The Wargamer

Introduction

When I first saw Men of Valor at E3 2003, I was shocked to see just how far the developers at 2015 had come since their landmark work on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.  While the team had found tremendous success with Allied Assault, a World War II first-person shooter, the game was at times too straightforward and too formulaic.  Men of Valor still has that basic first-person shooter formula, with an intriguing setting in Vietnam and plenty of action to satisfy the average gamer, but it also uses far more visceral action to communicate the chaotic feel of the conflict.  In fact, what I remember most about the E3 presentation was the game's violent, chaotic atmosphere: napalm explosions shaking the player's view, enemies rushing from out of nowhere to attack, and tracers rifling through the air in every which way.  The action seemed overwhelming.

To be sure, Men of Valor is not a simulation or wargame.  It's a Hollywood-inspired, action-oriented shooter that uses historical authenticity to set the stage and the Unreal Warfare 3D engine for attractive graphics.  Fortunately, Men of Valor's developers realize their game is not a realistic portrayal of warfare and readily acknowledge the trade off they have made.  For example, although the game begins at the time of the first U.S. Marine operations in 1965 and continues through the Tet Offensive in 1968, they've created a series of over-the-top, action-packed missions that range from basic operations against the Viet Cong and NVA to supply attacks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  Men of Valor's protagonist, an Oklahoman by the name of Dean Shephard, is sent to a variety of hotspots across the country and is supported by a squad of AI team members.  If 2015 can live up to its own goals for the AI squad mates, the player will be able to either control them through simple interface options or allow them to fight on their own with minimal direction.

Men of Valor joins a growing list of games to take on subject of the Vietnam Conflict.  Vietcong, Battlefield: Vietnam, Conflict Vietnam, and a variety of other titles are now taking on this still complicated topic, but for most gamers, it's an issue best left for historical analysis or just left in the past altogether.  The developers at 2015 explained their thoughts on the topic in the following way: "Americans seem mature enough to separate their political opinions about an historical event from its portrayal in a dramatic medium, and we’re not sensing any more controversy about the game than a novel or movie would expect to see."   

Men of Valor will be released for both the PC and Xbox this fall.  More information on the game is available from the official web site.

Screenshots

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