Vietcong – Mission Failed

I was ready to leave for Vietnam, smoke Lucky Strikes cigarettes, and shoot commies all day in the jungle, but Vietcong decided otherwise for me. The whole endeavor started out great. My old CD-ROM discs still work, and the patches were easily enough to find. Surprisingly also, it works out of the box for Windows 11. No hassle involved, so it didn’t take long until I was welcomed with cool 60s tunes, and the tropics filled with deadly punji traps. Alas, it was not to be.

The issue
I’m not certain, but I think my chosen difficulty setting has to do with the game breaking down. I picked “vietnam”, which is the hardest. That means, the Vietcong is accurate and deadly, which is what I want for the authentic experience (and I like to suffer, apparently). However, as pointed out, I’m not sure of this, but it makes sense it would cause problems.

On mission 4, where I have to find and eliminate a dangerous group of Vietcong guerilla soldiers, and rendezvous with a friendly squad. The game constantly ends regardless of what I do because of the death of one of the men I need to rescue. There is no way for me to save him. When I go over a small hill, the enemy AI opens up, which gives me between ten seconds to one minute to find and save this guy. It’s ridiculous, and makes this mission absolutely broken. I have tried several times now, but no luck at all. He always dies, and the missions always end. 

There is also no way to change the difficulty setting (if this now is linked), since what you pick, you are set with for the rest of the campaign. All this sucks, because I was having a really swell time sneaking through the jungle and popping VC, and getting popped by them. It feels a bit like a sin, game design-wise, because of the nature of the game. Vietcong plays it realistic, so why not make it so his/their death is an alternative path through the campaign? When stuff like this happens, it takes me out of the game every time. I can accept it, if it doesn’t put me on a road I can’t finish, that is. 

The game itself
Beyond this moment of FUBAR, Vietcong by itself is a fantastic experience. The graphics, the shooting, and the AI feels pretty damn good. The atmosphere is also pretty tight. There are many details that make it feel true to the setting that it depicts. I have tried searching for a fix online, but nothing comes up. But, maybe you know dear reader, and if so, please tell me! I want to see the rest of the game. I should add that I did play it in my youth, but on a crappy computer at that moment in time. So, having it run smoothly now in 60 fps has been a blessing by itself, and shows the game in a different light. 

Thanks for reading.

/Thomas

Update: Hours later
A friend of mine (thanks Jonathan) said to lower the FPS to 60, since it seems to be an issue with the game if you run it faster than that. I did that, but the mission still ended in failure. In one last ditch attempt of rage, I stormed the enemy lines to see if that would work, and it did. I ran through the trenches like a crazy man and popped VC to the left and right like I was possessed by Willem Dafoe. Yet, I will not be finishing Vietcong. Because after that, you are left to your own devices, forcing you to fight off a whole battalion of hardened guerilla soldiers that respawns… alone. It’s impossible on the highest difficulty setting, which limits quick-saves to three. It is way too tough for me. I’m just too old for shenanigans like this, replaying sections until perfect memorization of enemy positions.

Once again, Illusion Softworks proves that they can’t make a game without having retarded solo moments like this. It ruins the entire premise of the game, considering it’s supposed to be a squad based shooter. All games by Illusion Softworks show so much promise, but always fall short because of issues like it. If it isn’t AI, it’s dumb map design. Even the first map in Hidden & Dangerous 2 has a segment like this, where you have to infiltrate an enemy Nazi base by yourself. Not to talk about the bullshit tanks with turrets that spin faster than a fidget spinner used by an autistic child. Oh well. Back on the bookshelf it goes.