ShellShock: Nam '67

Written by Chris Reiter  on March 01, 2004

First Impressions: Yeah, I was in Nam. СCourse back then, things were a lot different. You could gun down like 400 men named Charlie without restraint. Today you'll get imprisoned for even thinking of doing that. What's the big deal?!

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Nam, Vietnam. This is the same war you've heard about for years. Be it when you were in a history class, watched a movie, listened to a song, visited a museum, or even got the brunt of a joke relating to this historical period, in many ways, lots of ways, Vietnam has stuck by people from its rise to its collapse. It's funny, you know. Vietnam was a war many Americas didn't want. It wasn't our fight, they said. What kind of people are we if we're not to protect a country in need of support? Even after all the protesting and when America still went to battle a determined and advantageous enemy, the two sides of whether America should have participated in Nam still shadow our past. If America wasn't there, we wouldn't have prevented the deaths of the Vietnamese that we did. In turn, however, America lost its own unforeseen number of people. After the war was over, some of those still living came back a different man all together. This was a war where the enemy was incognito to the naked eye, and so after all the bloodshed, and all the suffering, and never knowing what was going on at all times...Vietnam was a story of good and bad. And as this war has been seen and heard in most mediums aside from the one involved of digital interaction, Eidos Interactive is combining their efforts with the newly formed Guerilla Games to bring gamers everywhere into this war this summer -- to experience what it was actually like to be there from the eyes of a soldier trapped behind enemy lines.

War has its ups and its downs. War has its prisoners and its casualties. War has weapons, soldiers, commanding officers...and then there's you, a person with a whole lot to win, and even more to lose. You're a rookie. Into Vietnam, you're entering the jungle thinking there's a chance that you're a part of the winning team. Whether your team wins, loses, or you find yourself a captive, you're one reason toward the balance of whatever result is in store. What reason that is you'll figure out on your own. Now buck up, ready your weapon, and prepare to face a new kind of enemy.

Out of all America's wars, Vietnam was the single most controversial war. That brings to mind why there's so many games based on World War II right now, and so few based on Vietnam. Arguably, while World War II is a major focal point in history's existence as to how almost an entire race of people was wiped off the face of existence amongst other issues, Vietnam is still one of today's most memorable periods. That's why Guerilla Games is aiming to shed some light on the same murky happenings that took place so many years ago. Taking a different approach from most war-based games, though, ShellShock will place players as a new recruit into the seamy jungles of Nam remaining inside a third-person view. As opposed to being a First Person Shooter, Guerilla's goal is to take ShellShock into a claustrophobic territory where even your allies can hurt you.

Essentially, players will find themselves stuck in fighting grounds that will mask their surroundings. Getting as close to an experience to this war is what Guerilla counts on doing. As to what went on during Vietnam will pretty much happen here as well. Objectives ranging from partaking in bloodletting gun battles, teaming up with the North Vietnam Army, and entering into a more toned down arrangement of covert operations (like assassinating a Vietcong General) are a few gameplay issues to be expected. Players will find themselves having access to a slew of weaponry, of handguns, automatics, napalm, turrets, and even the ability to call in an air strike at certain times. Additionally, trudging past treacherous enemy ambushes and booby traps, as the fresh recruit, players will progressively find themselves promoted to higher ranks until reaching a Special Forces status.

Bittersweet warfare just isn't as bitter without the sweet. War is ugly, but it's also a thing of beauty in some ways. Guerilla Games, whose responsible for this fall's Killzone title (what's already appearing to be another remarkable looking release), is designing the Vietnam in ShellShock with gritty and glorious fashion. Enemies in ShellShock aren't being the dumbed down opponents you're used to. Unloading a couple rounds into their chest won't always get the job done, as just like real life, bullet wounds aren't enough until the body is incapacitated -- and here enemies will continue to repeatedly fire even while battered and bruised. You and your comrades alike will receive authentic penalties to the body similarly, where ammo will soar through the air every which way, as the war itself was known for many deaths including allies accidentally killing allies. Staged in flourishing jungles, rural bogs, inner tunnel passages, and abroad Vietnamese villages, the natural amazement of the Vietnamese war settings is noticeably being tuned for a rejuvenation once more in Guerilla's soon-to-come recreation.