The heat is unbearable, cruel.  Steam seems to rise from the very ground as if Hell itself was threatening to split the damp soil open and all around us the wildlife seemed to go insane.  Every sound I hear makes me think Charlie will spring out of the bush and kill my friends or me.  Even with the men by my side, though, I feel alone.  Welcome to Vietnam during the worst conflict in warfare history.  It isn’t pretty, but then again war never is but at least in video game form it should make for a fun and unforgettable experience.  Yet is Shellshock: Nam ‘67 worthy of being remembered?

You step into the fresh new GI boots of a rookie who just stepped off the transport and into the only home you’ll know for the duration of your stay in Vietnam.  It’s 1967 when the war was at its worst and the casualties on both sides are enormous.  One of the causes behind the heavy American death toll in Shellshock is a savage militant nicknamed King Kong who has inspired all North Vietnamese to his cause.  It’s up to you and your band of brothers to put an end to King Kong’s reign while attempting to survive the most brutal military campaign ever.

Shellshock is a third-person shooter that will put you in some really intense situations.  So intense that the action will keep you on your toes as you move on to your next mission objective.  The enemies, whether you want to call them VC or Charlie, seem to just come out of nowhere and can shoot without missing most of the time.  You’ll have a small squad along with you and they’re invulnerable to bullets so they’ll help you out--but don’t expect them to provide good enough cover while you attempt to plant C4 near an enemy cannon.  Yes, as you can guess, Shellshock has a number of problems.

Adding to the growing list of flaws is the enemy AI.  They’re not very good at taking cover or fleeing when you toss a grenade in their general direction, yet somehow they’re not as easy to kill as you might think . . . unless, of course, you target specific limbs.  Shoot a VC with a mere pistol shot to his head and watch that head pop off like a Champaign cork but shoot them in the chest and it takes four or five rounds to kill him or her.  You can even shoot their legs and arms, leaving them limbless husks that die instantaneously.  This could have been gruesome because, well, violent deaths that occur on the battlefield of any war are gruesome.  Yet it’s far from gruesome, really.  It’s almost comical how easily the enemy falls apart after a few shots.

The missions you’ll go on are inspired by many of the Vietnam movies you’ve probably seen and that’s okay in my book because, for the most part, they’re interesting.  In Shellshock, however, the missions are straightforward and confusing.  You hardly ever stray from the path and thus leaving you no chance to explore since each time you try to move alone you’ll get reprimanded by the highest-ranking officer.  Confusion sets in the minute the current mission objective becomes vague.  What area in the northwest did your Lieutenant want you to find that missing journalist?  What villager did he ask you to stop from running away?  And how exactly do you remove booby traps when the correct sequence and how you go about achieving it isn’t even explained at all?

The game does a few things wrong (and then messes them up again).  For instance, the collection of weapons you get in the game are true to the era (e.g. M16 and combat shotgun etc.) and if you don’t like them you can always pick up your enemies weapons and use it against them.  There are mission breaks in which you can interact with your fellow soldiers on the base and bother the nurses in the hospital.  You’ll find that several enemies drop items, trophies they’re called here, that can be used as currency in the military base.  But instead of buying something cool like unlockable extras you can use on your missions, you get to buy useless items like hard drugs and, ahem, “boom boom” from the local working girls Mama-san has set up in a nearby hut.  They’re pointless activities that don’t add anything to the story and you certainly don’t gain anything by doing it.

Control-wise, the game handles very awkwardly.  Moving your nameless soldier across the field is easy enough until you get to aim the reticule at your enemy.  It takes practice to get your soldier to shoot faster and more accurately.  This could have been a lot easier had the controls been more responsive to moves such as kneeling or laying flat on your stomach to provide cover fire.  Even doing something as simple as tossing a grenade, done Splinter Cell-style with the range circles and all, is not a simple and graceful action.  In many ways controlling your soldier feels a lot like controlling another Eidos character, Hitman’s Agent 47 . . . only Agent 47 can target and aim ten times faster.

