Video Game / Rising Storm 2: Vietnam

Better Run Through the Jungle~

"It feels like I'm playing the good half of Apocalypse Now and the ending of Platoon in one beautiful package with a whole lot of bouncing bodies."

— the best FPS game you've never heard of | Rising Storm 2 Vietnam by FLEEKAZOID

Rising Storm 2: Vietnam is a multiplayer shooter set in The Vietnam War that is a sequel to Rising Storm, and thus a Spin-Off to the Red Orchestra series. It was released in May 2017. Initially, the game only had the United States Army and United States Marine Corps as Southern Vietnamese factions facing off against the NLF and PAVN as the Northern Vietnamese factions, but updates have added in Australian forces and the ARVN as well. Rising Storm 2 is the game that has deviated most from the series World War II roots, incorporating period accurate weaponry, pilot-able helicopters, and changes to squad and team mechanics.

Similar to previous games in the series, expect quick and violent deaths, constant scenes of horrific carnage, and an obsession with authenticity rarely matched in other video games.

This video game provides examples of:

• Acceptable Breaks from Reality: Despite being a far more unforgiving and realism focused FPS compared to its contemporaries, bringing up the game's tactical view fills the screen with brightly colored HUD elements denoting objectives, ammo resupply, and friendly soldiers. In addition to this, use of the recon plane/ scout report reveals enemy soldiers on the map with far greater accuracy than any support would be in real life, showing positions on the map with brightly colored red blips.
• All Asians Wear Conical Straw Hats: One unlockable cosmetic for the Vietcong/NLF faction is, unsurprisingly, a conical straw hat. And for some hilarity, it's their final unlockable cosmetic at Level 99.
• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Several maps feature bases, command posts, field headquarters, etc. from either side as capture points, making this an inevitability for the defending side if they can't hold the enemy back.
• Anachronism Stew: Averted for the most part, as the campaign mode takes place between 1965-1975, taking into account period appropriate weapons, escalation of warfare, and certain factions entering or departing as time passes. However, certain things are glossed over, such as the presence of the M16A1 (only officially adopted in real life from 1969 onward) in a time where only the original M16 was available.
• And Your Reward Is Clothes: Progression in Rising Storm 2: Vietnam unlocks cosmetic customization options for your soldier. This is rather fitting for this game, as newer player sport well kept, clean pressed uniforms, with torn up and shoddier looking clothes unlocking for higher ranks.
• Anti-Air: The Northern Forces have access to anti-air defenses ranging from Dhsk heavy machine gun emplacements to SAM sites. The latter are especially helpful on maps that give the Southern Forces access to attack and transport helicopters.
• Arbitrary Gun Power: Averted, as the powerful .45 caliber 1911 pistol manages to be put enemies down in just a couple shots, and slower bolt action rifles do not do increased damage compared to automatic weapons firing the same cartridge.
• Armor Is Useless: The new character customization options allow the player to customize their soldier's head protection, as well as flak jackets for certain factions, but this has no effect during the game. A helmet wearing, fully clothed grunt is no less susceptible to damage than a shirtless farmer wearing a bandana^note though this is somewhat Truth in Television: The 'flak jacket' was built to defend against fragments and shrapnel caused by explosions; they were ineffective against direct-fired bullets and uncomfortable to wear in the hot and humid climate of Vietnam. However, wearing the right armor can be the difference between blending right into the background and sticking out like a sore thumb, so armor isn't useless as much as it protects the wearer in a different way.
• Artifact Title: The original Rising Storm was set in the Pacific Front of World War II, so Rising Storm 2 appends "Vietnam" on the end to avoid any confusion as to the game's setting.
• Artistic License – History: While the game goes out of its own way to be as authentic as possible, there's a few things that get left out.
  • The only flamethrower available in the game is the US M9A1, available only to US Combat Engineers, even though North Vietnamese sappers were known to use the Soviet LPO-50.
  • Rocket launchers are likewise only usable by the NLF and PAVN despite the M72 Light Anti-tank Weapon being commonly used by the southern forces during the war.
  • The North Vietnamese Army (PAVN) uses a khaki uniform. While they were used in real life during the First Indochina War and the early years of the Vietnam War, most of the PAVN units used green-colored uniforms. This change was mostly done to prevent friendly fire, as both North and Southern factions would use similar green-colored uniforms.
