In , you are in fact going to be playing a soldier in the Vietnam war. In the beginning you can only play as the US Forces, but you'll also notice there is a greyed out Vietnamese campaign which can be unlocked later as you progress through the US missions. I do know that in the first game in this series, you were mostly in the jungle. In part two, it's all urban warfare, at least for the US missions.

The first thing you'll notice is that, for a game released in late 2005, the graphics and overall game engine are pretty dated. Many of the textures are flat and grainy. The textures on actual player models aren't bad, though. You'll find your less-than-average ragdoll physics here, and sometimes you'll see the dead bodies fall in awkward positions as if they're trying to do one-handed pushups from the afterlife. Explosion animations leave a lot to be desired, if you enjoy seeing things explode, and I assume you do if you are playing a war game. Between missions, you'll get to view short entertaining movies which progress the story or explain to you exactly what is going on. It's good to know why you're actually fighting.

The sound effects are pretty average. Gunshots, explosions, and random shouting. Speaking of shouting, that brings me to the dialogue, which is pretty well done. It helps to bring the characters and the story to life. Throughout the battle, your allies will randomly shout things such as congratulating you on a nice shot or insulting the enemy. These can become a little repetitive, but chances are you'll hardly notice it since you'll be too busy getting shot at. The music helps to set the atmosphere and seems well placed.

Now, let's talk about actually playing the game. Let me warn you that to effectively get anywhere in this game, you will need patience and determination. The enemy AI may not be spectacular, but they have killer aim, and they will kill you in 1-3 hits. Maybe a few more if you're lucky. The first mission seemed kind of tedious because it has you trying to protect and lead a reporter to safety. Doesn't sound so bad, except this reporter enjoys running out in front of you and trying to get shot. That means you're going to have to try and stay ahead of him. Using the "run and gun" method can get you killed fast, so expect many reloads as you try and get through this mission.

But don't let that discourage you. Once you're done with that mission, you'll never have another escort mission again. As I mentioned above, yes, you will die often. You'll be happy to know that your enemies die even easier than you do. There is a quicksave/quickload option. You are allowed ten quicksaves on Normal difficulty, and less on higher difficulties. There are also points in a mission where it will autosave for you, granting you a free save. There are 3 quicksave slots to fill, so don't worry about accidentally saving yourself in a bad position. Ten may not seem like a lot of saves, but I rarely used five of those, so most people should be alright.

You are allowed to carry a knife, a pistol, some grenades, one medpack, and two of any other type of weapon. You can crouch and lie down. Moving while prone seemed really awkward, and I found myself relying on crouch quite a bit. You can use the right mouse button to take a steadier aim. If you're taking cover behind something, your guy will automatically pop up a little over the top when you press the aim button. That makes life a little easier since you'll have a plethora of enemies with dead-aims shooting at you.

Most of the time, you'll have your soldier buddies fighting along with you. One key tap is all you need to call them over to help you. You will learn to like these guys way more than you dislike them. For one, they can't actually die from an enemy, they just go into "unconscious mode" for a bit if they get shot. However, YOU can kill them, and if you do, the mission automatically fails, so be careful. They like to run in front of your gun, and they really love getting in your way sometimes. To make up for that annoyance, one of your buddies is a medic and can heal you a bit. Each time you get your wounds tended to, you lose a little bit of your maximum health. This is so you can only bandage so many times, despite the fact the medic has endless bandages. You will get your maximum health back at the start of the next mission. Another one of your buddies supplies you with maximum ammo for every gun you are carrying. This is great for when you pick up an RPG or a shotgun and you start to get sad that you're running out of ammo. Never fear, for your pal has an endless supply, and you need only to call him over. Where does he keep all those rockets?

As I said before, being careful really pays off. In some circumstances, the "run and gun" method is alright, such as rushing up to an enemy who you know is reloading behind something. Just remember you are as fragile to bullets in this game as in real life, so...get used to hiding behind things. A lot. One annoying aspect is that the enemy can see you and shoot you through bushes, but of course you cannot see where the heck they are. Fortunately those spots are few, but they are there. Also, the AI can see very far into the distance, and you'll notice people so far away that they appear as tiny silhouettes, yet they are laying some well-aimed rounds into you. The "hit box" around the characters is pretty liberal, meaning it's actually not that difficult to aim and hit something in this game. It works both ways, so make good use of that cover and move up carefully.

The Vietnamese missions are unlocked when you have completed roughly 3/4 of the US campaign. It tells the story from their point of view, and you'll find a few new guns to play with too. This campaign actually seemed a little tougher than the US, but maybe that's just me.

Overall, I'd say I had a good time playing this game. Yes, I went through periods of frustration when I thought I was doing good only to get mauled by two shots and sent back to my last quicksave. And sure, I was tempted to purposely shoot my team when they decided the best place to set up a firing position was in front of my gun. The fun came when I finally found good cover positions and was able to take out the next wave of enemy troops. However, I would have a tough time recommending this game over most other historical shooters that are out. If for some reason you're itching for a Vietnam shooter, I might say it's alright if you can find it somewhere at a budget price ($10-$15.) Otherwise, you might be better off looking elsewhere for a FPS.