maps featuring a full quota of 24 players, especially when not playing with friends. Helicopters almost invariably attract fire from basically everyone and everything and go down relatively easily, often before the pilot even realises he is under fire. Despite this, a talented pilot can make use of them when strafing the enemy and especially on the very rare occasion that he chooses to touch down and ferry teammates to key objectives.

Tanks prove more useful in general, but suffer rapid destruction at the hands of an Engineers Bazooka or if hit by a Mortar Strike. The most useful tactic appears to be taking along an Engineer to man the Machine Gun, who can then jump out and perform repairs from behind the Tank, even as it takes damage. This is really the only approach that works during Tank vs. Tank battles and usually proves that teamwork is, even in this rudimentary form, key to success in BC2:V. Light vehicles and Helicopters will usually explode after a hit from any explosive, whilst the Tanks will take 3 or 4 from the front, but are appropriately vulnerable if attacked from the sides or rear.

Weapons and loadout generally vary quite heavily from one class to another and add to the richly diverse approach that each must take. Medics, for example, can score more points giving out health and reviving fallen teammates than firing their Light Machine Gun. Suppression is essential though, and no other class features weapons like the RPK or M60. Engineers on the other hand, can repair friendly vehicles and carry the only RPG weapons in the game, but utilise only relatively light weapons like the Thompson or PPSH SMG for facing other infantry. Assault troopers have the largest selection of weapons and can throw ammo, but lack any real specialisation, and Recon soldiers act as the obligatory Sniper. In fact BC2:V’s most perplexing feature is sniping, as all but the most powerful (single shot, bolt action) Sniper Rifle will require 2-4 hits before dropping an enemy. I can only assume this was another balance related decision, whereby DICE determined that the levels are so large that without underpowered long range rifles, everyone would simply snipe, all of the time.

Again, tactically speaking, most maps will feature a fairly direct route for infantry, whilst vehicles will be forced around winding or certainly less direct path. The vehicle, level and class design all add up favourably in terms of balance, with no clear favourite in terms of point scoring or match winning potential.

A mix is definitely required in order to ensure victory and the most memorable battles will be those when some single act of (often fateful) vehicular heroism results in your team breaking through the enemies lines. It’s unlikely that your whole squad will rally round a Tank as it makes it’s way through the map, slowly taking one objective at a time. Instead, the Tank might appear at the pivotal moment during a heated gunfight; drawing enemy fire long enough for it’s teammates to advance and overwhelm the enemy – even as the Tank smoulders with its slaughtered occupants waiting to spawn back in. Helicopters, Jeeps and Patrol Boats work differently and usually involve a kamikaze run to a far off objective, resulting in a change of focus for the enemy as they notice a base being captured and the subsequent decrease in numbers on their front line.

Sadly then, this strength in balance also results in BC2:V’s greatest weakness. The people playing it. Moments like the one mentioned previously are fairly rare when playing with total strangers and when they do occur, it’s usually a random pleasantry which occurs as the result of someone attempting to grab glory. That said, I guess DICE designed the game that way for a reason! This problem can be summed up by the usual ‘radio silence’ that is becoming all too common when using a games chat channel. Even when in a Squad with other players, it’s rare to find one that will speak up and assist, with most just using the mechanic as a convenient mobile respawn. Clan games, or those played with a strong group of friends in your party are far more interesting and can lead to some excellent, well planned strategies which often pay off.

Pros
Extremely Authentic Experience
Well Balanced
Large Varied Maps

Cons
Little Bit Pricey
Looking a Little Dated
Occasionally Let Down by Other Players

Final Verdict
All in all then, BC2:V offers good value for its 1200 MSP. Five large, interesting and varied maps, an excellent soundtrack in respect of both Music and battlefield ambiance, superb graphics (when you consider the scale required) and wonderful balance mean any fan of online shooters is going to have fun here. Players should note however that there is absolutely no offline content whatsoever and as an add-on, anyone wishing to venture into Vietnam will need to have the original Bad Company 2 game (and preferrably a VIP code for future updates.)

8/10

Matt