• Artistic License – Linguistics: The NLF has identical voice lines to the PAVN. In reality, the NLF mainly consisted of south Vietnamese, so they should have accents similar to the ARVN instead. This is probably another gameplay choice to prevent friendly fire, since it would play hell with players trying to find enemies by sound if two separate factions on entirely opposite sides used the same voice lines.
• Asymmetric Multiplayer: The opposing factions have completely different weapons available to their respective teams. In addition to this, South Vietnamese forces have flamethrowers, helicopters, napalm strikes, and a traditional "spawn on squad leader" mechanic, while North Vietnamese forces are equipped with a plethora of traps, anti-air defenses, invisibility to recon while prone, and a new "squad tunnel" spawning mechanic (which allows them to spawn in on fixed points set up by their squad leaders). Despite this difference, the game's matches are surprisingly well-balanced.
• Battle Cry: Players will find their soldiers relatively chatty with a dynamic voice line system. North Vietnamese forces cry out an unintentionally hilarious, "YAHH!" when the Ho Chi Minh Trail special ability is utilized.
• Bayonet Ya: Bayonets are an option on the AK-47 and its variants, the SKS, the M16, the M14, and the M37, plus a few other weapons. However, with the prevalence of self-loading and fully automatic guns in this game, these are less frequently used compared to previous titles in the series. The Australians even have a submachine gun that can mount a bayonet, the F1.
• Bilingual Bonus: Soldiers speak their native language, making it difficult for non-speakers to understand just what is going on at certain instances.
  • Being able to understand Vietnamese is a minor advantage. The player character will often let out a satisfactory taunt after killing an enemy, giving you an early kill indicator. Tired, reloading or wounded characters will state so loudly, letting you know that they are currently distracted. The northern commander speaks entirely in Vietnamese while using abilities, so if you sneak up on one, you can know exactly what he's trying to use.
• Booby Trap: The North Vietnamese forces rely heavily on these for defense. Most soldiers in this faction have the ability to dig a deadly Pit Trap in the form of a Punji Trap, with specialists able to set explosive tripwires and mines.
• Break Out the Museum Piece: The ARVN and the NLF/Vietcong arsenals are mostly composed of older weapons dating from World War II such as the M1 Garand and Mosin-Nagant. Even the PAVN/NVA, USMC, and USA still use certain weapons from that era as well, such as the PPSh-41 for the former and the M3A1 Grease Gun for the latter two. Despite these weapons being from an older era, they are no less deadly, and are still perfectly capable of performing a One-Hit Kill on any unsuspecting enemy.
• Capital Offensive: The map Saigon, which reenacts the Fall of Saigon in April 1975. Here, the PAVN attack and capture various evacuation points, while the ARVN defend from these points.
• Character Class System: As with its predecessors, this is present. However, a few changes were made this time around:
  • Rifleman (PAVN)/Guerilla (NLA)/Grunt (South): Essentially a historical upgrade to the previous Rifleman/Assault classes, with Americans/South Vietnamese forces getting M16s and North Vietnamese forces getting AKs alongside their standard grenades. North Vietnamese riflemen and guerillas are also equipped to place traps. While it is possible to select a semi-auto rifle instead of an assault rifle, unsurprisingly the majority of players stick with the assault rifle options since you can quickly switch between semi-auto and full-auto. However, depending on the era the battle is taking place in, and what faction you are playing as, you may not have a choice: the ARVN start off only able to take the M1 Garand or M2 Carbine, while the Australians start off only able to take the L1A1 SLR. Some players actually prefer these, and some US players prefer the M14 rifle to the M16, as most of them tend to have more powerful rounds than the assault rifles, which usually translates to better range and accuracy as well, meaning that they allow them to play an ersatz Marksman even if all the slots are full. Even beyond that, some prefer the higher stopping power of the Garand, L1A1, and M14.
  • Scout (North)/Pointman (South): Despite the different names, they are functionally the same class. Both have the ability to spot enemy traps and mines from farther away, allowing them to be safely disarmed, and have the ability to plant mines of their own (tripwire mines for the Scout, remote-detonated claymores for the Pointman). Both focus on short-range combat otherwise, usually being offered the choice of either a submachine gun or a shotgun, and have smoke grenades to help them cover their advance so they can actually get into close range.
  • Sniper (North)/Marksman (South): Exactly What It Says on the Tin. Both carry high-power rifles with scopes, specialising in long-range target elimination. They also carry the same mines as the Scout and Pointman, though they don't carry as many.
