Customer Reviews

Men of Valor

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Wow! What an experience. Just finished Men of Valor after 1 1/2 weeks (abt. 4-5 hours a day)and it was unbelievable. I'm playing on a high-end computer with Nvidia 6800 Ultra video card. I've played basically all the Vietnam games from Navy Seals (1990's), Nam, Vietnam: Spec Ops 1 & 2, Squad Battles (hex-based), Vietcong, Line of Sight, but to me this one more fully represents what the war was really like. I feel like I've just come back from my tour of duty. This is a hard and challenging game. Those without determination and patience will probally not care for it. Here are my summarized thoughts:
1. Rated "M" for abundant strong language & some racial slurs. The violence is moderate & similar to Call of Duty and MOH.
2. Graphics, animation, music, ambient sounds are very good. There are a few glitches (as is the case with every pc title I've owned...some are funny and produce strange occurences).
3. This game is for higher-end computers and above average video cards to experience all the graphical benefits. I especially liked the explosions, weapon detail, variety of Vietnam structures, landscape, vegetaion, water reflections (video shading Direct x 9C). Fires are ultra realistic, too.
4. With external speakers some of the U.S. weapons sound a little weak but with a set of I/O Magic Sound Assault 5.1 amplified headphones ($67) all sounds come to life and add to the intense/exhilirating experience. Even the 5.56 Nato auto rifle has ample "bang" with the headphones.
5. There are check-point saves. Some are appropriate in length while others are spaced too far apart.
6. Some missions require multiple re-starts and are very difficult and at times frustrating. Real war represents frustration and a variety of tactics and strategies must be used to succeed....fast frontal attack, crawling/stealth, use of appropriate weaponry, etc. Each mission is unique in background, terrain, military support, tactics, objectives.
7. Placing weapons on semi-auto rather than full auto and using precision aiming seems to render better success.
8. There are a few impossible parts I couldn't complete without some Men of Valor website tips. If you're bogged down get help.
9. Next to Far Cry this has been my favorite game so far. I rank it ahead of Call of Duty, Medal of Honor. Doom 3.
10. The cut scenes and historical photos and clips are done very well and add to a "feel" for what the Vietnam experience was really like. Period-piece music adds alot to the settings.
11. Don't expect to finish the game in short order. It will take time. But when completed it will render a great sense of accomplishment.

Enjoy

Keeping in mind that this is after all, a game, I'm going to rate this one pretty high, even though speaking as a veteran FPS gamer since 1993 this does break a few of my rules. First rule broken: Linearity. That's the biggest gripe I have. You are guided along a pre-determined path toward your destination. And while you can deviate a few yards in either direction along the way, your options don't really begin to open up until you reach your destination, say a village with hooches you have to clear out. Then is when you have freedom to decide in which order you want to do it. And that's when the game is most fun. Second rule broken: If you're gonna give me a squad to go along with me (and a none-too-smart squad at that), at least allow me to issue them orders so they quit wandering in front of my gun when I'm lining up a shot. For the most part the AI really isn't all that bad, but it is annoying the few times it happens.

I had just finished my first play-through with a game called "Vietcong" before starting this one, and while I really like both games a lot, here are some differences: Men Of Valor runs smoother and has a nicer 3D engine. It is also more linear. The graphics are good, but also less scenic than in the game Vietcong. Personally, if you're a fan of jungle first-person games, I'd recommend both of these games.

The Skinny:
In This Dramatic, Cinematic Vietnam conflict First Person shooter, you'll slog through rice paddies, Jungles, and more all the while watching out for charlie and your fellow soldiers' backs. Nice sleek design and WONDERFUL sound gives this game all my 5R. With it's new weapons and AI, the Vivendi Universal has, well, outdone themselves!

FAQ:
q-First person or third person?
a-First person.

q-Any body nicknamed: Cherry?
(Cherry is a nickname reserved for someone who is new on the frontlines...for OBVIOUS resons I cant say why...)
a-NO

q-number of weapons?
a-14+

q-number of missions?
a-12 (but over 60 maps)

q-Historically accurate?
a-YES! Painstakingly accurate

q-booby traps to disarm?
a-Yes

NOTE-
2015 was Behind the acclaimed Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault ****Recommended

Quick Tip-
Crouch often and Go prone when neccecery...Which will be often

Click on my name to see my other GREAT REVIEWS!!!
and e-mail me if you want game info: Guneagle5000@wmconnect.com THANK YOU.

