Men of War: Vietnam

Lore & Background

Men of War: Vietnam was announced in June 2010. The US campaign focuses on a team of elite US Army Special Forces soldiers: sergeant John Merrill, machine-gunner Jim Walsh, sniper Sonny Armstrong, grenade launcher operator Carl Dillan, and combat engineer Bill Kirby. In some missions, they infiltrate areas alone, while in others they fight together with the aid of the US and South Vietnamese troops. The North Vietnamese campaign tells the story of two Soviet military consultants, Fedor Kazakov and Mikhail 'Misha' Morozov, and two soldiers of the North Vietnamese Army, Pham Tinh Minh and Le Van Cuong, who are the only survivors of an ambush prepared by the US troops. They attempt to return to North Vietnamese territory with minimal supplies and inferior numbers, fighting through several battles including a realistic adaptation of the Tet Offensive. Missions range from infiltration operations to full-scale battles.

Reader's Guide

Men of War: Vietnam received mixed reviews from professional critics upon release, with aggregate review websites GameRankings and Metacritic assigning scores of 66% and 68/100 respectively. The game is notable as the fourth entry in the Men of War series, shifting the setting to the Vietnam War and introducing two distinct campaigns that offer perspectives from both US and North Vietnamese forces. Its legacy lies in its attempt to depict the conflict through contrasting narratives, though critical reception was lukewarm. The game's focus on small-unit tactics and realistic combat scenarios, combined with the inclusion of Soviet consultants and North Vietnamese soldiers as playable characters, provides a less common viewpoint in war games. However, the mixed reviews suggest it did not achieve the same acclaim as other entries in the series.

Did You Know?

• The game is also known in Russian as Диверсанты: Вьетнам, or Saboteurs: Vietnam.
• The North Vietnamese campaign includes a realistic adaptation of the Tet Offensive.
• The US campaign features a team of five elite US Army Special Forces soldiers.