  • Machine Gunner: Again, Exactly What It Says on the Tin. They get a machine gun and a grenade.
  • Grenadier: Southern-only, uses a grenade launcher to lob explosives at the enemy and is also able to switch to other grenades if they have them making them potentially very useful for assaults. The options are HE rounds, smoke rounds, or buckshot. The US and Australian Army allow for them to switch out the grenade launcher for another weapon (M2 Carbine for the US, L1A1 for the Australians), and instead carry a large number of hand-thrown grenades, which is useful on maps that have a lot of close range fighting and corners, as the launcher's HE rounds have a minimum range of 15 meters before they will detonate on hitting a target to protect the user.
  • RPG: A North Vietnam-only class, special only in the sense they get RPGs as a secondary armament. Main duties are knocking out enemy helicopters and other hard targets.
  • Radioman: Acts as a mobile radio station for Commanders, allowing them to call in strikes and other types of support from the front lines. It requires players to stick to the commander and is essentially an upgrade from the static radio points of previous games, but isn't completely useless without a commander as it trades standard grenades for smoke.
  • Pilot: Southern only, technically encompasses two separate classes that differ only in role (Attack or Transport). They spawn at a helicopter base instead of the front lines and are the only people permitted to fly the helicopters. All they have equipment-wise are pistols but they shouldn't need much else. The ARVN only has access to Transport pilots, while the US factions and the Australians have both.
  • Sapper: A North Vietnam-only class that specializes in area denial, in the form of miniature landmines. Being close quarters specialists, they are equipped with the Soviet-made PPSh-41 with either the box or 71 round drum magazine. They can also act as the North's equivalent of the grenadier, taking a MAS-49 rifle with a rifle grenade launcher.
  • Combat Engineer: A Southern-only class, they are the equivalent of the Sapper, though with one major difference. They can take a submachine gun or shotgun, and in either case will carry white phosphorus grenades for clearing enemies out of tight spaces and corridors, and remote-detonated C4 for area denial. Or they can take a flamethrower, making them excellent for dealing with any enemy who is particularly dug-in or has taken cover in a building, at the cost of lower speed, lower range, and low ammunition.
  • Squad Leader: Interestingly, the squad leader role has been removed as a specific class and now acts as a 'bonus' on top of a player's chosen class. Becoming the SL is done by either being the first person to join a squad or have it given to you by the existing SL. The interesting fact about SLs this time is how they function; US leaders work like in previous RO titles, where squad members can spawn on the leader to let them act as a mobile spawn point, whereas the Viet Cong SLs are given a pickaxe and may use it to place a tunnel somewhere in the area for the squad to spawn from. Additionally, squad leaders receive a pistol and binoculars on top of their class-specific weaponry.
• Character Customization: In a series' first, you are now able to customize the look of your soldier, allowing everything from going shirtless to pulling off your best shrub cosplay for camouflage.
• Commissar Cap: A Downloadable Content cosmetic for the NLF and PAVN faction is a Soviet-style officer's cap, which is part of an officer's uniform set.
• Concealment Equals Cover: Averted, as thin pieces of the environment such as walls or trees do not guarantee safety from incoming fire.
• Cosmetically Different Sides:
  • In normal gameplay this is massively averted, with every faction having unique equipment that give even individual factions on one side distinct playstyles.
  • The Army Men mode for Christmas 2018, though, has both teams playing as the Americans, where they differ only in the colour of the plastic toy American soldiers that they control. This is also enforced as to allow for chopper-on-chopper combat, as the Americans and Australians are the only faction with helicopters.
• Crouch and Prone: In between sprinting from objective to objective, players will likely spend long periods of time in a crouched or prone stance. Weapons, especially while firing in fully automatic are easier to control while in one of these stances, which also have the added benefit of making the player smaller and harder to hit.
• Death from Above: All factions get access to artillery which is devastating if called in on a populated target, but certain factions on the Southern side also get access to an AC-47 Spooky Gunship, as well as F-4 Phantoms delivering napalm or RAAF Canberras dropping bombs. There are many ways to die other than merely being shot by an enemy soldier.
• Dressing as the Enemy: Downplayed, but some players choose to customize their soldier to resemble the opposing side. While this sometimes causes the enemy to hesitate long enough to be shot, it can also cause their allies to shoot them on sight.
• Fackler Scale of FPS Realism: Definitely far more on the realistic side compared to the majority of FPS titles.