This is a pretty dissapointing game. A lot of things are just stupid, like the lame between-mission dramatic moments, but i'm going to give an example of a typical mission to illustrate my point.

I'm supposed to attack a heavily fortified hilltop position. At the base of the hill, I take cover with about 7 or 8 other squadmates to try and take out some enemies blocking our way up. While we're shooting at them, I'm taking heavy fire and can't figure out where it's coming from, especially since i'm getting shot when I'm lying down behind a dirt parapet. Eventually I realize that a machine gun at the top of a far away hill behind a tree line that I can't even begin to see through is shooting me with pinpoint accuracy. When I finally move up the hill, I'm instructed to go help some of my buddies lay down fire on the machine gun bunker at the top. This is actually a very intense firefight, but the gameplay itself completely ruins it. I'm ordered to suppress the bunker, and while I do, it informs me that I'm supposed to be sticking with a certain member of my squad. It gives me a name but in the dark and in the firefight it's rather difficult to differentiate between any of my squad, so I literally have to play through the action 4 times more before I figure out waht to do, because if I don't stay right next to that particular squad member it fails the mission. When i finally figure out who it is, I'm told to continue suppressing the bunker while a different man takes it out with a rocket. He gets shot (it's in the script;happens every time) and I'm informed I have to take the bunker out using a grenade, rocket, or C4. I don't have any of those things on me, but I figure no big deal, I'll run to where my squadmate was shot and use his rocket launcher. Guess what? As soon as i run towards him, I get failed for leaving my other buddy. I can't get past this mission only about 3/4 through the game because of ridiculously stupid planning like this. It's not worth the money or the time to just get caught up in the game's poor development.

"Men of Valor" plays somewhat like a cinematic production and less like a videogame at times. It is a good blend of realism and entertainment. It is rated 17+, so be prepared for lots of swearing, blood, and graphic screams from the wounded. The dialogue and soundtrack for the game is very abundant, requiring 4 CD-ROMs. The aiming system is updated from the Medal Of Honor series, with a very basic sight-aiming option now available. But the aiming feature is still not as realistic as "Call of Duty" or "Brothers In Arms". Since most weapons in MOV are spray n' pray automatics, the sight-aiming system is mostly a non-issue. One thing not listed on the box requirements is a high-end videocard. If you have an nVidia Geforce MX series videocard, this game will not run properly. Even the latest Geforce4 MX cards won't work.

This game seems to have been written for console platforms with the PC version as an afterthought. The graphics are Playstation-esque even at high resolution and the gameplay is more like console shooters than recent PC games (checkpoints instead of savegames, etc.). Add in severely anemic sound effects, comical character models, jerky gameplay (even on smoking fast machines), confusing missions, and a healthy dose of bugs (I ran one whole mission with my entire squad glued together like something from John Carpenter's The Thing. Hilarious but not much use in a firefight.) and Men of Valor makes for a big waste of money.

On the plus side the fire effects and explosions look really good, but save your money and download some screenshots instead.

I'm only reviewing after playing the demo, but from what I've played, I can basically review this as if I've played most of the game.

Unlike what some of the people here are saying, the graphics are generally really good. There are some very WEIRD animations in the game, and just a few bugs, but the graphics are very nice, really give the feeling of being in the jungle. I found that the blood effect was really bad/unlrealistic looking. Now, I've never seen someone really get shot or anything, but to me, the blood just looked too bright and too much of it. The gun models generally looked good. Explosions are pretty satisfying.
8/10

Now, the sound; VERY disappointing. The Thompson sounds so fake its not funny. The PPsh sounded really crappy too. There were times when I couldn't distinguish the different gun sounds when my whole team was firing, and the team had just about everything - M60's, M16's, Thompsons, M14's, and then the VC were shooting, and I couldn't really tell the difference. Now, there is a lot of swearing in the game, but its not like Brothers In Arms, where even though they run through the full gamut of expletives, they don't sound like they were put there just to be there. In MOV, I thought it just seemed like they developers tried to put in swear words everywhere, not necassarily to fit the situations like BiA. Overall, very disappointing.
5/10

