Large-scale warfare has usually been the domain of Battlefield 6 or Arma. However, since the former has underperformed over many months and the latter leans far more towards a realistic tactical experience, the space is ripe for something else. It’s a bridge that Hell Let Loose managed to achieve when it launched in 2021, despite numerous hang-ups. Naturally, Team 17 and Expression Games sought to expand its more gameplay into a completely different theater of war that hasn’t been fully explored much in video games: Vietnam.

Rivers snake across the map, easily facilitating troop transports as well as subterfuge from those brave enough to dive through the waters. Napalm strikes and bombings contrast with tunnels that allow for quickly traversing distances and reinforcing allies. An almost obnoxious amount of foliage, which can feel like a nightmare to assail…until you decide to become one with the foliage itself.

However, if you’ve played any competitive multiplayer shooter in the past decade, you’ll know there will be problems. Those plaguing Hell Let Loose: Vietnam aren’t enough to leave it completely dead in the water, by a long shot. And yet, I can’t help but wonder if it could have used even more time for polish.

"This isn’t a gameplay loop that will always reward a one-man-army playstyle where you rush in guns-blazing, jumping and sliding hither and yon, and emerge victorious."

If you’ve played the original, much of the sequel will look structurally similar. Matches are 50v50. There’s no mini-map taking up screen real estate, though a compass is available below to reorient yourself. Assorted squads are available, covering different divisions: Infantry, Armor, Recon, and Helicopter. A Commander oversees everything, calling in airstrikes and supply drops when not outlining objectives to assault

And even within those divisions, you have finer roles. You could go in as a Rifleman, the frontliner who can keep squads topped off with ammo boxes, or a Grenadier who provides anti-armor explosive support. But besides the usual Medic or Sniper, there’s also the Machine Gunner, disrupting the enemy with suppressive fire at the cost of mobility. Or the Spotter, who essentially marks targets for their Sniper and can even provide vision on enemy units with a flare gun.

It’s a pretty assorted line-up, and even when everything devolves into chaos, knowing your role and leveraging it to the fullest can help ground you. During one match, I became a Crewman, gunning down human and armored targets as our driver desperately tried to navigate the harsh jungles of Huế Outskirts, where your average tree could disrupt sightlines something fierce. You wouldn’t think that pivoting the main gun would be such an arduously slow, painstaking task…just like the average wandering enemy wouldn’t think that a single 7.62MM shot could take them down. The more you know.

However, in Cam Ranh Port, after a short-lived (and disastrous) stint as a pilot, I took up the role of a Rifleman, pushing alongside other allies to desperately capture terrain. Though there’s still plenty of foliage to be found, a hefty portion of the map consisted of desert plains. Easier to spot enemies out, but even easier to get spotted and gunned down. Using whatever vegetation was available to outflank and sometimes climbing atop shipment containers down by the shore to take out enemies.

Your character can still sprint, crouch-run and crawl impossible distances without feeling like they’re swimming through the sheer humidity (more on that later) or at the mercy of malaria. That said, this isn’t a gameplay loop that will always reward a one-man-army playstyle where you rush in guns-blazing, jumping and sliding hither and yon, and emerge victorious. The pace is slower, methodical and tense; much of the time, listening to ambient sounds and being aware of your own noise can mean the difference between life and death.

"Despite playing on relatively high ping, connectivity also felt solid overall. But really, much of your enjoyment will be derived from how well you can play by Hell Let Loose’s rules."

And while this is an experience where you’re constantly calling out targets and objectives to your teammates, it also requires you to function without them. Maybe you’ll make a solid hero play. Maybe you’ll lie prone in the grass, desperately searching for their attackers before they can take out even more.

In that sense, the foundation of Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is certainly notable, and it’s backed by decent map design and solid gunplay. The problem lies in the optimization and overall presentation. It’s one thing to pick out targets like they’re needles in a proverbial haystack. Try doing it when there’s too much pop-in, the foliage is shimmering or, even worse, visual artifacting results in pixelated explosion smoke that affects the environment.

Even though several of the matches I played didn’t hit the 100-player cap despite coming pretty close, I can somewhat empathize with the dodgy performance. But when it’s causing so many visibility issues, it becomes nothing less than headache-inducing, especially with how long matches can be. During my Tank Crewman journey, despite not changing any settings, my frame rate took an inexplicable dive and remained so until I restarted my system. Cam Ranh Port proved more reliable for consistently hitting 60 FPS, so I can only assume that the sheer amount of foliage from earlier, combined with the balmy weather, proved too much. And it’s a shame because overall, Hell Let Loose: Vietnam’s environments are pretty detailed and atmospheric. Seeing such locales devolve in such a muddy manner is a shame.

Jank can also prove problematic at times. It’s most noticeable when moving through locations with your allies and colliding with them, resulting in awkward shuffling. Which may not seem all that harmful when all is quiet, but it can prove annoying in the heat of battle. Then there are the various bugs, from unmanned boats submerging and surfacing in the water. Or an instance where my character inexplicably began swimming through the air. I think it was because the game thought I hit the water, which was still a good dozen yards ahead. Maybe global warming hit much earlier than expected and in more bizarre ways than I thought. Either way, it didn’t help the realism.

I won’t deny the sheer shock and awe of seeing an area lit up by napalm, scorched earth and all, or the tension of following the radio leading to an NVA tunnel to dismantle it. Despite playing on relatively high ping, connectivity also felt solid overall. But really, much of your enjoyment will be derived from how well you can play by Hell Let Loose’s rules.

"I wouldn’t recommend abandoning your PvP comfort pick any time soon, but you never know – Vietnam may become an appealing destination in the next six months."

Unless you’re willing to take things slow, slog through engagements and flex to other roles, this may not be the competitive multiplayer FPS for you. Those who can get into it and look past the annoyances caused by the optimization and bugs will find a relatively deep experience with a strong atmosphere – where frustration can give way to some genuinely enthralling moments.

Whether that’s enough to sustain players through six maps and four modes at launch remains to be seen. Even with its highs and lows, Hell Let Loose: Vietnam has some appeal, even if it’s far from the most mainstream. I wouldn’t recommend abandoning your PvP comfort pick any time soon, but you never know – Vietnam may become an appealing destination in the next six months. For now, it’s a question of whether Expression Games can capitalize and refine it into something truly special.

This game was reviewed on PC.