Hell Let Loose: Vietnam Review: The Jungle Doesn't Care About Your K/D

No killcam. No minimap hand-holding. Just a wall of jungle, a crackling radio, and forty-nine other people whose competence decides whether the next hour is glorious or miserable. Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is exactly what it promises - and I mean that as both praise and warning.

What it is

Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is a standalone sequel to the WW2 original, developed by Expression Games and published by Team17, out August 13, 2026 on PC (Steam, Epic, Microsoft Store), PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. It's rebuilt on Unreal Engine 5 and priced at $39.99, with a 10 percent launch discount on Steam right now. Matches are 50v50 - US Armed Forces against the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong - across six launch maps inspired by historical operations like Starlite: jungles, rice paddies, beaches, rivers.

How it actually plays

If you know Hell Let Loose, the DNA is intact: nearly twenty roles, squads that live or die by their officers, supply lines and garrisons that matter more than any individual gunfight. What Vietnam adds is asymmetry with real teeth. The US side gets helicopters, and a good Huey pilot reshapes a match - hot drops behind a contested point are the most electric thing this series has ever done. The NVA answer with tunnel networks they dig themselves, spawning fighters out of the earth, plus riverboats both factions use to flank along waterways. The jungle itself is a weapon: sightlines are short, ambushes are constant, and the sound design had me physically flinching at snapped branches.

After the rough open betas, the two-month delay clearly went where it was needed - weapon balance and jungle visibility complaints were the stated reasons, and the launch build I played is dramatically tighter.

The lows

This game remains merciless to newcomers. Without a mic and a tolerant squad, your first evening will be a slideshow of deaths from bushes you never saw. Six maps is a decent start but will need the promised updates to stay fresh. And there's no crossplay between PC and console at launch, which splits an already niche playerbase - my biggest long-term worry for server health in our region off-peak.

Who it's for

Players who want war as logistics, nerves and teamwork - not a Call of Duty scoreboard. Veterans of the original can jump straight in. Curious newcomers should bring a friend, a mic and humility.

Verdict

The best Vietnam-era shooter in two decades, with helicopters and tunnels that genuinely change the formula. Hostile to lone wolves, thin on maps, but unmatched at what it does.

Score: 8/10

Image: Jim van de Burgt from Wijk bij Duurstede, Netherlands / CC0, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leeuwarden_2008_560-_G-HUEY_UH-1_Iroquois_Army_USA_flying_P1050366_(50852386333).jpg