Hell Let Loose: Vietnam takes the franchise’s well-established milsim roots into the dense, chaotic jungles of the Vietnam War, delivering a gameplay experience that asks for patience, careful planning, and a willingness to suffer repeated casualties. This hardcore 50-versus-50 tactical FPS from Expression Games preserves the series’ hallmark punishing realism while introducing a new setting and distinct gameplay dynamics built around factional asymmetry.

Same brutal gameplay, new setting

The Western Front of World War II is gone, and the Vietnam War has taken its place. The core gameplay of Hell Let Loose remains intact, however, with players tasked to coordinate tightly within their squads and larger teams to achieve victory. Open squad voice chat, resource-focused strategic planning, and the steep learning curve the series is famous for return, offering little respite to newcomers.

During the two-hour preview session on the Tan Hoa Bridge map—a location inspired by the Dragon’s Jaw from Operation Rolling Thunder—Hell Let Loose: Vietnam proved it’s as much about dying as it is about tactical success. Missteps are swiftly punished, whether by missed communication, poor coordination, or a sniper from an unseen vantage point. For more experienced players, this friction is the draw.

The jungle environment introduces its own challenges. Rice paddies, rivers, and villages dot Tan Hoa Bridge, creating a landscape of lush vegetation and tight sightlines. The map design complements the Vietnam setting, emphasizing ambushes and careful movement. That said, traversing these areas can often feel time-consuming or punishing. The preview build was notably rough in terms of optimization—foliage popped in randomly during firefights, frame pacing stuttered, and one player-reported instance described being stuck in water for 20 seconds before the game corrected itself. These issues may not be concerning to hardcore fans this early in development but could turn off less committed players.

A milsim for those who embrace difficulty

Hell Let Loose: Vietnam doubles down on the design philosophy of making even basic actions feel deliberate and heavy. Reload animations carry weight, aiming down sights introduces a slight delay, and sprinting comes at the cost of being able to fire or interact with the environment. Unlike arcade shooters such as Battlefield or Call of Duty, where movement is fluid and multi-tasking is encouraged, Hell Let Loose enforces methodical play.

The class system underscores this systemic demand for teamwork. Each kit—rifleman, medic, commander, and others—serves specific battlefield roles with limited overlap. Riflemen supply ammo boxes for team resupplies, while medics lack offensive power but can revive critically wounded allies. In one instance, the preview described a medic hurriedly reviving a teammate and firing a sidearm one-handed during a drag maneuver—moments like these reinforce the game’s emphasis on cohesive squad play.

Kit limitations also mean that classic FPS flexibility is absent; you cannot spawn in with a universal loadout that covers all bases. Instead, roles within Hell Let Loose: Vietnam are specialized to the point where success—or failure—is determined by how well players coordinate before and during engagements.

Mechanics of asymmetry

The Vietnam setting allows Hell Let Loose: Vietnam to introduce something critically new: asymmetrical factional gameplay. The U.S. Army leans heavily on helicopters for mobility, while the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) operates through tunnel networks. On the American side, fixed helipads spawn transport helicopters, which act as mobile spawn points when landed. Conversely, the NVA builds complex tunnel systems that connect garrisons across the battlefield, enabling rapid movement and strategic positioning.

This asymmetry carries through to combat. The NVA machine gunner can deploy static anti-aircraft emplacements, countering American air threats, while U.S. commanders can wreak havoc on underground tunnels with napalm strikes. These dynamics create a layer of strategy not seen in previous entries of Hell Let Loose, forcing teams to grapple with fundamentally different mechanics on the same battlefield.

How the balance between these factions will play out long-term remains unclear, as the preview didn’t offer a deep enough look at large-scale asymmetrical interactions. Many vehicles and specialized roles were locked for the preview event, including the helicopter units and tank crews. However, the mechanical design hints at a game that rewards mastery of each faction’s distinct playstyle.

Long walks, longer waits

Perhaps the most divisive design choice is the time investment required to get back into the action. After dying, players spawn at rear garrisons and face two choices: hop into a dev-piloted helicopter (when available) or start walking to the front line. With five-minute treks through jungle terrain common, the downtime between respawns carries both frustration and charm.

For hardcore players, the journey to rejoin the fight reinforces the stakes of every engagement. For others, it feels punitive. Players already facing a steep learning curve may struggle with repeated deaths and long respawns, potentially alienating more casual participants. This friction defines the game and will likely split opinions as sharply as its predecessor did.

Accessibility concerns

One troubling omission during the preview was the lack of any accessibility settings in the menus. For a game as demanding as Hell Let Loose: Vietnam—a title that relies on sensory awareness and precise, deliberate actions—ignoring basic accessibility options could reduce its audience at launch. Players unaccustomed or physically unable to handle the sensory minimalism and tactical demands may simply find the game unplayable. The developers have time to address this oversight, but it remains a notable concern.

Mid-battle communication remains key

Hell Let Loose has always hinged on squad communication, and Vietnam is no exception. Voice chat creates organic moments of cooperation and tension, whether it’s a commander directing the team to fortify a garrison or a lone observer scanning the jungle through binoculars to spot enemy movements.

In one session, the preview described how a developer-controlled commander rallied the NVA team to construct tunnel networks at a captured point. Watching a commander audibly invested in their team’s strategy highlights the emergent gameplay Hell Let Loose thrives on.

Room for improvement before launch

Technically, Hell Let Loose: Vietnam has a way to go before its full release. Performance issues like stuttering, animation glitches, and foliage pop-ins are tolerable in a preview but need to be addressed to ensure a smooth launch. Further refinements to faction balance, vehicle mechanics, and class distribution are also critical for sustaining long-term player interest.

Other open questions remain, including whether the game’s 17 classes will retain their individual identity throughout lengthy matches or whether a core meta will dominate. Similarly, how morale-economy systems, like Conquest mode’s finite ticker, will impact gameplay loops for both winning and losing teams remains to be seen.

For those who value tactical depth, punishing realism, and the emergent cooperation only milsims can provide, Hell Let Loose: Vietnam appears to double down on everything that made its predecessors stand out. For everyone else, the game’s many friction points—from its punishing deaths to its extended respawns—may still prove too exacting.

Hell Let Loose: Vietnam launches with six maps, each inspired by historical engagements like Operation Starlight and the Tet Offensive. Prospective soldiers should prepare to learn the hard way: one skirmish at a time.