Battlefield: Vietnam

Heres what is good:

1. Great soundtrack. The music is awesome.
2. The idea. the idea is great. The way it plays out is not.

I first decided to play the single player mission to get the hang of the game. The graphics weren't very good and even this part of the game lags. The movements are jumpy and it takes along to load. So I decided to try on-line and see what it was like.

I couldn't even log onto a game because I had the wrong version. I just got the game that day and it hadn't been out long. Plus this game comes with some software called Acegain Liveupdate. It is supposed to automatically check and download any patches and updates. Well, it didn't. So I said OK to update. I waited and waited and waited and finally after 1/2 an hour, I cancelled it and went out on the internet and looked for the patch. After waiting a little over an hour, I finally got the patch and loaded it. The patch did let me enter an on-line game and it did help with the graphics, but the game was way too laggy. According to my ping, I was running less than 70 and I had the 3rd best ping out of 16 people and I still couldn't move very well. I was warping all over the place. So I tried another server and another server and after 17 tries, I found a game with only 5 other guys. And guess what? It still played like crap. Not sure how the other 5000 + people that are on everyday keep playing this, but they are.

I thought the idea of doing helicopter drops and firing weapons from a helicopter and some of the booby traps you can set sounded cool. And it looks like the maps were done very well and there was lots of potential here. But somewhere along the line something happened. And it isn't good.

I have also read some reviews here that said you had to have certain video cards and computers. Why? This game should have been made to work with computers no matter what they have as long as they meet the minimum requirements. My computer which is a Dell beats those requirements and the recommended requirements by alot. But the game still lags on single player and multi player. It is just unplayable. I have not had this problem with any other recently released games and should not have had a problem with this one. But it sounds like I am not the only one.

Having been a pretty big fan of Battlefield 1942, I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone right now. Maybe more patches are on the way but after trying to play this game for around 12-15 hours, I just can't do it anymore. I will keep checking for new patches to see if it improves, but for right now, I would tell you to wait for Battlefield 2 which is coming sometime. Until then, I will get back on-line and continue to play Medal of Honor.

I'm running a Pentium 4, 2.4 GHz, 512Mb of RAM, and a 64Mb ti4200 Geforce 4 graphics card.

Yeah, I know, that's kind of a low end system now, but I am able to run the game with almost no trouble at all. Of course, I have to have the graphics turned down to medium, but that doesn't effect the gameplay at all.

PROS:
1) The engine used here is SO much better than the one used for the original BF1942 games. It's able to generate lush plant life such as grass, trees, boulders, and all of these with an increased viewing distance.
2) As opposed to the 0% cover that was offered in the BF1942 games, this game's cover is so incredible that sneak attacks are possible. The phrase "Take cover!!" actually means something!
3) The introduction of helos is a massive step forward as well. Unfortunately, there will be the occasional "newbie" flyer who gets you killed, but that sort of problem is becoming much more infrequent as people get used to the system.
4) Both sides are VERY well balanced. Unlike the disgustingly unbalanced Desert Combat mod, this game actually balances things as they should be. The Ak-47 has a 30 round clip, whereas the M16 has 20 round clip. However, the M16 is far more accurate at long range than the Ak-47. It's this sort of balance that is apparent throughout the entire game. Each side has its strengths and weaknesses, and because of this the sides have to use different strategies in order to increase their advantage.
5) The sound of gunfire is much better than the sounds used in BF1942. The gunfire isn't as tame by a long shot. And the sound of the environment is beyond belief. Crickets, birds, the rustle of grass, and the lap of water is beyond any other Battlefield game.

CONS:

1) Low end computers should not even bother trying to run this. I feel as if my system is as low as anybody would want to go (unless they have a really good graphics card with a large stache of memory.)

So there you have. Definately get this game if your computer is as good or better than mine.