Others say...

"The Most Realistic Nam Game"
My original review for this game was a lampoon of complaints. Now that I have actually beaten it on the normal difficulty setting and given it a second chance on the easy difficulty setting, I must say this game is probably the most accurate depiction of the war, realism being its primary principle. And I have played all the Nam games, with the exception of Purple Haze which I shall purchase sooner or later.

What I liked most about it was how it did not take a side. Meaning, no matter what your thoughts were about the war, you cannot disagree with the game. You see it through the eyes of a fictional soldier, who dose not question the right or wrong of the battle, but fights simply to survive. Your character, Dean, is developed mostly through letters he receives from his parents and the letters he writes home. Unfortunately, no attempt was made to bring the player closer to the other men. You do see them engage in tremendous acts of bravery, such as carrying a wounded comrade on their shoulders to safety under enemy fire. There was this one unforgettable scene where a soldier is weeping over the body of a dead commander, as napalm fire ignites forest in the background. This kind of humanism in fictional characters is what really brings a game like this home.

All the battles you engage are reenactments of actual battles during the real war, starting with simple patrols around the Da Nang airbase, followed by Operation Starlite, the first US military offensive in the war, and eventually taking you into the Hill Fights of Khe Sahn, the fight for Siagon, and the fight for Hue. The Tet Offensive, so to speak, where both sides agreed to a cease fire until the celebrations of the Vietnamese New Year was over (the truce broken by the NVA/VC). Let me tell you, your character, Dean Shepard, must be one tough motherfo to survive THAT long in-country! You will be immersed by jungle, by swamp, and by the tight walls of enemy trenches and underground tunnels. I just wish the game would have dedicated some disc space to Vietnam War life outside the battlefield, but...all is well.

In order to beat this game, you have to take every precaution in order not to get shot. You must spend the majority of your time taking cover behind trees and rocks in the jungle, shooting short bursts at enemies in the distance. You cannot advance without huddling behind every object you come across, even if there are no known enemies around, because the VC is constantly in wait, ready to ambush you and your squadron. This is really the only thing that makes the game so long, and it dose not fit into everyone's preference. A lot of the times, certain levels require you to beat it a *certain way, not just any way feasible. This, to me, is totally inexcusable. Especially when the level is so hard that it is impossible to sustain life for anymore than five minutes, but somehow you are expected to find the path the producers intended you to follow while you are under gunfire that is so heavy, if you stand up just for a second you will find yourself dead and starting the level all over again. Which brings me to the issue of there being no save feature. So, expect to play the same crap again, and again....and again.

Luckily, there is a difficulty setting where you can set it to easy which dose enhance the game dramatically. You will spend more time playing than dying on the easy level, except on those select few missions where you have to beat the mission a *certain way and spend hours dying while searching for that way. If there was no easy level, this game would not be worth a nickel because on the normal level I spent so much time dying on just one mission that I couldn't even follow the story and often forgot which battle I was in. The easy difficulty setting will provide a much more fluent gaming experience for those who are after *The Experience*. For those who are after a challenge and wish to die repeatedly (and you will, I don't care how good you think you are) then this game is right up your alley when set on normal. I don't even want to think what the hard setting is like. And you are reading a review from a person who thinks Doom 3 is easy on any difficulty setting, so I ain't no push over.

"W00t"
niiice game.....best 'nam game out there, but the graphics stink, but that could be my opinion because im used to halo 2 and SC:CT...owel u should buy it!!!

"best vietnam game"
I REALLY ENJOY THIS game. it feels like your in the 'nam most of this time. the enemies are alittle eratic as far as they will just stand there sometimes 2 feet away and shoot and they still miss you. i play on the hardest difficulty and its challenging. you have to stay down behind rocks and trees for cover which makes it realistic.

"Good game but falls short in some aspects"
NEGATIVES:
-On the first couple levels, enemies sometimes pop out right in front of you or behind you without even shooting.
-Enemies sometimes run around chaotically without direction.
-Team AI is mediocre throughout the game, you'll be killing the vast majority of the enemies.
-Enemies always yell. You'll always know that enemies are in the area because you'll hear them yelling slogans such as "F*** you GI" & "This is my country" in a stero-typical asian accent.
This happens WAY too much throughout the game.
-Some Enemies take too many hits. 5 bullets from an M-60 or any other gun should be more than enough to put down any VC or NVA soldier but not in this game.
-Directions for completing tasks are too brief. On about every other level, it seems like there are parts where you get stuck because the directions were too brief & you don't know what to do.
-Holding down the B-button to heal your wounds gets really annoying & hurts your thumb. (the developers should have made it so you just press it, not hold it down)
I've died sooo many deaths because of this annoyance!
-Long loading times
-No rewards for beating the game (no cheats, videos, nothing?)

POSITIVES:
-Guns (plenty of awesome firepower)
-Gameplay (for the most part it's usually real good)
-Some levels actually make you feel like your in Nam
-The gun turret parts of the game are really good. You'll be shooting out of a huey & some other helicopter.
-Most levels are well designed
-There are usually enough checkpoints in missions
-The story line is actually decent
-Graphics are pretty good
-Sound is also pretty good

Men of Valor is a good game but it also has it's share of annoyances which can hinder game play.
The main two annoyances being that you have to hold down the B-button when ever you get shot & that enemies take too much damage (usually in the 2nd half of the game)

Over all I would give the game a 7 out of 10.
It would have been nice if there were more game modes for single player.
I picked my copy up for $20 and it was worth it.
I wouldn't have paid more than $25 for it though.

Replay value isn't very high.

"this game rocks"
this game is so awsome.i'm only 12 but i love studing war all day.this game has great graphics and sound.I like when you land on iron triangle.Halo is a good game just like brothers in arms but this game rocks.Not too brag but i have probably every war game.don't rent it buy it