Air Conflicts: Vietnam

About

Air Conflicts: Vietnam is an action-packed air combat game set during the Vietnam War. Players take on the role of a US helicopter pilot, completing missions in various beautiful and accurately recreated locations in Vietnam. The game features both a thrilling story campaign and a range of multiplayer modes, with a variety of helicopters and planes to control, and intense aerial combat to enjoy.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

36%

Audience ScoreBased on 259 reviews

story30 positive mentions

optimization6 negative mentions

The game features a compelling story that reflects the emotional struggles of soldiers during the Vietnam War.
The graphics and sound design are praised for their quality, providing an immersive experience of flying over the jungles of Vietnam.
The variety of aircraft and missions, including both helicopters and jets, offers a fun and engaging gameplay experience for fans of arcade-style flight games.

The game suffers from numerous bugs and performance issues, making it laggy and unplayable for many users.
Controls are often described as clunky and unresponsive, leading to frustrating gameplay, especially during helicopter missions.
The maps are criticized for being too small, limiting the gameplay and making it feel restrictive and repetitive.

story
176 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
70%
13%
The game's story is a mixed bag, with some players praising its emotional depth and sincerity, particularly through the protagonist's personal letters and the anti-war themes that evoke feelings of loss and regret. However, many reviewers found the narrative lacking engagement, with repetitive missions and a lack of urgency undermining the dramatic intent. Additionally, bugs and gameplay issues detracted from the overall experience, leading to frustration and a sense of disconnect from the story.
- “The story is very sincere and emotional too.”
- “You start to feel the protagonist's pain and remorse as it plays out; I feel it conveys loss, regret, and feelings of a patriot's struggle with subtlety; this story will stay with me for a while.”
- “The story makes you feel slightly guilty about happily gunning down Vietcong on missions by reminding you that your family is slowly drifting away from you and joining the anti-war movement.”
- “The story really had no draw to it; you hear the narration of some letters from the main pilot and the general briefing for missions, but they lack any emotional engagement and just didn't connect with me as a player.”
- “On another down note to the story, there is almost no radio chatter during missions to draw you into the narrative, creating a hard separation between the missions and the cutscenes.”
- “The game seems to be meant to be dramatic, but the missions never manage to impart a sense of urgency or danger.”
music
49 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
47%
8%
The game's music has received mixed reviews, with some praising its fitting atmosphere and unique original compositions that evoke the Vietnam War era. However, many players criticized the limited variety, noting that the repetitive tracks quickly become tiresome. Overall, while the soundtrack has its moments, it suffers from a lack of diversity, leading to a less engaging auditory experience.
- “The background music is reminiscent of the movie Good Morning, Vietnam!”
- “Ps: The OST is exceptionally well-fitted to the game.”
- “However, the music is great.”
- “Unfortunately, there are only about 4 different songs to listen to the entire game.”
- “It got old fast and would have been less of an issue with basic music to act as white noise.”
- “Even HAWX seems to be better than this game; it has nothing going for it other than maybe some good visuals here and there. The sound is horrible, and the soundtrack is the worst I've heard in any game I've played!”
graphics
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
38%
25%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the visuals as beautiful, especially in aerial views, while others criticize them as outdated and inconsistent, particularly at close range. Many users note issues such as poor performance during gameplay, lack of graphic settings, and overall visual quality that feels below modern standards. Despite some positive remarks about specific elements, the general consensus leans towards disappointment in the graphical execution.
- “The graphics, storytelling, and dogfights are really awesome.”
- “Graphically this game is beautiful despite all the naysayers saying how this seems dated; while on the ground it does, it's really gorgeous up in the skies of Vietnam while you're chasing screaming MiGs.”
- “Love all the aircraft and graphics are great.”
- “This game is just simply awful, poor graphics and its controls are sluggish.”
- “The visuals are bad.”
- “Outdated graphics even with max settings, poor voice acting, control schemes and gameplay mechanisms.”
gameplay
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
63%
19%
