Overview

Console to PC ports, and even games developed simultaneously on console and PC have gotten a bad reputation. Sometimes, it's deserved, other times (Deus Ex 2), not so much. Thief: Deadly Shadows was a bit of an exception to the rule but even then, there was cause to complain about some consolitis-related issues.

Men of Valor is a Vietnam-era first-person shooter in the vein of Medal of Honor and Call of Duty, which shouldn't be a surprise since it was made by MOHAA developer 2015, but this time it was done for both PC and Xbox. There have been other games that tackled Vietnam, like the surprisingly good Viet Cong or the somewhat disappointing Battlefield Vietnam, but the setting hasn't been over-exposed like World War II has.

On Men of Valor's positive side, it portrays the conflict with surprising grit. I thought few games would have the balls to be as brave as Viet Cong was, but Men of Valor is just as rugged. If anything, the number of times that innocent villagers bust out with AK-47s or surprise explosives and mow down a squad member or fellow squad becomes excessive. The sheer number of times that the player shoots young women and older men is almost disturbing, but there seems to be a technical reason for that. There just aren't as many models as one would expect. There's a couple of types of male villager/VC, perhaps two female villagers, and a pair of NVAs in our experience. There are rarer models, officers and commanders, and the GIs in your squad have unique-ish looks at least.

2015 tries, and succeeds, in giving squaddies more personality than they do in Call of Duty, though your teammates are just as useless in combat as those in that World War 2 game. Similarly, they are immune to enemy fire and refuse to go down despite multiple hits, though the AI does try to avoid grenades and takes cover from gunfire. Squadmates only die when they're scripted to - usually in setting off a trap or being ambushed. This is, in fact, the way many combat sequences in the game start. The squad is on patrol, someone sets off a trap and/or all hell breaks loose as VC or NVA troops fire from prepared ambush positions. There are also boat and helicopter sequences, but the game style varies little from Call of Duty.


Men of Valor also introduces a few new twists to first-person shooter combat. Enemies don't just drop weapons and canteens/first aid kits. The bodies must be searched. Then, the player has to bandage himself to regain lost health. Also, recoil and accuracy are affected to a much higher degree by the player's stance than even in Call of Duty. A few of the additions - like "realistic" walking - are really uncalled for. The jarring slow-fast, slow-fast movement is almost enough to induce motion sickness.