I'm not really going to spend much time describing the gameplay, because that is definately different to everyone. All I will say is that I genuinely felt like I was in the jungle; I was looking out to the side for traps and the VC the whole time - very immersive. I just wish the blood/gun sounds/swearing was re-worked.

even though i'm not anywhere near finishing this game, i'm going to review it. this game gets a lot of things right, which is more than can be said for 99% of games out there. the aim system is great - there's no "spray and pray." you die easier than other ww2 games which is a great thing. also the ways you die are fair - no stray bullets from imaginary enemies will come and kill you. the AI is quite good. the weapons are good too, though i thought the grenade took too long to throw and the grenade launcher, while awesome, doesn't seem to have enough practical use. this game gets a lot of stuff that "awesome" (overrated) games like brothers in arms and medal of honor got wrong. for that, it is certainly to be commended. not to mention the cool historical points, great dialogue between teammates, and the fact that they cuss and joke around about each other's race. there's a storyline, and your teammates cuss and have genuine fun while killing the vietcong. at one point, a u.s. soldier even called one a "gook." that was pretty funny. ;) however it's not some pro-war propoganda garbage. it portrays the soldiers as real people caught in an unwinnable war. great stuff there.

despite all these advantages, i found myself saying "something's wrong here.." while playing. i felt almost sick to my stomach. i think the problem is just the pacing and the controls. the pacing is very linear. you go from one little fight to another little fight.. part of the problem is you have a setpoint that you must reach, instead of deciding more how to fight the battle yourself. but the worst part i think is just the controls... i would like to see this game with the same controls as the call of duty games. instead, you use a "toggle crouch" and "toggle prone." and instead of pressing the spacebar and having your soldier jump up like in COD, you have to press the toggle crouch or toggle prone key again to get them to stand up. what this adds up to is - too much time dealing with your standing position and worrying about your setponit instead of being immersed in the battle. granted, a lot of games screw up their controls, but this game makes me realize that much more how much of an accomplishment COD is...

The only games I play are historical type games... and this game is pretty historical, its just not to much fun to play. It's like something I would expect from an old play station game.

They really tried to make you feel like you were in Vietnam, so they kept making the enemy respawn I guess to simulate endless waves... but that to me should be in a Korean War game instead of a Vietnam game (maybe on missions like Tet and Kahe Sahn), and they would always come from the same spot in certain areas. All you have to do is clear the initial area and just wait for the respawned man to show up in the same spot over and over again.

The AI is retarded, they just jump out into the open and just move around a bit, but their is no real strategy. The game is heavily scripted and your teammates won't die until they get to certain areas where they are scripted to die. I once had a guy get hit by a few hundred machine gun rounds and an RPG... he sat on the ground asking for a medevac... then 10 seconds later he got up and said he was ok like nothing happened. Speaking of teammates, they are also retarded. They jump into your way and they get caught between trees and can't move. I had to restart a level when I reached the end because one of my men got caught between two rocks.

I also played the demo before getting this game, and I thought it looked great, but what you see in the demo is pretty much what you get. There is nothing else that is special about this game as far as the demo goes.

However, if you are like me and you love the stories that come out of games pick this game up anyway. Just buy it used, because the storyline is the only thing worth playing this game for. Some missions are ridiculously hard because your teammates can't hit anything, but the missions aren't unbeatable.

If you are looking for a great shooter, this isn't it. If you love history or are a Vietnam War buff, then this game might be for you. Most of the games out there on Vietnam suck, but the story line in this game seems to make up for its other shortcomings. To really like this game you have to not care about graphics and stuff like that. The AI is stupid, your teammates are stupid, the fact that no strategy is involved (other then fire and move) is stupid. Just appreciate this game for what it is... A nice story.

And on another note... if you are a parent you need to understand that a lot of the games out there are not for children. Computer games may have started out for children but they have evolved. A game like this is for adults or mature teenagers if there are any. So if your going to bash a game bash it for its shortcomings not its language or violence. You can't watch, or play, or read anything on Vietnam and expect it to be 100% clean.

While I was never in Vietnam, I was in the military in 1976; and this has the feeling of one of the more realistic Vietnam War era games out there. But there is also a large fun factor in this shooter too (along with being able to use some interesting weapons taken off dead enemies).