• Fire-Breathing Weapon: The M9A1-7 Flamethrower given to US and Australian forces, which is more than capable of clearing entire rooms, bunkers, and tunnels full of NVA and VC troops.
• First-Person Ghost: Despite being able to see your customized soldier's arms holding a firearm, there is no way to view your character's body or feet from the first person perspective. However, there are mechanics that take close quarters fighting into account, as it is impossible to aim longer weapons in enclosed spaces due to the obstruction of your gun's barrel due to the environment. Some weapons have a folding stock, which can be used to navigate and shoot in tighter spaces.
• Four Is Death: Referenced with the achievement "Unlucky Number", awarded for being the fourth ARVN soldier to die in a round. Is also a Historical In-Joke, as the ARVN had a 4th Infantry Division that was quickly renamed to the 22nd Infantry Division due to this belief.
• Friend or Foe?: In the chaos and carnage of battle, it is pretty common to see teammates accidentally shooting one another or getting blown up by friendly fire support. The developers have even implemented an integrated teamkill forgiving system into the game. Characters in game will often shout out, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? THAT'S A FRIENDLY!" when team damage occurs.
• Good Guns, Bad Guns: Played with. The Southern forces are shown using M16 and M14 variants, a selection of WWII American firearms like the Thompson and M1 Garand, and, for the Australian forces, the L1A1 and Browning Hi-Power. The Northern forces use a mix of AK variants (namely the Type 56 and AKM), as well as a wide array of other Soviet weapons like the RPD, SKS, and SVD. However, the North Vietnamese forces also have access to a number of captured French weapons, as well as the American M1 Carbine.
• Grenade Launcher: The South Vietnamese Grenadier class carries the devastating M79 Grenade Launcher, a single fire, break action and unforgettable weapon.
• Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: The special ability of the southern forces in campaign mode, "Search and Destroy", makes it so that if they attack a sector controlled by northern forces while the ability is active, the northern forces will lose the sector even if they win the battle. It also increases the combat power the northern forces lose if the southern forces win the battle.
• Holiday in Cambodia: Played straight, what with the game's maps being set in various Vietnamese towns, cities, villages, and forested regions. Of particular note is Hue City, which is depicted as a run-down shanty down even before the NVA and VC come knocking. Additionally, some community-made maps are explicitly stated to take place in Cambodia.
• Hollywood Silencer: Averted, as the suppressed XM21 is still very loud and distinct. In addition to this, the lower powered subsonic ammunition means that the weapon's gas operation is nonfunctional while using this variant. Follow up shots need to be manually chambered.
• Home Field Advantage: The Tunnel Network available to North Vietnamese forces give them a safe and secure way to move throughout some maps, while American, Australian and South Vietnamese forces can only use a handgun within these tunnels. To balance this, many maps will allow Southern forces to use their primary weapons in tunnels if they are the defending side.
• Jumping on a Grenade: It's possible for you to block the explosion of a grenade with your body, although the chances of pulling this off successfully in the chaos of battle are infinitesimal.
• Jungle Warfare: Similar to the previous game, the majority of matches take place in dense, overgrown tropical jungle environments. There are a few exceptions, however, such as a post-forest fire Hill 937^note If that name sounds unfamiliar, it's because the hill is much better known by its colloquial name, Hamburger Hill and dense urban environments seen in Hue City, Quang Tri, and Saigon.
• Kangaroos Represent Australia: Fittingly, the Australian Army is represented with a kangaroo logo, in contrast to the US Forces' eagle emblem and the ARVN's tiger symbol.
• Kill It with Fire: The M9A1-7 flamethrower available to southern forces obviously fits this trope, but as if this wasn't enough, the southern team also has access to a devastating napalm strike delivered by supersonic F-4 Phantoms. White Phosphorous grenades are extremely effective in enclosed environments as well. For the Northern Forces, they get a Molotov Cocktail, which is just as good at lighting enemies on fire as the White Phosphorous grenade. In addition, some of the ordnance used in the latter's artillery barrages include White Phosphorous rounds, which set anyone near the blast radius ablaze.
• Lead the Target: Weapons have a realistic ballistics model, so compensating for drop and leading the target are important, especially if the targets are far away. Weapons can also be ranged to line the sights up with targets that are further away.
• Man on Fire: The end result of being on the receiving end of a flamethrower, napalm strike, NVA or VC artillery barrage, white phosphorous grenade, or a molotov cocktail.
