Vietnam Med+Evac

Published by Just Flight
Developed by Interactive Vision
Platform: PC CD-ROM
Released - Out Now
Price : £19.99

Games based on the Vietnam war have certainly been popular of late. Platoon and Vietcong are just two of the Vietnam themed titles that are in the shops. Vietnam Med+Evac places you in the role of a UH-1 Huey pilot in 1964. Interactive Vision, the developers of Med+Evac, are also the developers of the Search & Rescue series and once again the theme of this simulation is search and rescue albeit during the Vietnam War.

There isn't much you can say in the description of Med+Evac. Basically the idea is to rescue and evacuate the weak and wounded. The simulation throws up a plethora of scenarios where you must rescue the injured. Rescue baskets, slings and litters are all used. During the 100 missions and extensive campaign you'll have a co-pilot, flight mechanic and rescue swimmer as part of your team. Some missions even have a machine gunner on board the Huey to give you covering fire. At times those you have to rescue are quite a distance away but to avoid becoming bogged down with hours of travel the simulation uses a time jump, which takes you from one area to another but still calculates the time it would have taken and the fuel that has been consumed during the 'instant' travel.

Med+Evac is rather difficult to assess in graphical terms. The Huey model is impressive and the weather effects (missions can be in one of six different weather conditions ranging from sunny to storm) also look very good. I also like the water ripple effects, which were very impressive. The character models only look average though and they animate in a rather wooden fashion. The terrain textures also look dated too. However simulations aren't about looking stunning and overall the graphics get the job done and are about average for the genre.

Vietnam Med+Evac is fine for deaf gamers. All verbal comments appear in bright green text in the top left hand corner of the screen, which is fairly easy to read. All the objectives are given in text only so there is no problem here either. The manual has been very well done and explains many of the basics that you'll need to know. The game could have done with an extensive and descriptive tutorial to fully explain the basics but the quality of the manual makes up for this omission somewhat.

I can't stress enough that this is a hardcore helicopter simulation. If you're hoping to take it easy and get away with easy to learn arcade controls then you're in for a massive disappointment. A good joystick, throttle stick and pedals set up is highly recommended. Let's get one thing straight though we don't see this as a problem and it's definitely not a criticism, there's plenty of arcade interpretations out there to satisfy those who don't want to go the trouble of learning to enjoy a simulation. There are certain realism and physics settings that can be adjusted for a more artificial feel but it won't reduce the game to an arcade experience. Enthusiasts looking to fly an accurate UH-1 Huey will be well pleased with this seemingly accurate simulation.

Overall Game Rating: 8.4/10
Vietnam is a rather impressive simulation that makes you feel like you are part of a rescue team in a war situation. A comprehensive tutorial wouldn't have gone amiss though.

Deaf Gamers comment:
No problems for deaf gamers.