Cruising up the Da Nang river on a tide of Vietnam shooters, Vietcong got called up for the draft on PC last year. Just when it thought its tour of duty was over, it got recalled and shipped over to Xbox, but we're not complaining.

It's 1967, and Vietcong obviously paid attention in military college (rather than getting distracted by the copious amounts of drugs and promiscuous sex that were all the rage), because careful tactics are the order of the day to complete the standard objectives of rescuing pilots, reaching Landing Zones etc. Simply blazing through a level will see you dead quicker than a baby fox during hunting season.

Although not as complex as other squad-based shooters, simple orders can be issued to your team, like disperse, follow etc, and individual members can be asked to carry out unique functions. Moving from cover point to cover point slowly and surely is, well, the way forward.

Each level and multiplayer map is a fair old size, which, when playing online, is a godsend. When working through Campaign mode though, the maps sometimes suffer from a very stop/start turn of pace. Your squad will often creep for a few minutes without spotting an enemy (though mindful of booby traps), engage in a fierce firefight, creep for a few more minutes, have another brief firefight etc. It never becomes a major problem, but a more continuous pace would have been appreciated.

But that's not to say the stages aren't challenging. Top-notch enemy AI (way smarter than your Yank counterparts, who often need prompting to continue following you) ensures players can't simply sit tight and mow down approaching opponents. Nope, these VC will actively seek better cover, try to outflank you and get the hell out of the kitchen to alert others if the heat gets too much.

This is soon put to rights through the brilliant multiplayer. You can play co-operatively over Link or Live on any map against hordes of tough-as-nails VC. It's great fun working through these maps with a bunch of mates, although Deathmatch comes mighty close. Up to 16 soldiers can fight it out over the expansive maps on offer, as VC vs US Army.

There's no real difference between teams (save for starting weapons), and although the character animation isn't the smoothest ever, it all runs at a cracking pace, and picking up weapons is quick and easy - exactly the way multiplayer games should be.

Even coming down from this multiplayer trip, Vietcong remains an entertaining and absorbing shooter in single-player. More than just a straight PC port, it provides no-frills solo action mixed up with fantastic multiplayer options. Although you could overdose on Campaign mode, true hallucinogenic happiness lies in teaming up with a bunch of buddies for a real jungle boogie.

1. Great enemy AI makes fairly rudimentary mission objectives a real challenge, and calls for careful planning and intelligent use of cover.
2. Not the best-looking game on Xbox, but the environments do boast gorgeously textured vegetation that reacts to gunfire and explosions.
3. Brilliantly atmospheric, a top-notch soundtrack perfectly captures the mood of 1967, accompanied by a great Wonder Years-style narrative.
4. Intuitive controls make issuing (rudimentary) squad commands easy. Beefy authentic weapons and top dialogue add to the experience.
5. Absolutely superb multiplayer, with a wealth of game modes available over the relatively bland, yet brilliantly designed, maps.

Rugged and robust FPS that sometimes suffers from a stuttering pace, but comes into its own with fantastic multiplayer.