• Military Alphabet: Appropriately, the NATO Phonetic Alphabet is used to label each capture point on a map, starting with Alpha all the way up to Oscar on some of the largest maps.
• Missing Backblast: Averted. The RPG-7's backblast can and will kill anyone standing behind it when fired, friendly or enemy. There's even an achievement for killing an enemy with it.
• Mobile Shrubbery: High-level North Vietnamese players can customize their characters to wear foliage to blend in better with their environment, giving them somewhat of an edge in densely forested maps.
• Molotov Cocktail: An improvised grenade issued to Northern Forces, which, unsurprisingly, lights targets within a small radius on fire. It's basically their equivalent of the White Phosphorous grenade used by the South.
• One-Hit Kill: Headshots are always an instant kill, accompanied by a distinctive "plink" if the target is wearing metallic headgear, and a squishy "splat" if not. In addition, shots to the heart and spine are instant kills as well.
• One-Hit Polykill: Higher caliber weapons can allow a player to shoot through enemies for multiple kills. There is even an achievement titled "Oh Baby, a Double!" for killing two enemies with a single round from a non-explosive weapon.
• Over Heating: Machine Guns will overheat with excessive use, but unlike previous games there is no option to change out the barrel. Players will have to wait until the barrel cools down after some time.
• Pineapple Surprise: American grenades can be manually cooked and held until they explode, while Vietnamese grenades will start cooking as soon as the plug is pulled. Better throw them quick!
• Pinned Down: Incoming fire and artillery strikes will cause the camera to become blurred and shaky, making it nearly impossible to return accurate fire while suppressed. The Machine Gunner role is well suited to suppressing enemy positions.
• Politically Correct History: Downplayed. There is a lack of anti-Vietnamese racial slurs shouted by US soldiers. The worst thing they are likely to say is something along the lines of "Man, I really hate Charlie."
• Quick Melee: Hitting the middle mouse button will let you do a quick melee attack. Some guns in the game allow a bayonet to be attached to the muzzle, which increases the damage and range of the melee attack.
• Satchel Charge: The US, Australian, and South Vietnamese Engineer classes have access to a C4 pack that functions similarly to the satchel charges of the previous game (being explosives duct-taped together rather than placed in a bag), except this time the charges are remote-detonated rather than triggered through a wick.
• Sawed-Off Shotgun: One is available to the NLF faction, which is essentially a hastily-modified Soviet hunting shotgun with its barrel cut off.
• Semper Fi: The US Marine Corps are a playable faction in this game, with specific uniforms for their faction.
• Sequel Escalation: The addition of aerial vehicles and transports, plus the inclusion of six playable factions with entirely different playstyles based on which side they're on, make this a larger game than previous entries. However, as of now there are no ground vehicles in this game, unlike previously in Red Orchestra 2.
• Scenery Gorn: Vietnam looks like it used to be a tropical paradise before the war came, but is now filled with armored emplacements, burned out vehicles, and ecological damage. Thriving cities are now pockmarked with shell craters and concrete rubble. One map in particular, Hill 937 is little more than the charred remains of a raging forest fire on a barren, exposed hill.
• Schizo Tech:
  • Played straight with the NLF faction. Being guerillas, they have a mixed arsenal of: improvised explosives made from scrap, old WWI and WWII vintage firearms like the Mosin-Nagant, to some of the more advanced firearms in the Soviet and Communist Chinese arsenals like the Type 56, RPG-7, and RPD.
  • Downplayed with the ARVN faction. The weapons they are given are a mix of old WWII-era firearms like the M1 Garand, Thompson, and BAR as well as newer, up-to-date weapons like the M16 and M60.
• Short-Range Shotgun: Averted. Shotguns can reliably kill at over 50m out - even with only one or two pellets hitting their target.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: In this game, shotguns hit hard. Even a single pellet can reliably kill enemies from up to 50 metres away provided it makes contact with a vital body part.
• Shout-Out:
  • One of the achievements you can get is literally◊ called "Welcome To The Ricefields".
  • Sprinting a total of 10km in the game nets you the achievement "Run Through the Jungle". Crouch-running 10km nets you "Crouch Run Through the Jungle"
  • Several references to acclaimed films set during the war are present throughout, ranging from the names of achievements to cosmetics.
