Bad Company Vietnam Official Thread - IGN 9.5

Release-

PC: 12/18/10

PSN/XBLA: 12/21/10

Price: $15.00

Videos-

If you are still asking yourself if it is worth $15.00, check out this video.

Cao Son Temple Gameplay

Phu Bai Valley Gameplay

Phu Bai Valley Trailer

Flame-thrower Trailer

Hill 137 Trailer

BC2 Vietman PC Gameplay

Reviews-

IGN gives it a 9.5

Anyone who played much Bad Company 2 was likely made quite familiar with the sniper-like accuracy of medics with long-range scopes attached to their machine guns, and I'll admit to being aggressive from across the map as an engineer with the aid of a red dot sight. In the absence of these weapon tweaks, the combat dynamic has changed considerably from Bad Company 2. Fights are closer and more vicious more often, which is assisted by environments and level design that break up most long lines of sight and which provide a ton of hiding places.

Whether you're new to Bad Company 2 or have been repairing, healing, and blowing up other players since March of this year, Bad Company 2 -Vietnam is among the best multiplayer experiences this year. The ability to contribute and succeed and unlock additional levels in ways that don't have to include shooting other players and the reliance on strategy over twitch gameplay clicks just as well in Bad Company 2 - Vietnam. Meanwhile, the re-balancing of character cIasses and level variety might actually trump Bad Company 2 proper. Battlefield fans will probably argue over whether to play Bad Company 2 or its expansion in the months to come. But when it comes to choosing between arguably the best multiplayer game of the year and its excellent expansion, that seems like a good problem to have.

IGN

OXM UK gives it a 9.0

The weapons and vehicles are only half the story, of course. While five maps in the pack is a generous offering, it's the quality and variety of the environments that's the key to whether this is worth the cash. Of the five there's only one genuine dud. Phu Bai Valley is an indistinct, formless and aesthetically muddy mess, made even worse if you play it in Rush mode with its arbitrary barriers.

The other four, however, are some of the best Battlefield maps we've seen. There's the huge bridge bisecting the Operation Hastings map, the scorched earth aftermath of a napalm strike in Hill 137, and the facsimile of the village from the opening of Apocalypse Now in Cao Son Temple.

Add in the squad features from BFBC2 and you have the definitive vehicular combat experience, cIassic levels and an iconic setting all for just over a tenner. Rock and roll.

OXM UK

Miscellaneous:

DICE had a live chat on 12/15/10 where they discussed details from the game.

-About the flamethrower : "It will set fire to some of the enviroment and also damage stuff "
- "Yes, all modes are available on all maps! " (SQ Rush,SQ DM,Rush,Conquest)
- "Hardcore mode too"
- About specact skins "Nope. It's only for BC2 "
- "Yes, Recon still have their mortar strikes :) "
- "Everything you score in Vietnam will count towards your normal progression, so you will still get your ranks and unlocks, regardless if you play vanilla or Vietnam "
- "Yes the flamethrower will replenish if you stand beside a ammo box "
- "There is no specific AA guns in Vietnam but all weapons do damage and RPG and stationary weapons do HEAVY damage "
- "M16 is fully automatic."
- "Flamethrower is a main gun and the thump gun is a secondary for the assault cIass "
- "All kits can use the flamethrower "
- "The flamethrower on the tank replaces the coax gun addon in BC2."
- "Flame dosent hurt metal giants."
- About the music "It will be in the form of a vehicle radio, you flip channels with the DPad "
- "The maps have the same size mixes as BC2 but since it´s in Vietnam there is more forest and trenches to hide in that promotes infantry fighting! "
- "It will have a separate menu, just like Onslaught "

Fersis

Four maps initially, with a fifth to be unlocked after all platforms collectively perform 69,000,000 team actions.

This will easily be the best $15.00 I spend this year.

Gonna get me some M$ points for christmas then ;)

This looks awesome.

I shouldn't have watched that. I might have to buy it now...

Oh, and how do you get the DLC if you don't have the Steam version?

I'm starting to regret trading in Bad Company 2. :cry:

I shouldn't have watched that. I might have to buy it now...

Oh, and how do you get the DLC if you don't have the Steam version?

scottahuch

holy s***, this is $15? i thought this was a full fledged retail game.

Bought.

Day 1.

etc.

BF1942 was one of my favorite games last year and one of my favorite online games of all time. I hope they stick with fewer maps and fewer modes. 1942 had only one mode and it made sure you were always playing in full rooms. BC2 had too many empty or 4 on 4 games for my taste.

holy s***, this is $15? i thought this was a full fledged retail game.

Bought.

Day 1.

etc.

BF1942 was one of my favorite games last year and one of my favorite online games of all time. I hope they stick with fewer maps and fewer modes. 1942 had only one mode and it made sure you were always playing in full rooms. BC2 had too many empty or 4 on 4 games for my taste.

