The charred terrain gives snipers plenty of room to aim in some areas, while rocky hills, trenches, and rickety huts provide multiple ambush and flanking opportunities for other classes. Meanwhile, well-placed choke points force squads to the front lines, charging en masse and hoping to inch forward until they can take an important objective. Flaming underbrush in the distance sends billows of thick smoke into the air, and dense dust thrown up from an exploding grenade clouds your view. The battlefield has been devastated by napalm. The Hill 137 map is a fantastic example of how striking visuals and intricate map design make for intense firefights. This isn’t just because of the weapon adjustments, however the superbly designed maps deliver the sense of a down-and-dirty skirmish between two sides fighting the terrain as much as they are fighting each other. A lucky player can still land an annoying headshot across the map with an AK-47, but by and large, BC2 Vietnam is a more up-close-and-personal experience, and consequently, it’s a more explosive one. As a result, you are far less likely to get sniped by a medic or assault soldier using a conventional–but scoped–weapon. The recon class retains scopes, but other classes must rely on their old-fashioned iron sights to get a more accurate shot. Most obviously, there’s less emphasis on long-range combat. Some of the differences between vanilla Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and the Vietnam add-on are striking. That tank might have flames, but it can’t escape the wrath of an engineer’s rocket.