In the late nineties, GT Interactive released NAM after its programming by the Game Factory. It is an arcade action game in the style of a first person shooter. It also has elements of a combat simulation or strategy. It was touted as the Doom conversion for the Marine Corps.
The user plays the protagonist of Alan “the Bear” Westmoreland, modelled after one of the top U.S. generals in the Vietnam conflict. The Bear is more reminiscent of Duke Nuke ‘em, and is actually a Marine Corps sergeant.
On each level, this seemingly super human hero squares off against sixty or seventy baddies, and just blasts away. While he does have limited ammunition and health, he is able to rejuvenate both by picking up ammo cases and Red Cross bags, respectively.
The enemies are deeply hidden in the undergrowth, and are very hard to see. The best chance Westmoreland has is spotting the flash of enemy fire, and absorbing some hits before shooting. The Bear uses some of his heavy duty weapons to flush them out and blast them, including the M72 anti-tank rocket launcher and his M79 grenade launcher. Both weapons have been modified to make them homing artillery, meaning that they automatically zone in on the nearest enemy toward the
user’s aim. While this is an advantage in a fighting frenzy, it makes it impossible to aim between two adjacent enemies and exterminate them both at once.
When things get especially tough, Westmoreland is able to call in air support and artillery for back up. Granted, this does up the risk of instant death by friendly fire, which is highly possible, adding to the realism. It is easier to avoid this fate when Westmoreland calls in the strikes himself, but AI Marines also have that option, and sometimes the allied support strikes are a surprise, leaving the hero in a bad situation.
The technical aspect of the game has good points and bad. The controls are clunky, flat out, but the challenge to master them is not insurmountable. The graphics are terrible, pixilated and dated. But the sound is very, very good and sickeningly realistic. There is the sound of gun fire, jets roaring overhead, bombs going off, fire, napalm, and the screams of both the enemy and allied soldiers caught in the fire. The game play is not bad, making up to some extent, the poor graphic display.
In short, NAM is a game that maybe tried to do too much at one time and fell short of many marks. Still, however, it is an engaging play and offers nothing short of fast-paced action. It is tolerable as a first person shooter, but the lack of visible targets makes it somewhat frustrating. It is still worth a download for a classic shoot ‘em up thrill.
