Vietcong (computer game)

Vietcong is a first-person shooter PC game, developed by Pterodon and Illusion Softworks, published by Gathering in April 2003, and set during the Vietnam War. The player takes on the role, in the single-player campaign, of Sergeant First Class Steve R. Hawkins; born 13th October 1939, in Wilmington North Carolina, who has been assigned to the Special Forces camp at Nui Pek. Nui Pek is situated near where the Ho Chi Minh trail reenters Vietnam from Cambodia, so it is considered one of the most dangerous areas in all of Vietnam. Steve leads the rest of the Special Forces stationed at Nui Pek, each of whom is a Sergeant in their own right, and has their own specialties:

Thomas Bronson Sergeant First Class; born 19th January 1936, in New York City, New York, he is an African-American who chose Vietnam over jail. Bronson serves as the combat engineer and demolitions expert on the team. He hands out ammunition to you during the missions he is present on. (Only if you use American weapons, and not captured North Vietnamese weapons)
Joe Crocker Staff Sergeant; born 17th May 1943 in San Francisc, California, he dropped out of Stanford to join the Army. Crocker serves as the combat medic on the team.
P.J Defort Sergeant; born 21st December 1944, in New York, a young and highly intelligent former Air Force Cadet. Defort serves as the radio operator on the team.
Le Duy Nhut (Nick) Sergeant, a Vietcong defector, with extensive knowledge of the area around Nui Pek. Nhut serves as the pointman and translator on the team.
C.J. Hornster Sergent First Class; born 16th January 1939, in Augusta, Maine. An all-round hardcase, eager (often too eager) to engage the enemy no matter the odds. Hornster serves as the machinegunner on the team.

In addition to the linear campaign, the game features several stand-alone single player maps and network and online multiplay. Multiplay game modes include capture the flag (CTF), deathmatch (DM), team deathmatch (TDM), assault team game (ATG), last man standing (LMS) and real war (RW). Nearly three years after the game's release, Vietcong as a multiplayer is still extremely popular.

In addition to the original game, expansion pack ' Fist Alpha' was released in February 2004, with some new features, and was bundled with Vietcong as ' Purple Haze' for the PC. Vietcong: Purple Haze was also released in October that year as an expanded version for PlayStation 2 and Xbox developed by Coyote Games. 'Purple Haze' is a reference to Jimi Hendrix's song of the same name.

The game has a controversy however, as in the training there is profuse swearing, and the PEGI symbol warning buyers of this is AWOL.

The sequel to Vietcong, Vietcong 2, was released in late October 2005.

Vietcong Single Player Campaign Missions

Arrival - 27th June 1967
- Medic Patrol
Briefing For Three Canyons - 5th July 1967
- Insertion
  - Ho Chi Minh's Trail
    - Keep Running Charlie
      - Bahnar Tribe
Midnight Surprise
Briefing For Operation: Tin Can - 16th September 1967
- Operation: Tin Can
  - False Alarm
    - Tunnel Rat
      - Arroya
        Underground City
        Khe Bana River
Briefing For Papa Oscar Whiskey - 21st September 1967
- Papa Oscar Whiskey
Briefing For Brush And Sweep - 23rd September 1967
- Brush And Sweep
Briefing For Twisty Tack
- Twisty Track Drive
  - Outpost
Briefing For Radio Relay - 10th November 1967
- Radio Relay
Nha Trang SF HQ
Briefing For Po Tlong Karai - 27th November 1967
- Fight To The Po Tlong Karai
  - Crash In The Jungle
    - Seizing The Hill
      - Ruins Of Po Tlong Karai
        Cave In
        Evade & Escape
Briefing For Bahnar Village - 2nd January 1968
- Stream
  - Near The Bahnar Village
    - 'Bahnar Village
Briefing For The Bridge - 7th January 1968
- The Bridge
Briefing For They're Coming - 7th January 1968
- They're Coming
  - Too Many Targets
    - The Last Stand

Weapons In Vietcong

United States / South Vietnam

Knife
Colt M1911A1
.38 Revolver
Smith & Wesson Model.39 "Hush Puppy"
M1 Carbine (Bayonet can be attached on Fist Alpha expansion pack)
M1D Garand
Winchester 70
M1A1 Thompson
M3A1 "Grease Gun"
M16 (Bayonet can be attached on Fist Alpha expansion pack)
Remington 870
M60 GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun)
M79 (Only available in single player mode)
M67 Hand Grenade
M18A1 Claymore AP (Anti-Personnel) Mine

North Vietnamese

Knife
Makarov PM
TT-33
.38 Revolver
SKS Simonov (Bayonet can be attached on Fist Alpha expansion pack)
Dragunov SVD
Mosin Nagant
PPSh-41
PPS-43
AK-47 (Bayonet can be attached on Fist Alpha expansion pack)
Baikal IZH-43
RPD Degtyrev
Stick Hand Grenade
Booby Trap (Grenade)

Maps In Vietcong

Ambush
Arroyo
Bahnar
Halong Port
NVA Base
Radio Relay
Storm
Waterfall
Stream

Vietcong: Fist Alpha Single Player Campaign Missions

Prolouge - 1st March 1967
- Thunder Over The Jungle
Day In Pleiku - 17th March 1967
- Operation Golden Gift
  - Hanging Bridge
Day On Nui Pek - 27th April 1967
- Operation Pandora's Box
Night Guard
- Nui Pek Under Attack - 15th May 1967
Nui Pek After Attack - 16th May 1967
- Operation Fist Alpha
  - Death Valley
    - Field Gun Battery
      - 'Burn The Jungle

Weapons In Vietcong: Fist Alpha

The expansion introduced Bayonets to many of the games weapons, and also added Machetes to the Sniper and Engineer classes of the game. In addition to this, a few side specific weapons were also added:

United States / South Vietnam

M14 + (M14 With Optics) (Cannot be fitted with a bayonet in game, unlike its real life counterpart)
Sten Mk.IIS

North Vietnamese

CZ vz.61 Scorpion
SVT-40 + (SVT-40 With Optics) (Actually an AVT-40)
Degtyarev DP

Maps In Vietcong: Fist Alpha

Bridge
Cambodia
Death Valley
Hamburger Hill
Indian Country
Jarai
Moorland
Nui Pek
Old Temple
Thundercreek
Three Canyons

Vehicles In Vietcong & Vietcong: Fist Alpha

Although only one vehicle in the games can be personally controled by the player on a certain map; (M151), other different vehicles have a role in the games, as either parts of the game or present in cutscenes: