you're gonna love the 'Nam

I came home to a glorious suprise in the mail yesterday. No, it wasn't a makeshift bomb that someone sent me for for making fun of their weblog, but a certain magazine delivering the most Holiest of News.

BATTLEFIELD: Vietnam

Yes, that's right kids - the same developers that brought you the astounding Battlefield 1942 are at it again with a new setting. Now that I've had an evening with my most favoritest magazine in the universe to let the information settle in, I will divulge what could possibly be the best kept secret this year. Especially after E3, where a sequel to BF1942 was pretty much a given, but what it would acutually be was a complete mystery. Much like the boys at Penny Arcade have said, the printed medium is a dying method of conveying information. Still, it's nice to see a venerable old mag like PC Gamer delivering the goods.

Shit, I'm so off track. BF: Vietnam. Yes, picture this. You're running through some dense jungle, only to be surprised by a small unit of VC that prepared an ambush. You let loose with your M-16, seeing spent shells fly through the air, the sunlight glinting off of their curved surfaces. You call for backup. On the horizon, you see a Chinook carrying much needed artillery support to your position. Two Hueys fly alongside the transport chopper, each carrying a compliment of 3 troops, who are strafing your enemy with the side mounted mini guns. All the while some 60s style tunes blare inside each of the choppers.

This game hopes to recreate all of your favorite Vietnam War movies - from Apocolypse Now to Full Metal Jacket. There will be a larger emphasis on team play, as the vehicles will pack even more punch than BF1942. You can hop into an F-4 Phantom and napalm a strip of jungle. You can hop into a tank and roll over enemy bunkers with ease as you did in BF1942. Player and vehicle models will sport the atypical uniform and graffiti of the time period. Best of all, DICE plans on keeping the same pick-up-and-get-fighting arcade style play that made BF1942 so enjoyable. I can't wait.

On that note, the great looking mod Eve of Destruction that was made for BF1942 is available if you can't wait until March 14, 2004 (nobody's keeping track here or anything). Anyway EOD is looking pretty good, and although it's not really close to being complete their "12% beta" is available for download.

Other treats that were delivered within this magical issue were the news that Full Spectrum Warrior would be made available for the PC in April 2004. I was exalted at reading this, for I thought surely the people at Microsoft would want to keep this realistic squad tactics simulation exclusive to the XBox, which was comissioned by the US Army no less. It would be nice if the game were free like America's Army, but alas I have a feeling this will most definitely be retail, especially after the press it's been getting. Which has all been extremely positive, I might add.

Update: Apparently this press release has been sitting around since June 19th. I feel like a tool. Still, PC Gamer's feature is well worth checking out if you can't wait until one of the bigger game sites puts something together.