    • Col. Kilgore's signatures shades, helmet, and cavalry hat are available as unlockable cosmetics for the US Army and USMC factions^note It should be noted that air cavalry pilots and soldiers really did wear cavalry hats in Vietnam (the tradition began there, amongst air cavalry scout pilots wanting to distinguish themselves from other units), and most cavalry units still wear them to this day, with the 1st Cavalry even going as far as awarding silver spurs to members of the unit who have shown great proficiency in the various skills required of them, and golden spurs are earned during combat deployments. In addition, there's achievements like "The Horror" and "The Smell of Napalm in the Morning", which themselves are references to some of the movies more famous quotes. Heck, an entire map, "Resort", is a reference to the film's very famous scene where Col. Kilgore's unit attacks the Vietnamese village.
    • Joker's helmet and Sgt. Hartmann's drill hat are available cosmetics for the US Army and USMC factions. In addition, there's an achievement called "Get Some!", which involves killing 25 NVA and VC soldiers as a helicopter door gunner.
  • An achievement involving spending time climbing ladders for two minutes is called "What a thrill..."
  • One secret achievement involves killing 7 Southern Force soldiers as a Northern Squad Leader with a pickaxe. The name of the achievement? Heigh Hooooo! To drive the point home, the player character even sings it!
  • Winning a battle as a member of the highest scoring squad earns you the achievement "The Gang Solves The North Vietnam Situation".
  • The achievements for the Australians are crawling with references:
    • On any Australian forces map, killing someone with a bayonet while they're charging you with a bayonet gets you "That's Not A Knife... THAT'S A Knife". In turn, killing someone who has a bayonet fixed with a non-bayonet melee attack nets you "That's Not A Knife, That's A Spoon!"
    • Finishing a round on any map playing as the Australians gets you "I Come From A Land Down Under", with the achievement icon being based off the dance the band members do in the video for said song.
    • Killing 100 enemies as the pilot of the Bushranger gets you "Ned Kelly", while getting 50 kills as the gunner gets you "Captain Thunderbolt"
    • Safely landing and exiting a Bushranger as either a co-pilot with a dead pilot or a pilot with a dead co-pilot gets you "Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves". Killing an enemy with a stolen RPG as an Australian gets you "Master Blaster".
  • Getting ten kills with the Thompson submachine gun without taking any damage gets you "The Untouchables".
  • Collapsing 25 enemy spawn tunnels gets you "Demolition Man".
  • Killing an enemy while bleeding gets you "I Ain't Got Time To Bleed"
  • Getting killed by a punji trap gets you "It's A Trap!"
• Smoke Out: Certain classes have access to invaluable smoke grenades, which are almost always essential to successfully capturing a position.
• Sniper Rifle: Sniper variants of the M1 Garand and Mosin-Nagant are available, the latter returning from Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad. In addition, new, dedicated sniper rifles are now available such as the M40A1 for the USMC and the Dragunov SVD for the NVA. Notably, the older rifles allow one to use their existing ironsights as a close-range backup, while the more modern rifles either don't have ironsights or block them off with the scope, meaning a sniper in a close-quarters emergency is forced to essentially blind-fire.
• Storming the Beaches: The map Resort involves the Southern faction, typically the USMC, attacking a VC-held beach resort with attack and transport helicopters. Capturing the first point involves landing as many troops in overwhelming numbers as possible under heavy anti-aircraft fire.
• Translation Convention: Averted like its predecessor. The Americans and Australians speak their respective English dialects, while the North and South Vietnamese speak Vietnamese.
• Tunnel Network: North Vietnamese forces can respawn on a Squad Tunnel dug by their Squad Leader, and most maps feature an extensive network of claustrophobic tunnels which allow safe passage between fortified zones. South Vietnamese forces may enter these zones as well, but lose the use of their primary weapon and must crawl through the dark with just a handgun.
• Urban Warfare: Hue City, Compound, Quang Tri, and some parts of Cu Chi are dense urban areas with close quarters street fighting.
• Videogame Flamethrowers Suck: Averted. Much like its predecessor, the flamethrower here is a One-Hit Kill to anyone its flames touch. Its main drawbacks are that it burns through its fuel supply very quickly, and, if not used extremely carefully, is prone to Friendly Fire. However, it is very good at clearing enemy troops out of dug in positions and tunnels.
• War Is Hell: In keeping with expectations, the Vietnam War is depicted in gory and violent fashion. Body parts and limbs fly after an explosion, and soldiers crying out in pain and suffering as they die are a common sight.