Hell Let Loose: Vietnam takes the established formula of its predecessor and drops it into one of the most difficult settings imaginable for a large-scale tactical shooter. The Vietnam War is a very different proposition from the familiar battlefields of World War II, and Expression Games makes good use of that difference without turning the game into something unrecognisable. There is no traditional single-player campaign or narrative to speak of, with the focus instead firmly placed on the shifting stories that emerge from each 50-versus-50 battle. Playing as either the US Armed Forces or the North Vietnamese Army gives each side its own strengths and tactical possibilities, with American air power, helicopters and patrol boats contrasting nicely with the NVA’s ability to construct tunnel networks and attack from unexpected directions. It is a smart way of approaching the conflict because neither faction simply feels like a reskinned version of the other, although the limited launch roster of factions, weapons and maps does leave Vietnam feeling more like the beginning of something than a fully realised successor.
That feeling is reinforced by how little the fundamental Hell Let Loose structure has actually changed. This is still a shooter where communication, positioning and a well-organised squad matter considerably more than individual kill counts. The familiar collection of specialised roles gives everyone a purpose, whether that means supplying ammunition, providing suppressive fire, reviving teammates, hunting armor or leading an entire squad, while the Commander has the unenviable task of trying to make sense of the larger battle. The revised tutorials are particularly welcome on PS5, making the game’s considerable collection of systems much easier to understand than in the original. For veterans, this familiarity is both a strength and a limitation: there is a satisfying refinement to the formula, but not the sense of a completely new chapter in the series. Newcomers, meanwhile, will still need some patience before everything starts to click.
The jungle itself does most of the work when it comes to making these familiar mechanics feel fresh. Dense vegetation, rivers, narrow routes and constantly shifting sightlines make simply moving from one objective to another an exercise in caution. A seemingly empty patch of jungle can suddenly erupt into gunfire, while a carefully positioned machine gunner or sniper can make an entire approach feel impossible. Gunplay benefits from this slower pace, with weapons feeling suitably powerful and firefights often ending after only a handful of well-placed shots. We particularly like how this encourages players to think before pulling the trigger rather than charging around the map, although the same design can become frustrating when an enemy remains almost completely invisible until the moment they kill you. The game is at its best when a squad communicates properly, establishes useful spawn points and advances together; without that cooperation, long stretches of running through the jungle followed by a very brief death can make a match feel considerably less rewarding.
The expanded movement options help the battlefield feel more appropriate to Vietnam, with swimming, climbing, crawling and other traversal options making the environment more than just scenery. The new vehicles are more of a mixed bag. Patrol boats can be genuinely useful because they combine mobility, fire support and tactical positioning, while helicopters provide the US side with an important way to move troops and supplies. At the same time, vehicles can feel awkward to control, particularly when navigating the jungle, and helicopters are especially demanding to operate effectively. The controls generally favor deliberate movement over the acrobatics of a conventional multiplayer shooter, which fits the game’s identity, but there is a stiffness to some actions that can occasionally make the experience feel less polished than it should. We would rather have that deliberate pace than see Vietnam transformed into another run-and-gun shooter, but there is still room for the controls and vehicle handling to become more responsive without compromising the tactical character.
Visually, there is plenty to admire in the sheer scale and density of the environments. The jungle can be incredibly atmospheric, particularly when visibility is reduced and every rustle or distant shot becomes a potential threat. Rivers, villages, military installations and more open areas provide some welcome variation, while moments involving napalm, smoke and large-scale attacks can deliver the spectacle expected from a 50-versus-50 war game. Unfortunately, the PS5 version is also undermined by technical issues that are particularly damaging in a game where spotting the enemy is already deliberately difficult. Foliage and shadows can flicker, textures can pop into place and visual artefacts can make it harder to distinguish an enemy from the environment. Performance can also become inconsistent when the battlefield gets particularly busy, taking some of the shine off otherwise impressive environments. It is especially unfortunate because the visual limitations are not merely cosmetic here: when a player is already searching desperately for a barely visible soldier, unstable foliage and disappearing textures can directly affect the outcome of an engagement.
The audio is stronger in principle than in execution. Weapons have the necessary weight and the soundscape does a good job of making the jungle feel alive, with distant gunfire and environmental sounds often providing vital clues about what is happening beyond the player’s immediate field of view. That is exactly what a game like this needs, because sound can be as important as sight when an opponent is hidden somewhere in the vegetation. However, the mixing can be strangely restrained, with some vehicles and incoming fire failing to make the impact one would expect from such a chaotic battlefield. Tanks in particular can lack the intimidating presence their size suggests, while helicopters can be surprisingly difficult to hear until they are very close. We found the audio effective at building tension, but less successful at delivering the overwhelming sense of danger that the best battles can otherwise create.
Ultimately, Hell Let Loose: Vietnam succeeds because the core idea behind Hell Let Loose remains remarkably effective. The Vietnam setting changes the character of the battles without destroying the tactical foundations, and the combination of dense jungle, asymmetric factions, tunnels, helicopters and river combat produces some genuinely memorable multiplayer situations. When a squad is communicating, players are fulfilling their roles and a coordinated attack finally breaks through a stubborn defensive position, the game creates the kind of shared battlefield story that few shooters can replicate. We also appreciate that it refuses to turn Vietnam into a conventional arcade shooter simply to make it more immediately accessible. The problem is that the game currently asks players to tolerate too many technical shortcomings alongside an already demanding design. Limited launch content, awkward vehicle handling, visual pop-in, inconsistent performance and audio issues all keep an otherwise compelling shooter from reaching its full potential. Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is therefore less a definitive new beginning for the series than a very promising foundation: underneath the rough edges is an excellent tactical shooter, but Expression Games still has some work to do before this particular battlefield feels completely ready for deployment.
Score: 7.4/10