[OFP] The Last Months in Vietnam by WarriorX

Review by Denz

Overviews

The overviews consist of the same format throughout the campaign. Containing a single line description of the mission and a picture. Most of the pictures are photographs from the Vietnam War. A border around them would have helped the presentation though.

Cinematics

Cinematics are important in campaigns to help the flow of the story and the author has done a good job here. Each of the missions contain both an intro and an outro. With the intros taking the form of a briefing that informs you on the mission at hand as well as giving you some information on the bigger picture. The camera work is technically sound but it has to be described as having a "no frills" look to it. The outros have a different feel to them. The author's emphasis has been placed on the "cinematic" look. There are a lot of action shots and some that typify the horrors of war. The only drawback is some of the shots linger a little too long on their subjects.

Briefings

The briefings are written in the same style throughout. All are well written and contain that all important mixture of background and mission outline. There is plenty of detail although they are marred by the occasional spelling mistake. The notes take the form of the lead characters diary. They don't add much but do provide an interesting read as how his emotions and feelings change during the course of the campaign. The maps are all clearly laid out. Not all have text markers but this doesn't hinder the player at all. The weapons selection is the same throughout the campaign. This contains all the standard weapons used by US Special Forces at this time and is a mixture of US and enemy weapons plus the option of a silenced sub-machine gun.

Missions

The actual story for this campaign is very simple though perhaps a little fragmented. For the next 22 missions, you take the role of John Rooster. A regular soldier who has just finished the recondo school and is finishing off his tour of duty with Special Forces. The missions are well created, diverse and have a realistic feel to them. On offer are all the mission types you would expect from a 'Nam campaign. You will pull listening post duty, rescue downed pilots, raid bases, the whole shebang. Several of the missions feature long journeys to the insertion point. Whereas I would usually complain about such things. They did help to draw me into the mission. Evocative of all those Vietnam movies we have all seen, the journey is accompanied by a rocking 60s track. You'll be singing along as you motor towards your objective, totally engrossed in what you are doing. You see, it's in the atmosphere department that "Last Months" really shines. Even in a mission like "Listening Outpost" where you will spend most of the mission's duration in one position, straining to see in the shadows and listening to the eternal buzz of the jungle, you will be riveted. The missions really manage to suck you in and keep you captivated, no matter how tough the going gets. You'll see them through till the mission is complete. The difficulty level is just right. The campaign eases you in gently, building up to the final missions which are rather tough to complete but just as absorbing. There is the slight chance that a Crash to Desktop may occur on the island switch over or at the very end of the outro. This is most likely an addon conflict but it has been impossible to recreate with any certainty.

Special

The music deserves a mention as each mission has, at least one use of music and none of them are repeated. Plus, there are custom voices used throughout the campaign although the quality of them is a bit hit and miss.

Overall

There isn't one bad mission throughout the whole of the 22 missions. There are some pretty tough ones and some that are damn hard but none that let the side down. That alone is pretty impressive in a campaign of this size. It surprised me that there is only basic scripting going on and that it's mostly editor-driven. The author has still delivered the goods though. "Last Months" is quality entertainment.