Vietnam War -- an in-depth grunt simulator

al_infierno · April 30, 2025, 02:30:59 PM

This game, simply titled Vietnam War, recently dropped into Steam early access and it's utterly unhinged and insane. Best to share via these Twitter posts I've seen.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1837480/Vietnam_War/

On the one hand, it looks a bit flippant and meme-y for the usual tastes on this board, but on the other hand -- holy hell, is this thing ambitious.

QuoteThere's a game simply titled "Vietnam War" that just got dropped out of nowhere on Steam and apparently it may well be the sort of grand-scale "downtime and everything" grunt simulation dream game I always rant about. Anyone familiar?

QuoteUpdate: Game's fucking unhinged. There's roving bands of spider monkeys you can gun down for extra XP. My PATRIOTISM stat increases as I blow a VC officer's head off with my 1911. There's a dedicated "kill civilians" order. My grenadier lights a cig as napalm burns the treeline.

QuoteI've been informed that deep, DEEP within this game, there's an entire system for finishing your tour of duty and being discharged stateside to live your life in an entirely different multi-state American open-world.

I don't even know what to say.

Twitter thread: https://x.com/kinpatsukenshi/status/1917364101975793975

Jarhead0331 · April 30, 2025, 02:49:59 PM

I have it. it is janky as hell, but very fun. Hopefully, development will continue.

Yes, war crimes are a thing. You can totally napalm villages.

SpaceGameJunkie · April 30, 2025, 04:09:08 PM

Gotta say, that looks great. Reminds me, I still need to play the Vietcong games.

Silent Disapproval Robot · April 30, 2025, 05:07:36 PM

Looks like the same crazy vibe as Schedule One, but with 20% more napalm.

Jarhead0331 · April 30, 2025, 05:18:48 PM

I was just dicking around with it some more. Its pretty shockingly deep and epic. The array of equipment, vehicles, aircraft, map locations and things to do (and kill) is pretty ridiculous for a game like this. it's definitely corny, but beneath the thin veneer of comedy is a really cool Vietnam war sandbox with some surprising depth.

al_infierno · April 30, 2025, 05:41:07 PM

I'm really fascinated by the idea of getting discharged and going back stateside to a completely separate open-world sandbox. This really is kind of a dream game for me -- I always liked the idea of an open-world GTA/RDR style game set during the Vietnam War, where you're a criminal stateside and if you get busted, instead of a game over, you can get sent to a tour of duty in Nam. This is probably the closest we'll ever get to that idea in full fruition.

In the Twitter thread I linked, someone asked what there even is to do when you return from Nam, and the best reply was:

"What indeed."

Jarhead0331 · April 30, 2025, 06:37:45 PM

The more I play it, the awesomer it gets. It really is a stroke of genius. I'm a staff sergeant in the Marine Corps and I've done got me 74 VC killed. At some point, it became clear that i was a badass when I noticed a cigarette in my mouth. I have a CAC, a pay grade with a salary and I see my tour of duty counting down. The guy who made this pretty much thought of everything.

SpaceGameJunkie · April 30, 2025, 08:00:30 PM

Okay, I'm buying this at full price, something I RARELY do, because it indeed looks astounding.

W8taminute · April 30, 2025, 08:47:03 PM

Is there any base building aspects to this game similar to the Vietnam War mod for Arma 3?

al_infierno · April 30, 2025, 09:04:01 PM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on April 30, 2025, 06:37:45 PMThe more I play it, the awesomer it gets. It really is a stroke of genius. I'm a staff sergeant in the Marine Corps and I've done got me 74 VC killed. At some point, it became clear that i was a badass when I noticed a cigarette in my mouth. I have a CAC, a pay grade with a salary and I see my tour of duty counting down. The guy who made this pretty much thought of everything.

Really sounds awesome as hell, but I hear the tour of duty counter is a bit broken at the moment, resetting every time you fire up the game. Hopefully that's not true, or if it is, they get it fixed pretty quickly, because gosh-darn what a cool frigging idea.

Jarhead0331 · May 01, 2025, 07:25:09 AM

Quote from: al_infierno on April 30, 2025, 09:04:01 PM
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on April 30, 2025, 06:37:45 PMThe more I play it, the awesomer it gets. It really is a stroke of genius. I'm a staff sergeant in the Marine Corps and I've done got me 74 VC killed. At some point, it became clear that i was a badass when I noticed a cigarette in my mouth. I have a CAC, a pay grade with a salary and I see my tour of duty counting down. The guy who made this pretty much thought of everything.

Really sounds awesome as hell, but I hear the tour of duty counter is a bit broken at the moment, resetting every time you fire up the game. Hopefully that's not true, or if it is, they get it fixed pretty quickly, because gosh-darn what a cool frigging idea.

Someone said it pretty good in a steam review, "the game is held together by chewing gum and dreams..." It's overall in rough early access shape. A lot of things are janky, don't work as they should or not at all. But, it is totally functional and very fun once you get into it. Don't expect a bug free experience though.

Jarhead0331 · May 01, 2025, 08:26:18 AM

About the pay grade and salary. Its not clear to me whether this mechanic is really implemented yet, but it certainly ties into the imagination of the developer and shows where he wants to take the game. As I mentioned, the map of Vietnam is absolutely HUGE. I haven't even left the highlands yet, but there is so much else to explore.

One time, I was flying a Bronco and I ended up over Saigon. I accidentally bailed from the aircraft and landed in my parachute downtown. There were a shit-ton of street vendors and civilians milling about. A lot of shops with actual merch inside. Some of the civilians screamed and ran from me, some of the ladies made "kissing" noises (think famous prostitute scene from Full Metal Jacket), others ignored me and went about their business as usual. I think the plan is to eventually let the player interact with all these shops vendors and items. If it comes together it will be really cool and immersive.

Here is a pretty bad shot of the current map. As you can see, its not just Vietnam. There are parts of Cambodia and Laos!

al_infierno · May 01, 2025, 05:42:11 PM

Any idea if you can actually refuel/repair vehicles yet? I've been romping around kicking ass in a V100 Commando that's getting pretty beat up, but I'm not quite ready to let go of it yet.

Also hope they expand squad controls soon, it's pretty neat how you can play Commander with the radio and manage the battle, but it'd also be nice to tell my squad to get into my armored car with me so they're not running along after me getting shot to pieces.

Great game so far, but yeah, definitely very janky

EDIT - Welp, my Commando took an RPG hit in a jungle ambush as soon as I left the base. Luckily I managed to survive with minor wounds somehow. RIP my armored car. I gotta say for the low fidelity and all the jank, this game really captures the feeling of FIBSA -- Fudge, I'm Being Shot At!

al_infierno · May 02, 2025, 12:38:26 AM

The dev of this game is a confirmed madman. WTF

QuoteWell, @Rimmy_Downunder
is streaming this game right now and we can definitively confirm this is all real and all in the current build of the game. You can even buy property in America, cook on the stove, join a gang, join the police, rob banks, shoot up Woodstock...

DesertFox · May 02, 2025, 08:55:27 AM

Haha damn you guys!! With today being payday there was no way I could pass on this at $15. I love being able to support stuff like this even if it makes a more capable dev stand up and take notice. Hopefully this guy finishes this out though because it sounds like it is on track to being amazing!