Shellshock: Nam '67

The Good
Games like Shellshock only come along once in a while, while games like Medal of Honor and Call of Duty represent World War II, not many games represented anything from Vietnam, there was Conflict: Vietnam, but the gameplay was so flawed it wasn't enjoyable. Well one day I noticed this game sitting on the shelf and wondered to myself if it could be any worse, so I rented this from my local blockbuster and I was shocked in both ways.

First off the game is just bloody and I mean bloody, this game just tears people up...literally. From heads, to legs and arms you can literally just tear off body parts with your weapons, hell even at one point I shot a charging Vietnamese soldier and his arm coming flying off with the gun still firing, now that's fun. The game gives you a true feeling of dread at times, in one mission you have to clear out a village and as you progress with your squad you will get ambushed and the first time I played this I was actually kinda jumpy about it. Once the firefight started, blood, body parts, screaming everything was flying and when all was said and done we were down to three enemy soldiers in a ditch where I threw a grenade in to flush them out, needless to say they tried to run only to be shot dead while the lone one was torn apart by the grenade and the whole was filled with gore and blood. Now that is fun.

The game does have a good bit of realism, it doesn't hold back, bad language, violence it's all here, even at times you wonder what side you are on since even your comrades can commit unspeakable deeds. The choice of weapons is phenomenal, automatic weapons, grenades (which come in very handy at time), knifes, machetes and even the always favorite flamethrower.

The music and the mood is very effective, it has '60s music from time to time, but the game can creep you out with some of the most spooky music I've ever heard in a war game. There is a good selection of levels to choose from and a variety of different challenges for these levels. There is a lot to like this game.

The Bad
Well, there were a few things that did bother me, one was the repetitive acting throughout the game from the Vietnamese enemies, they all sound the same, literally, I think they used one guy for hundreds of soldiers.

Also I'm surprised no one really got offended cause it did take some of the stereotypes from movies like Full Metal Jacket for the prostitutes, yes prostitutes, who have some lines such as "Me love you long time soldier boy". And here I thought only Full Metal Jacket only had that.

The only other thing that bothered me was the physics in this game, true you can blow apart body parts, but it is some of the weirdest i've seen. It's like there body becomes stiff and rigid, it would have been nice to have sort of rag doll effect instead.

The Bottom Line
You know this is a bad game, but it's an acquired taste. I love the gritty and dark mood to this game, true some people might think this game is offensive, mostly to the Vietnamese, but it isn't all that bad, hell there is worse games out there that can truly offend. If you're not into blood, gore, death and all that good stuff they stay away from this game, but if you're willing to give it a shot, rent it first before you buy.