On the: PC, Xbox (reviewed), and PS2
Players: 1
Rating: M (Violence, gore, language, sexual content, drug content, racial sterotypes)

Opening Comments or Thoughts

Awaking on Christmas day, I was greeted with a cornucopia of presents, most of them video games. As I gleefully unwrapped a bright red parcel, I wondered what surprises lay in front of me. I finshed my wide-eye tearing rampage to reveal in front of me Shellshock Nam \'67, the game I am reviewing today. The box promised \'Unnerving Realism\' with the greatest catchline in all of Vietnam gaming, \'Forget Medals. Forget Honor. Just Survive.\' I jumped to my Xbox (only after opening the rest of my presents) and popped the game in. The rest is a story of hate, love, and of course, \'gritty realism\'.

Story

Simple as pie. It\'s 1967 and you\'re a young recruit in a US infantry unit. The first half of the game or so, your working with a squadron run by Lt. O\'Brian. As you reach the half-way mark, you get to join a Special Forces unit and go on \'stealth\' missions and gain intel on where Charlie (Ed.-the enemy) will show up next. The story is basic and contains nothing very intresting; in fact, there is no story.

Graphics

The graphics in Shellshock Nam \'67 are about as appealing as an alley cat. They\'re nothing special but at times are graceful. I can understand where Guerilla Games (makers of the game \'Killzone\' [PS2]) were going with the grainy filters and the drab colors. This artistic touch ups would have been fine with me if it weren\'t for the numerous (I stress NUMEROUS) graphical hipcups and a Playstation One level draw distance. On a small plus side, the napalm effects are amazing and the dense foliage perfectly mimics real world Vietnam. The graphics get an underwhelming C-.

Sound

I truly enjoy Shellshock\'s audio elements. The voiceovers are, at many times, intresting and attention getting, but every once in a while, some of the VOs get a little static-ey and unintentionally humorous. Shellshock also has its fair share of licensed tunes from the 1960\'s, including songs from John Lee and Roy Orbison. These songs draw the player into the time period; however, it\'s the sweeping score which, if you pardon the expression, rocks. The only pitfall in this section is the ballistics, which sound cut-out and fake. Audio scores a B+.

Game play and Controls

Shellshock Nam \'67 controls are basic and near-flawless. Shellshock is a thrid-person shooter, with controls similar to \'Star Wars Battlefront.\' So, in that respect, Shellshock is a complete success, but the game play is much less successful. Shellshock can be divided into two mission types, the \'search and destroy\' missions and the \'stealth, but on second though, use assult rifles and search and destroy\' missions. So the \'Stealth\' is a complete failure, but the destroy parts of the game, which is about all of it, function well, but offer little variety or variation. So, B- for being good, but being repetitive.

Appropriateness

Shellshock is the only Vietnam game to offer the horrors of the war as a selling point. This should tell you something right off the bat. These horrors include, but are not limited to: Graphical killing, innocent villagers being shot for the GI\'s pleasure, hiring prostitutes and buying pornography, buying prescription medicine without a proper prescription, constant use of vulgar language, and of course ignorant views of the Vietnamese culture and their language. Okay, F, like that was a surprise.

Closing Thoughts and Overall Score

Shellshock Nam \'67 is intriguing. I know that its an average at best game that is painfully repetiative and completely inappropriate, but I\'m oddly drawn to its view on one of the least popular wars in American history. Because of the inappropriate content, Shellshock Nam \'67 gets a D-.