Hell Let Loose: Vietnam Gameplay Trailer Released

This article was produced in collaboration with Valnet Inc. and the Sponsor Team17

After surprising audiences with the announcement of Hell Let Loose: Vietnam, the developers are keeping that jungle rot away with a fresh gameplay trailer and an important announcement for fans of classic Hell Let Loose.

The new trailer showcases the tense battles of the Vietnam War from multiple perspectives, and it is a nice look at how Hell Let Loose: Vietnam will recreate the various facets of one of the most brutal conflicts of the Cold War.

On top of standard infantry gameplay, Hell Let Loose: Vietnam will also recreate the challenges of combined arms operations in the beautiful Vietnamese terrain.

New Game, New Engine, Old Support

As GIs and Vietnamese soldiers clash in the jungle, the new gameplay trailer shows off how strikingly beautiful even a warzone can be, thanks in no small part to Hell Let Loose: Vietnam using Unreal Engine 5.

The terrain on which the Vietnam War was fought upon was a major player in the outcome of the conflict, so it is only fair to give it the recreation it deserves for its role.

Between lush jungles, small villages, and dense urban areas, Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is set to become the most realistic depiction of Vietnam in any videogame to date.

The game's full release is slated for sometime in 2026, but in the meantime, the developer has also mentioned that the original Hell Let Loose will continue to be supported. The game recently received a massive revamp as part of a free update.

Hell Let Loose Brings Combined Arms in Vietnam

Players will have access to transport and attack helicopters for that Air Cavalry feel. Budding pilots might get a little humbled over how hard it is to get good effects on the elusive North Vietnamese soldiers from the air.

Next time, when you call in a helo strike or pickup, pop some smoke and give a relative position, and you'll see how much better everything is.

Another gameplay innovation introduced with Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is the riverine combat, something that has not been done properly since the days of Battlefield Vietnam's Operation Game Warden map.

American riverine operations in Vietnam were a spiritual successor of the French 'Dinassaut' (Division Navale d'Assault, or Naval Assault Division) units.

Vietnamese terrain made it notoriously hard to move troops and supplies over land, especially with the constant threat of ambushes, so French, South Vietnamese, and later American forces took to rivers to combat guerrillas.

In Hell Let Loose: Vietnam, you will get to play around with patrol boats equipped with heavy machine guns, capable of shredding through emplacements and even troops behind light cover.

Not everything in life is free, of course: while the patrol boat has plenty of firepower, it is relatively slow and unarmored. A Vietnamese ambush can make short work of both boat and crew, especially with the heavy weapons that are available to that side.

From the day the French returned to Indochina and throughout American involvement in the war, there was one constant: the forces of the South focused on overwhelming conventional firepower, while those of the North relied primarily on light, highly mobile equipment.

Outside of select set-piece battles, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) units operating in South Vietnam preferred to make devastating use of Soviet and Chinese heavy machine guns, reusable rocket launchers, and mortar emplacements.

This mobile equipment allowed Northern forces to bring massive firepower to bear anywhere they wanted to, effectively turning all of South Vietnam into a danger zone.

That's not to say that heavy equipment was completely absent, as the NVA in particular brought Soviet tanks into battle numerous times.

While American forces will also have access to similar gear here, a unique aspect of North Vietnamese forces and their allies is the tunnel network.

The Vietnamese made extensive use of tunnels as a means of infiltration and maneuver on the battlefield. Guerrillas could move around with relative impunity to get behind American and allied forces, but also used tunnels to break contact to avoid being caught up in unfavorable battles.

American forces will be able to take the fight into the tunnels if they feel like it, but being a Tunnel Rat is not how you live to 100.

Hell Let Loose: Vietnam will be released as a standalone title in 2026 for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.