Stepping out into the rice fields, the reflection of the sun shimmering across the puddles of clear water, you can’t help but admire how beautiful locations like this look.  You’ll step out into the bush wondering what kinds of booby traps are around and, thanks to the thick foliage; you might even step into a pit filled with sharp bamboo stakes.  The explosions and gunfire will make you feel like you’ve just entered hell at its hottest.  Your comrades are rendered neatly enough, especially when it comes to their faces.  Still, even with these good things there are some really awful flaws. Ever see a dead body phase right through the ground like quicksand?  You will thanks to the clipping problems.  The blood really flows in Shellshock and blowing off limbs happens to frequently it becomes more comical than horrifying.

Authenticity . . . that’s what the game attempted to bring with its pretty impressive collection of licensed tunes blaring over the PA system in the base camp. You’ll be listening to everything from “Oh, Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison to John Lee Hooker’s anti-war blues.  There’s even a disc jockey that chimes in after each song telling a joke or two or even giving updates on current situations nearby.  Technically this all sounds great, but both the tunes and the disc jockey repeat the same things over and over again throughout the game.  As for explosions and gunfire, they’re pretty good at times.  Other times, explosions come off as stifled as if the explosion sounded far away when you’re just a few steps away from the actual thing.  Yet while the occasional muffled sound effects can be acceptable, the horrible voice acting isn’t.  Many of the villagers somehow speak English, as do most of the enemies you’ll face, but do they have to sound like bad stereotypes? Even the voice actor for Mama-San sounds embarrassed to say those lines.

Shellshock: Nam ‘67 does not live up to the hype and this is unfortunate since the setting feels just right.  Yes it’s action-packed and yes the weapons and situations are true to the era but all of this just doesn’t work due to the awful controls and pretty straightforward levels that keep this from being fun.  At the moment, Shellshock joins the recent crop of Vietnam War games that just disappoints those action-hungry gamers looking for a good time in Nam.  You’re better off renting the movies Platoon or Apocalypse Now to get your Nam fix.

Gameplay: 6.0
The controls make for an incredibly awkward combat experience even though all the weapons and characteristics of the Vietnam conflict can be found here.  The game’s levels, though, are linear and you’ll find that there are very little surprises the game throws at you.  It’s also pretty frustrating since the enemies seem to spawn out of thin air almost nonstop in some instances.  Overall, it’s a pretty dull experience.

Graphics: 7.0
Despite the horrible clipping issues and the occasionally stutters during most of the game’s intense battles, the environments do look like you’re deep in the bush and your comrades (as well as other characters you’ll encounter) looks great when it comes to facial detail.  There’s graininess to certain areas but they add more character to dark places. Explosions and gunfire look better than they sound but do the enemies heads have to pop off so easily?

Sound: 6.5
I love the sound of napalm in the morning or any morning for that matter just as long as it sounds great and clear.  In this game, explosions sound pretty good when it comes to napalm but set a C4 explosive and you get a muffled boom.  The gunfire is loud but if you’re looking for some kind of directional sound you’ll be disappointed.  There are, though, some great environmental sounds and cool 60s tunes that range from The Specters to Country Joe and the Fish.  The voice acting, on the other hand, is atrocious.

Difficulty: Medium
There are challenges aplenty to be found in Shellshock and there are levels that will have you losing your head pretty quickly if you don’t look for proper cover.  The fact that sometimes the enemy takes more than two shots to kill make them a force to be reckoned with and clearing booby traps is just nearly impossible.

Concept: 6.5
If you’ve seen movies like Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now then much of what you’ll see in Shellshock will not surprise you in the very least.  Sure it’s neat to experience situations from these movies but the drama of the situation quickly becomes comical the minute heads and other limbs pop off or wondering where to go next.  Oh, the horror . . . the horror.

Overall: 6.0
All the things we look for and love about war games is not present in Shellshock: Nam ’67 and that includes the realism of the war itself.  Medal of Honor: Frontline might not be the most perfect war game out there but it took you into the trenches and made you feel the horrors of war . . . something that is obviously not evident throughout Shellshock.  If you’re looking for short thrills, give this game a rental.  Otherwise stay clear.