S0lidSnake

I shouldn't have watched that. I might have to buy it now...

Oh, and how do you get the DLC if you don't have the Steam version?

scottahuch

9.5 for an expansion?dakan45

I'm starting to regret trading in Bad Company 2. :cry:

speedfreak48t5p

Do you need Bad Company 2 just to play Bad Company Vietnam?

[QUOTE="speedfreak48t5p"]

I'm starting to regret trading in Bad Company 2. :cry:

Metamania

Do you need Bad Company 2 just to play Bad Company Vietnam?

Looks good. Nice to see that fights will be closer than at long range. So does that mean its not as sniper friendly? Either way, I gotta get myself a $20 PSN card so I can download this.

So lets see. Now I have to make a choice. Deal with snipers or deal with flamethrowers?Vexx88

Really looking forward to this, I like how the thump gun has the tiger stripes, nice nod to Apocolypse Now.

This is really good news. Easily the best multiplayer shooter of 2010 sounds like it just got a rebirth!

Those were some fun games we played.

I think I'll trade in Black Ops so I can buy BFBC2 again, this deserves my support.

omg omg thatmap where all the trees are blown down and everything is burning and smoldering omg omg

[QUOTE="Vexx88"]So lets see. Now I have to make a choice. Deal with snipers or deal with flamethrowers?rragnaar

[QUOTE="Vexx88"]So lets see. Now I have to make a choice. Deal with snipers or deal with flamethrowers?rragnaar

[QUOTE="rragnaar"][QUOTE="Vexx88"]So lets see. Now I have to make a choice. Deal with snipers or deal with flamethrowers?Vexx88

[QUOTE="Metamania"]

[QUOTE="speedfreak48t5p"]

I'm starting to regret trading in Bad Company 2. :cry:

rragnaar

Do you need Bad Company 2 just to play Bad Company Vietnam?

That really sucks. So I have to pay twice the money to have both games in my collection. You're right - they should have gone standalone. If that was the case, I would have ignored Bad Company 2 and just pick up BC Vietnam.

I'll definitely be getting this.

360 got a 9.5 as well.

360 got a 9.5 as well.

Dracula68

Excellent score,it was a day one buy anyways but this really ups the anticipation.

[QUOTE="Dracula68"]

360 got a 9.5 as well.

rragnaar

[QUOTE="Dracula68"]

360 got a 9.5 as well.

rragnaar

You know, at the end of the day, since FPS's are the rage these days, I think that only a handful of people out there strictly care for the campaign and everyone else just jumps into the multiplayer and don't even bother with the game in itself at all. So why does hearing about the gameplay mechanics and all when it's really the same thing when you boil down to it, just different in the sense that it has different ideas and is made by a different company?

You know, at the end of the day, since FPS's are the rage these days, I think that only a handful of people out there strictly care for the campaign and everyone else just jumps into the multiplayer and don't even bother with the game in itself at all. So why does hearing about the gameplay mechanics and all when it's really the same thing when you boil down to it, just different in the sense that it has different ideas and is made by a different company?

Metamania

I feel the same way about the Battlefield series as I think you feel about fighting games. I'm really interested in the nuts and bolts of how it all plays out. I want to hear from a veteran player just what has changed, and how balanced the maps are. In BC2, from the beta on up until the most recent patch, they've been making changes that drastically effect the balance between defenders and attackers, and I want to hear more about how Rush Mode is in Vietnam from someone who's put in some serious hours into the game. Maybe I'm wrong for expecting that from a reviewer, but those are the kinds of things I want to hear about.

I'm also curious about how changes like regular gunfire damaging helicopters will effect things. I imagine that it means helicopters won't be up in the air for long, which could be a good change for the game, since right now, a good apache pilot can dominate a Conquest round.

[QUOTE="Metamania"]You know, at the end of the day, since FPS's are the rage these days, I think that only a handful of people out there strictly care for the campaign and everyone else just jumps into the multiplayer and don't even bother with the game in itself at all. So why does hearing about the gameplay mechanics and all when it's really the same thing when you boil down to it, just different in the sense that it has different ideas and is made by a different company?

rragnaar

I feel the same way about the Battlefield series as I think you feel about fighting games. I'm really interested in the nuts and bolts of how it all plays out. I want to hear from a veteran player just what has changed, and how balanced the maps are. In BC2, from the beta on up until the most recent patch, they've been making changes that drastically effect the balance between defenders and attackers, and I want to hear more about how Rush Mode is in Vietnam from someone who's put in some serious hours into the game. Maybe I'm wrong for expecting that from a reviewer, but those are the kinds of things I want to hear about.

I'm also curious about how changes like regular gunfire damaging helicopters will effect things. I imagine that it means helicopters won't be up in the air for long, which could be a good change for the game, since right now, a good apache pilot can dominate a Conquest round.

