You've probably been seeing a ton of beta feedback from this weekend, for those of you that were not fortunate to get in the 1^(st) round, I know it sucks but, I can assure you the wait will be worth it and I’m sure based on the state of the game there will be more opportunities for beta tests.
This beta was limited, only 1 map and the rounds were extremely repetitive as it was the same game mode with 2 different configurations of objectives. Net code was rough, we experienced some serious net code issues high ping and dsync and several players were more interested in playing around then playing the objectives.
For those of you worried about the Hell Let Loose experience I can assure you HLL Vietnam is still very much HLL with a new flavor. Running off solo still punishes players, teamwork and communication is still very important, teams who build nodes, prioritize defense and coordinate is the key to success.
Helicopters – 2 kinds, supply and transport. As for the usefulness, unfortunately, keybinds are a little broken, some people report “flawless” flying although, I have yet to see this in any games I’ve played. As a commander I was dropping helicopters 10-20 times a match for needy pilots who crashed their choppers. One of the biggest issues is space in the PZ helicopter spawn area. In RS2 the helicopter spawn area is separated from the main force to allow space for helicopters to make approaches and landings, in HLLV they squeezed everything into the tightest space possible causing pilots to make super tight precision landings when coming back to base, this is neither realistic or appropriate for a US Army pickup zone (PZ). I could go down the list from survivability, flight controls, etc.. needless to say the helicopters need some work.
Kit customization – new kits are here and they are more customizable, unlike in HLL where kits are designated to a whole set, you can now piece part out your role. Commanders have access to an M16, pistols, shotguns, flare guns and can alter how much ammo you carry. It is a nice feature but requires more thought into your kits, also, this comes at a cost… weight. I didn’t play around with it too much but there are penalties for being heavier.
Environment - We have only seen one map, the vegetation is lush and it an enemy even one layer behind a bush is in full concealment, combined this with zero muzzle flash and essentially every opening is a potential ambush point. This game rewards camping and or moving with thought and purpose, despite this, the game is still fast paced and I felt objectives were being taken very fast, the game felt more like battlefield and less like HLL. This may be due to the NVA’s absolute OP tunnel system which allows NVA to move anywhere within their tunnel system in 10 seconds. There were several people complaining about the problems with the foliage arguing that prone should be disabled however, I don’t agree with that nor do I think it would make any difference. Bottom line is, the hedgerow lanes of western Europe are gone and the Jungle allows the enemy to maneuver and hide anywhere, the tactics must change.
Weapons handling – I found the weapons to be ok, I turned down the ADS sensitivity and almost exclusively ran AK and M-16 on Semi-Auto as I found automatic to be way too hard to control. Combine this with most of my shots were from cover and concealment, it made it easier to track and fire on enemy. I didn’t find the TTK to be an issue, more so the issue was identifying a target and shooting it before it dipped into cover.
Commanders tools – US Commander has artillery, precision strike, strafing run and napalm. I personally found the napalm to be extremely underwhelming. The US at this point doesn’t have anything superior like attack helicopters, spooky or an airhead meaning commanders will need to heavily leverage their helicopters.
NVA Commander has all the good stuff, precision, strafe, bombing run and a way better artillery system allowing you to mark multiple targets unlike the US one. Additionally, the NVA commander can build an emergency tunnel, no airdrop, no indication, just a silent tunnel that appears allowing the entire team to travel and maneuver on the enemy relatively undetected.
Overall – As everyone has stated, this is a rough draft of the game, you can expect some more betas to be released and more opportunity to play the game. I went into the beta with zero expectations and overall, I was pleased but, it was still HLL and for me, it wasn’t enough to really love the experience as I don’t care for the back-and-forth warfare mode combined with some of the tactical advantages that the NVA currently possesses. HLL wasn’t perfect when it first released and we have come a long way since 2019-2020 so, expect some polish, new features and fixed bugs but don’t expect RS2 , BFV ambience or even wheat we have in HLL because it is its own game with its own uniqueness and we are in early stages of the HLLV rollout.