Hell Let Loose: Vietnam Review – I Love The Smell Of FPS In The Morning

Many aspects are required to make a good historical war video game: immersion, historical accuracy, realistic gameplay, and more. Hell Let Loose: Vietnam manages to capture many of these aspects, but other basic elements hold it back from reaching its full potential. The team at Expression Games brings the core gameplay of its original WWII title, Hell Let Loose, into a new era of warfare in Vietnam. While Hell Let Loose: Vietnam retains the core gameplay loop that made the original great, other elements haven’t evolved much with its transition into a new historical period, making the game feel somewhat lacking in those areas.

The gameplay of Hell Let Loose: Vietnam continues to be as unique and engaging as its predecessor. The infantry movement is similar to other classic FPS titles like early Call of Duty games. Movement is slow, but simple and way more fluid than the one in Hell Let Loose. Vault transitions and reactions are faster and more accurate. The Time to Kill (TTK) continues to be on the side of realism as well, with players going down with just a couple of shots.

Realism aspects expand into all areas of the game, making Hell Let Loose: Vietnam closer to the side of MilSim games than arcade shooters. There are no visual hit markers or notifications that let players know they have eliminated others, making the experience more realistic and immersive. Players need to rely on other senses and strategies, such as audio cues, to know if their actions have been successful.

While there are no visual confirmations of kills, there are sounds that let players know if their shots landed. There’s a “thud” heard if players are hit in the body, and a “clank” if players score a headshot. These audio details help greatly in the immersiveness that Hell Let Loose: Vietnam transmits. Accompanied by the sounds of helicopters, boats, machine guns, and bombs, the audio team creates one of the most amazing auditory experiences in military video games to date.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the visual side in Hell Let Loose: Vietnam. The game has some good visuals, but there is currently a problem with the blurriness of the textures, which makes it very difficult to see enemy players. Don’t get me wrong, I am aware of the importance of visibility in games like this. I think the game does a great job of the camouflage of the soldiers and how they blend with the environment.

As a MilSim player, having a good mix of the cosmetics aesthetic and the environment is great. The problem is that the blurriness of the engine simply makes it impossible sometimes to see enemy players on medium settings or lower. Players with a high-end PC will have the advantage of having a clear image if some settings like resolution upscaling are disabled. The engine also required some performance updates from the team and some additional patches for server stability, which unfortunately are a bit of a problem with crashes or network issues.

One of the latest updates added more official servers, giving players more options with the different maps the game has to offer. Each map is vast, which helps with the feeling of the spectacle of the war. The game modes are mostly the same as the ones in the original Hell Let Loose, which are great, but still leave a bit to be desired from the guerrilla warfare the Vietnam War is known for. The roles, armaments, and features like tunnels already bring a good representation of the war; if complemented with a mode that represents the war as well, it could greatly improve the gameplay experience.

The game modes continue to encourage teamwork and communication. These elements were essential in Hell Let Loose, and they continue to be the case in Vietnam. This not only helps in making it stand out from most modern shooters that encourage solo play only, but also makes for unique gameplay moments that no other title will offer. These moments can occur solo or while socializing with other players, such as deciding which objective to attack next, where the enemy is located, etc. Thanks to the variety of roles available, each decision contributes to the team and the outcome of the match.

Roles are part of the core gameplay of Hell Let Loose: Vietnam, with many available for players to select: Squad Leader, Grenadier, Sniper, Pilot, etc. Each role is incredibly unique, which brings great replayability for players who enjoy the variety, and role identity for those who like to stick to just one in specific. There are many weapons and gear exclusive to each role, and the team has also confirmed a roadmap with more weapons, gear, and maps coming in the future that will help expand the unique gameplay the game has to offer.

Hell Let Loose: Vietnam brings the roles, gameplay, and philosophy that made the original great, and translates that into a new war scenario. While some issues, such as the visual blurriness and other minor bugs, are currently affecting some of the experience, there is potential for it to become as successful, or even bigger than the original, especially with the team already patching some of the issues and promising more content in the future. This team certainly knows how to capture the spectacle and chaos of war, and Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is no exception.

Walter reviewed Hell Let Loose: Vietnam on PC with a provided review code. This review is based on the version of the game available at the time of writing and our score will not be changed.