I can understand that to a degree. In the fighting games that I love and enjoy, I want to find out what's changed for my favorite character, what combos and moves can I still pull off, and what the frames and hitboxes are. But I'm not as technical as some of my other friends that talk that stuff in the SFIV/SSFIV discussion thread. I'm more or less of the guy that loves fighting games and enjoys competition when the opportunity arises, but I don't worry that much about it, just on certain details. So, in your case, I can understand that - you want to know what works and what doesn't work and see how these changes be applied in a positive fashion for your games, like Vietnam.

I can understand that to a degree. In the fighting games that I love and enjoy, I want to find out what's changed for my favorite character, what combos and moves can I still pull off, and what the frames and hitboxes are. But I'm not as technical as some of my other friends that talk that stuff in the SFIV/SSFIV discussion thread. I'm more or less of the guy that loves fighting games and enjoys competition when the opportunity arises, but I don't worry that much about it, just on certain details. So, in your case, I can understand that - you want to know what works and what doesn't work and see how these changes be applied in a positive fashion for your games, like Vietnam.

Metamania

For some reason, I'd gotten you confused with the guys that really delve deep into SFIV, but yeah, that is mostly what I'm looking for in a review. It is also a thing that I usually don't get from reviews. I'm hoping to hear from someone who can really go into the differences between Vietnam and BC2, not because I need to be sold on it, but because I'm curious.

One thing I was really happy to see in the IGN review was that removing scopes did balance things out more. I always felt like I could outsnipe most snipers by playing as a Medic with an M60 and a 4x scope. It turned the Medic into a god cIass that was really only vulnerable to tanks. The Engineer is my favorite cIass, and I'm curious to see how it changes. I think I'm going to have to be a lot sneakier, which is fun.

Sucks that it is an expansion and not a stand alone title.

Sorry rag, i thought this was like BF1942. Dont know why EA would c*** block themselves like this. 1942 sold like crazy, so why limit your audience?

Sucks that it is an expansion and not a stand alone title.

Sorry rag, i thought this was like BF1942. Dont know why EA would c*** block themselves like this. 1942 sold like crazy, so why limit your audience?

S0lidSnake

Wow.. that would've been cool, actually. Especially since I long-ago traded in my BFBC2... but I can understand why they'd do it this way -- they already have a great engine in place from BFBC2, and they probably couldn't pull off the bells and whistles (not to mention the presentation) in a stand-alone DLC title.

will i get it for free if i have the VIP pass

The IGN review only marked it down due to a song in the game. In all honesty i see that as a 10 from IGN, it's as if they wanted to find a small flaw in the game.

will i get it for free if i have the VIP pass

TheGrudge13

will i get it for free if i have the VIP pass

TheGrudge13

Nope. If you love BFBC2's gameplay, this looks to be worth it though (at least, so far).

Here is the launch trailer. I'm hoping we get some impressions from the PC people soon since it comes out today.

OXM UK gives it a 9.0

The weapons and vehicles are only half the story, of course. While five maps in the pack is a generous offering, it's the quality and variety of the environments that's the key to whether this is worth the cash. Of the five there's only one genuine dud. Phu Bai Valley is an indistinct, formless and aesthetically muddy mess, made even worse if you play it in Rush mode with its arbitrary barriers.

The other four, however, are some of the best Battlefield maps we've seen. There's the huge bridge bisecting the Operation Hastings map, the scorched earth aftermath of a napalm strike in Hill 137, and the facsimile of the village from the opening of Apocalypse Now in Cao Son Temple.

Add in the squad features from BFBC2 and you have the definitive vehicular combat experience, ****c levels and an iconic setting all for just over a tenner. Rock and roll.

OXM UK

This is good news. I actually have liked the footage I've seen of Phu Bai Valley, so if it is the weakest link, I think we are in for a treat.

The maps are absolutely phenomenal. Vantage Point and Hill 147 are my favorites so far. The guns are so much more lethal. The flamethrower doesn't seem as unbalanced as people thought it would be. If you stay aware from them, they aren't a threat. It is a great crowd control weapon for Rush mode. I'll be surprised if anyone uses it regularly in Conquest.

Are there any 500+ marksman headshot maps? All I do is snipe, so if the sniping is close quarters only then I'll pass.

what i would like to know is when you go to download it, why is it only 1MB? it would have to already be on the disc to be that small.

what i would like to know is when you go to download it, why is it only 1MB? it would have to already be on the disc to be that small.

JayQproductions

The maps are absolutely phenomenal. Vantage Point and Hill 147 are my favorites so far. The guns are so much more lethal. The flamethrower doesn't seem as unbalanced as people thought it would be. If you stay aware from them, they aren't a threat. It is a great crowd control weapon for Rush mode. I'll be surprised if anyone uses it regularly in Conquest.

rragnaar