Conflict: Vietnam

Conflict: Vietnam leaves the desert behind and moves the player into the jungles of Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, once again commanding a four-man squad of American soldiers. The setting of dense rainforests, rice paddies, and villages gave the series a noticeably different atmosphere than the previous desert-set installments, and the game responded to this in its mechanics too - denser vegetation offered more opportunities for stealthy advances and the ambushes from cover that are typical of the Vietnam War. New night missions also appeared, using night-vision goggles and quiet sentry-elimination tactics, which fit well with the guerrilla nature of the Vietnam conflict. The character selection again included a sniper, a machine gunner, a demolitions expert, and a grenadier, between whom the player switches seamlessly.

The game's soundtrack drew heavily on the period atmosphere of the 1960s, including licensed music that underscored the historical context of the conflict and set the title apart from more sterile military action games. The graphics engine, shared with previous entries in the series, was adapted to render denser vegetation and rainy weather, which placed higher demands on the Xbox hardware and occasionally affected smoothness. Even so, it was the most visually ambitious installment of the trilogy.

Conflict: Vietnam was received as a dignified, if not groundbreaking, conclusion to the trilogy - reviewers praised the atmosphere and licensed music but noted that the gameplay hadn't changed much from previous installments. In the context of console games set during the Vietnam War, it was one of the first notable attempts, and the title still retains a certain nostalgic value today thanks to its music and unusual setting, even though as a game it now feels more like a historical artifact of its time. This installment closed out the Conflict series as a trilogy spanning three different wars, earning it a reputation as one of the most cohesive tactical series of the early Xbox era.

Why play it: For lovers of the unusual Vietnam War setting and licensed period music, even though the gameplay didn't advance much compared to the previous entries in the trilogy.