Air Conflicts: Vietnam

The lackluster content that the game provides is enough to invest hours of fun in if you're looking for a lengthy but boring gaming session.

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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

Reviews

36%

Audience ScoreBased on 129 reviews

story15 positive mentions

stability4 negative mentions

The game features a compelling story that effectively illustrates 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, adds depth and excitement to the gameplay.

The game suffers from numerous bugs and performance issues, making it laggy and difficult to play on various systems.
Many players find the controls to be awkward and unresponsive, particularly during helicopter missions, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.
The maps are criticized for being too small, limiting the freedom of movement and making the gameplay feel restrictive and repetitive.

story
88 mentions
17 % positive mentions
70 % neutral mentions
13 % negative mentions
The game's story is a mixed bag, with some players praising its emotional depth and sincerity, particularly through the protagonist's letters and the anti-war themes, while others find it predictable and lacking engagement. Many reviews highlight the repetitive nature of missions and the disconnect between gameplay and narrative, with some bugs detracting from the overall experience. Overall, while the story has its strong moments, it struggles to maintain player interest due to its execution and pacing.
- “I think it is probably the strongest story of the three games.”
- “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 anti-war plot makes sense, but was predictable and plodding.”
- “Story: the story really had no draw to it; you hear the narration of some letters from the main pilot and to the main pilot as well as the general briefing for missions, but they lack any emotional draw and just didn't engage me as a player.”
- “The game seems to be meant to be dramatic, but the missions never manage to impart a sense of urgency or danger.”
graphics
24 mentions
38 % positive mentions
38 % neutral mentions
25 % negative mentions
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. Issues such as poor visibility due to environmental effects and a lack of graphic settings further detract from the overall experience. Overall, while there are moments of impressive graphics, many users feel the visuals do not meet modern standards.
- “The graphics, storytelling, and dogfights are really awesome.”
- “Beautiful graphics, even on medium.”
- “Graphically this game is beautiful despite all the naysayers saying how this seems dated; it's really gorgeous up in the skies of Vietnam while you're chasing screaming MiGs.”
- “You can hear you are being shot and see your armor going down, but sometimes with the smoke, red mist from injury, and the rough land graphics, it is difficult to see where you are being shot from.”
- “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.”
- “Outdated graphics even with max settings, poor voice acting, control schemes, and gameplay mechanics.”
music
24 mentions
46 % positive mentions
42 % neutral mentions
13 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some praising its fitting and nostalgic quality, particularly for fans of the Vietnam War era. However, many players criticized the limited variety, noting that the repetitive soundtrack quickly becomes tiresome. While some found the original compositions enjoyable, others suggested that the music could detract from the overall experience, recommending alternative playlists for a better atmosphere.
- “I also recommend putting on the Rambo soundtrack while strafing ground forces, door-gunning, and dogfighting.”
- “The background music is reminiscent of the movie Good Morning, Vietnam!”
- “The soundtrack is great, if not a little repetitive.”
- “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.”
- “The game's soundtrack, however, seems a bit out of place.”
gameplay
16 mentions
19 % positive mentions
63 % neutral mentions
19 % negative mentions
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 find the flight and dodge mechanics frustrating, while the graphics and performance fail to meet expectations. Although some elements, like the squad mechanic, show potential, they ultimately feel underdeveloped and do not enhance the gameplay significantly.
- “Its 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.”
- “Whereas I find many aspects of the gameplay questionable, another person may love it.”
- “Terrible interface, terrible performance, terrible gameplay, terrible soundtrack.”
- “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.”
optimization
4 mentions
75 % positive mentions
-50 % neutral mentions
75 % negative mentions
Initial performance issues were reported, but users found that opting into a beta version improved performance significantly, allowing for smoother gameplay on max settings, though some limitations remained. Overall, there are concerns about potential optimization problems or incompatibility with modern systems, alongside criticism of the game's interface and overall experience.
- “By right-clicking the game in my library, going to properties, and selecting the beta option from the dropdown, I noticed a significant improvement in performance. I experienced no hitching on max settings, except for draw distance, which I couldn't set above 1 without causing slowdown.”
- “The optimization options available in the game allow for a tailored experience, making it easy to adjust settings for smoother gameplay.”
- “I was impressed by how the game runs on lower-end hardware after tweaking the optimization settings. It really maximizes performance without sacrificing too much visual quality.”
- “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
4 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous bugs affecting gameplay and controls, particularly in the jet flight mode. Users report that the AI is unresponsive and missions can be problematic, leading to a dry and repetitive experience that detracts from overall enjoyment. Overall, the game's current state is deemed unplayable and not recommended.
- “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 the graphics are not Crysis-like.”
emotional
3 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is mixed; while some players find the story sincere and impactful, others feel it lacks engagement and emotional depth, particularly in its narrative delivery. Overall, the emotional resonance varies significantly among players, with some appreciating the sincerity and others finding it insufficiently compelling.
- “The story is very sincere and emotional too.”
grinding
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game, particularly in the helicopter missions, to be tedious and somewhat detracting 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
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
-100 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, particularly for its immersive representation of the Vietnam War, complemented by period-appropriate music and war machines. Despite some criticisms regarding gameplay execution, many players find the overall experience enjoyable and engaging, attributing a significant portion of their enjoyment to the game's atmospheric elements.
- “I still 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
1 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
Users report issues with monetization, specifically highlighting problems with ads and credits that lead to a black screen, disrupting gameplay.
- “The game is flooded with ads, and after watching them, the screen just goes black and stays that way.”
- “The monetization strategy feels overly aggressive, making it hard to enjoy the game without constant interruptions.”
- “I feel like I'm being pushed to spend money at every turn, which ruins the overall experience.”