The gameplay has been widely criticized for its clunky mechanics, poor interface, and frequent interruptions from cutscenes, which detract from the overall experience. Many players found the flight mechanics difficult to master, with issues like a problematic dodge mechanic and a lack of engaging mission design. While some elements, such as the squad mechanic, show potential, the overall execution feels rough and unpolished, leaving players frustrated rather than immersed.
- “Whereas I find many aspects of the gameplay questionable, another person may love it.”
- “It's all about the gameplay: which is okay generally but really rough around the edges.”
- “The 'squad' mechanic shows promise, and it could have been great if it was really key to success in detailed, demanding missions... yet it ends up feeling mostly unnecessary.”
- “Overall, the gameplay in simulation is undesirable due to the current bugs with no sign of developer feedback.”
- “By far the worst thing about the game is that it interrupts gameplay to deliver cutscenes after the completion of each goal, and these interruptions are frequent.”
- “Maps that are too small, graphics that don't hold up visually at close range, and the entirety of the gameplay feels like a bunch of quick-time events.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
13%
75%
Initial performance issues were reported, but users found that opting into a beta version improved performance significantly, allowing for max settings without hitching, except for draw distance limitations. There are ongoing concerns about whether the problems stem from poor optimization or incompatibility with modern hardware. Overall, the game's interface and performance have been criticized.
- “(Right-click the game in your library list, go to properties, select the beta tab, and choose beta from the drop-down menu.) This seemed to improve the performance, so I experienced no hitching on max settings (except for draw distance, which I couldn't set above 1 without slowdown).”
- “The performance was pretty poor initially.”
- “Not sure if it's bad optimization or incompatibility with modern architecture.”
- “Terrible interface, terrible performance, terrible gameplay, terrible soundtrack.”
stability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous bugs affecting gameplay and controls, particularly in the jet flight modes. Users report that the AI is unresponsive and missions are often plagued by glitches, leading to a dry and repetitive experience. Overall, the game's current state is deemed outdated and unplayable, making it difficult to recommend.
- “Very buggy, outdated, and absolutely terrible to play.”
- “In its current state, this game comes off as dry, repetitive, buggy, pretty much uninteresting, and I just can't recommend it.”
- “Friendly AI does not even think and refuses to do anything except for flying around and hovering in the same place until you take control. Missions can be buggy, and graphics are not Crysis-like.”
emotional
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game receives mixed feedback; while some players find the story sincere and touching, others feel it lacks depth and engagement, with the narrative elements failing to evoke a strong emotional response. Overall, the emotional impact appears limited, with players noting a disconnect between the story and their engagement.
- “The story is very sincere and emotional too.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game, particularly in the helicopter missions, to be tedious and repetitive, which detracts from the overall enjoyment of the flight simulator.
- “Overall a pretty fun flight sim, however the helicopter missions can be a bit tedious.”
- “That was tedious.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, particularly for its immersive representation of the Vietnam War, including the era's music and war machines, which resonates well with fans of that period. Despite some criticisms regarding gameplay execution, many players find the overall experience enjoyable and engaging, contributing to a positive perception of the game's atmosphere.
- “I wasted a whole day playing it; it can be fun if you are into the Vietnam War, love war machines, and appreciate the atmosphere and music of that time period.”
- “Still fun despite its poor realization; 7/10 for all the atmosphere, but they need to fix the AI and sell it cheaper.”
- “Still fun despite its poor realization; 7/10 for all the atmosphere, but they had to fix the darn AI and sell it cheaper.”
- “But I still wasted a whole day playing it, so it can be fun if you are into the Vietnam War, love war machines, atmosphere, and music of that time period.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game is criticized for excessive ads, which disrupt gameplay and can lead to a frustrating experience, as players report the screen going black after ads.
- “The game is filled with ads, and after watching them, the screen goes black and stays that way.”
- “The constant ads and credits make the game unplayable, as the screen often goes black and doesn't return.”