Shellshock has disappointing graphics but the weapons make up for it.

Nam can still shock

By Flt-Lt Nick Hogan

Shellshock – NAM ’67 XBox
http://www.media.xbox.ign.com
Rating: MA 15+

THIS is a graphic, first-person shooter with an attitude-pounding, ripping ’60s soundtrack.

This is a violent game that makes no attempt to hide the darker side of war. The action is brutal at times. The soldiers have plenty of colourful language with some shocking scenes on both sides.

Guerrilla Games and Eidos have combined to bring some quality Vietnam action. The game puts you squarely in the role of a new US Army GI starting his tour of duty in the Vietnam War.

Things get started quickly with a patrol in the Vietnam jungle turning into a huge fi refi ght and your squad having to engage scores of VCs wielding AK-47s, mounted machine guns and more.

The rest of the game deals with our player character’s tour of duty in 1967 with a number of different missions, some by himself and some with CPU controlled teammates.

Machetes, machine guns, sniper rifl es, fl amethrowers (you have to try this at least once), RPGs, grenades and explosives are some of the weapons you can use to level the playing fi eld. One of the more colourful portions of Shellshock is how you spend some of your mission downtime.

At your base, you can communicate with soldiers and others and even earn “chits” to gain access to other weapons and other “services” that the local Vietnamese ladies want to provide you.

Listening to the disk jockey that’s playing tunes inside the base all adds to the adventure. Graphically, it is a little disappointing, but I hardly noticed as I spent most of my time trying various methods of taking down enemy and trying out the time downtown.

The AI of your squad is quite good and the enemy is reasonably smart.

The biggest thing lacking in Shellshock is multiplayer, again missing the best quality of Xbox live enabled play. Overall, amusing to the point of shocking.

ADF Gamesman competition winners

Congratulations to the following competition winners:

Ninja Gaiden (XBox) – FLTLT Dion Wright;
Star Trek (XBox) – Kirsten Davis;
True Crime – Streets of LA (PC) – LAC Michael Paine.