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Shell Shock Nam '67
by Cyrus Baetz
Wednesday, September 1 2004
Eidos' gritty Vietnam War based shooter is looking to create a look that will be all its own.
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Title:
Shell Shock Nam '67
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Platform:
PS2
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Publisher:
Eidos Interactive |
Developer:
Guerrilla Games |
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of Players: 1 - 2, online play |
Genre:
Action
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Origin:
United States
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Expected
Release:
September 15, 2004 |
Grapevine:
Next time you sit in front of your television playing SOCOM, Freedom Fighters, Medal of Honor or the present-day Desert Storm, ask yourself: is this what war is really like? |
A blast – a blast of a grenade as soldiers throw themselves face first into the muddy ground. A blast of machinegun pellets riddling the ground as your allies scramble for cover as you contemplate on less than a moment’s notice what action to take. A blast from the past. These are just a few of the experiences you’ll encounter while playing the sleeper ShellShock: Nam ’67.
The game is currently being developed by Guerrilla Games, the studio being held responsible for the upcoming groundbreaking first-person shooter Killzone, much too often dubbed by journalists and gamers alike the “Halo-Killer.” While the video gaming media went all goo-goo over Killzone, Guerilla quietly plodded through Nam ‘67’s humble development process. Guerrilla Games’ apparent business strategy is to prey on the most popular video game in each genre and try to formulate a superior version of their own, mass media attention consisting of the ideal marketing strategy.
It’s been said that no media is able to convey the sheer horror of war. By this logic, Saving Private Ryan has not and cannot accomplish such a feat. Nor the critically acclaimed, seemingly authentic TV series Band Of Brothers directed by Steven Spielberg. Not even the ever-popular online PlayStation 2 video game SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs. These mainstream items glorify the “art” of war. Why can’t anyone but our grandfathers tell it like it was, but with direly needed pizzazz? We’re in luck: ShellShock: Nam ’67 plans to do just that with a steadfast, bona fide virtual account of the unspeakable terrors that occur during the historical events of the Vietnam War.
Nam ’67 will throw you into the game as a youthful draftee, fix you up nicely with some basic training, and before you can blink you’ll be shakin’ in your boots in the humid, perilous paradise of Indochina alongside equally inexperienced grunts, all wishing you had never left the artificial comfort of your country, the United States of America.
Peruse the jungle at your own leisure; you’ll be lucky to make it out with your life, and if that, all your limbs. Nam ’67 will offer plenty of sights to see and scads of missions to keep your gun-toting self occupied. Mind you, they won’t be pretty sights and the missions I speak of promise to be genuinely disturbing at numerous points. But potentially creative gameplay scenarios that should wow gamers of all tastes are what could keep this upcoming title from drifting into the categorization of “mediocre war games.”
Yes, that would certainly be an interesting sight...
From the screenshots available, the graphics appear appropriately gritty. The overall visual package will require some administrative polishing, and the game is a miniscule shade too dark from being just right. It’s too shady right now to excuse this as a facet in their attempt at solemn, gloomy environments. Nevertheless, a saving grace: the graphic designers filtered all the games’ graphics through a grainy image filter, emulating the feel of old photographs from the Vietnam War era. The down-and-dirty style help complete the whole package the game is apparently going for: SOCOM killer. In this point in time, ShellShock possesses more or less the same core components and aesthetical details as SOCOM. Comparisons are inevitable, but one major aspect gives Nam ’67 a distinct disadvantage: lack of online play. Heck, some lousy Freedom Fighters-esque split-screen action is nonexistent. Maybe if a sequel surfaces, we’ll be able to gun down some Viet Cong with our Network Adapters along for the ride. The developers say the reason you can’t bust caps with your buds is because they want to put their full focus on the single-player campaign, creating a quality, authentic experience.
Speaking of authenticity, ShellShock appears to divide and conquer in that facility. First, it will have some of the most complex, contrasting environments (ridden with booby-traps, no less) ever seen in a war game. They are directly modeled after locales in Vietnam. And really, a matter that must be addressed that has been blatantly ignored in the past: realistic injuries. When someone is shot in the leg, chances are they aren’t going to just shrug their shoulders and allow themselves to be drawn into the light. No, Americans pride themselves in fighting their enemies with every last drop of blood they have in their body. Nam ’67 takes this into consideration; your wounded comrades fight the good fight, struggling to defeat their bastardly nemeses through thick and thin, without arms or even without their testicles. Not even to mention fully accessible and accurately modeled weapons. Your arsenal will slowly accumulate over the course of the game, eventually consisting of fine artillery such as the M-16, various grenades, and light-antitank rocket launchers; but if you happen to be agile enough to lay your grimy hands on some, prepare to load up some guns belonging to the disrespectful opposition. Promises of intricate, intelligent buddy and enemy AI only sweeten the deal.
One would hope such an ambitious game will make room for innovation. Some explorative gameplay that will likely prove to be interesting is going to be implemented in Nam ’67. You’ll start off as low-ranking solider with a dubious personality, but thirsty to prove your worth. You will be prompted to choose between three races for the playable character and the game begins. Eventually you’ll be invited to live large with the fat cats in the Special Forces unit. How you want to play from there is your choice. A morality fest ensues, and just like in the recent PS2 title The Suffering, the ethical virtual preference you maintain will have an effect on the outcome of the game. For example: you will witness napalm attacks, brutal torture of civilians and irreversible imagery of past events; it’s your decision whether you want to corrupt your life, reputation and psyche for personal benefit or refuse to subject yourself to such inexcusable deeds of pure evil.
Missions will vary greatly, spanning anything from search-and-rescue to a bloody assassination. As stated before, it all boils down to how you play the game, and the mission structure is no exception. Nam ’67 urges you to choose wisely, because once you kill a vital world figure, you don’t have a good shot at redemption. After all, if the only meat of the game is the one-player endeavor, it wouldn’t be worth a look if it merely matched SOCOM’s straightforward but underrated single-player system.
Next time you sit in front of your television playing SOCOM, Freedom Fighters, Medal of Honor or the present-day Desert Storm, ask yourself: is this what war is really like? Or could this just be an ignorantly sanitized version of what the video game developers think the general public can’t handle just yet? Let’s hope that Nam ’67 can be what it promises it is: a truly immersive, genuine video game depiction of the tragic events that occur during war that the American public has not truly been fairly exposed to. It seems promising; hopefully it can hit its stride, with plenty of play time and potential for replay value considering the vast array of secondary goals you won’t complete the first time through. ShellShock: Nam ’67 will be a trendsetting game based on the Vietnam War instead of World War II – the first of its kind. It all depends on what direction Guerilla takes this during its last couple of months – the refinement or lack thereof implicated in the game could cause its success or failure. This is what makes the wait until September considerably more interesting.
--- Cyrus Baetz
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