Hell Let Loose Vietnam Wiki — Overview, Modes, Maps & Roles (2026)

Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is the standalone follow-up to the World War II tactical shooter Hell Let Loose, developed by Expression Games and published by Team17. It launched August 13, 2026 on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store and Microsoft Store), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S at $39.99, and replaces the European front with 50v50 jungle warfare between the US Armed Forces and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). This is the hub page for everything we've confirmed about the game — from the four launch modes to the six maps, the 17 roles and how the Vietnam setting changes the Hell Let Loose formula.

Here's what you'll learn:

• What Hell Let Loose: Vietnam actually is (and isn't a DLC — it's a standalone game)
• The four game modes at launch: Warfare, Offensive, Conquest and Domination
• The six launch maps and the real battles they're based on
• How the 17 roles split across six units, from Commander to Mortar Gunner
• US vs NVA: tunnels, helicopters and patrol boats explained
• How it compares to the original Hell Let Loose, plus launch-window reception

Official resources: Steam store page · IGN game page · Official Hell Let Loose site · Steam news hub

What Is Hell Let Loose: Vietnam?

Hell Let Loose: Vietnam is a hardcore, communication-first multiplayer FPS built on Unreal Engine 5. Every match is 100 players — 50 per side — fighting over large maps inspired by real Vietnam War locations. The core loop is the same one that made Hell Let Loose a staple of the genre: squads of players coordinated by squad leaders, who answer to a commander, capturing territory sector by sector while a logistics layer (spawn points, supply, artillery) keeps the whole machine running.

Two facts matter before anything else:

1. It is a standalone title, not a DLC or expansion. The official store description lists it as its own game with its own $39.99 price, and the developers confirmed it's "mostly rebuilt code" rather than a map pack for the 2021 original.
2. It is multiplayer-only. There is no single-player campaign. Your "campaign" is the flow of a single 50v50 battle.

Per the official game description on Steam, Hell Let Loose: Vietnam features "multiple distinct gameplay modes pitting players against each other in epic 50 vs 50 multiplayer battles" — Warfare, Offensive, Conquest and Domination.

Game Modes at Launch

There are four modes at launch, two carried over from the original game and two new to the franchise:

The official Game Modes blog breaks down the capture rules: players inside the Soft Cap (the 2x2 grid around an objective) contribute 1 manpower each toward capturing, while players inside the Hard Cap (the objective circle itself) contribute 3x. A clean capture with no enemy presence takes about 3 minutes.

The Six Launch Maps

Every launch map is based on a real engagement from the war, and each one pushes a different style of combat:

1. Thanh Hóa Bridge — the famously bomb-proof "Dragon's Jaw" crossing over the Nam Ma River; river and cross-river combat around villages and trainyards.
2. Huế Outskirts — mountainous terrain, terraced farms, dense jungle and concrete industrial zones outside the city of Huế.
3. Vạn Tường — based on Operation Starlite (August 1965); villages, tight jungle and a sprawling river network for boat warfare.
4. Quảng Ngãi — based on Operation Piranha; monsoon flooding, cliffs, caves, bamboo forest and open lowlands around the Batangan Peninsula.
5. Đắk Tô Airfield — the 1967 battle for a key airbase; a long exposed runway surrounded by cratered ground that punishes unsupported crossing.
6. Cam Ranh Port — the 1969 logistics hub; dense military facilities, dry creek beds, dunes, and a southern waterway for open boat skirmishes.

Our all maps guide goes through each battlefield in detail, including which ones suit beginners.

Roles: The 17 Battle Roles

Each 50-player team is a chain of command, and roles are locked to six units:

• Command: Commander
• Infantry: Squad Leader, Rifleman, Grenadier, Engineer, Medic, Specialist, Machine Gunner
• Recon: Spotter, Sniper
• Armour: Tank Commander, Crewman
• Helicopter (US only): Logistics Officer, Pilot
• Mortar Squad: Observer, Support, Gunner

That's 17 roles total. Two launch details worth knowing: the Squad Leader and Commander roles require completing their tutorial first, and roles unlock loadout options through XP progression. Full breakdown in our all roles guide.

Weapons: US vs NVA Arsenal

Both factions carry historically accurate weapons, and each gun handles differently rather than being a reskinned mirror — the dev team explicitly said recoil, magazine capacity and feel differ between sides. The US side runs the M16A1, M60, M79, M72 LAW, M40, M1911A1, M2A1-7 flamethrower and Model 77E shotgun; the NVA responds with the Type 56, Type 53, RPD, RPG-02, K50M, Type 54, LPO-50 flamethrower and IZH 58 shotgun. See the weapons guide for the full list and loadout advice.

US vs NVA: What's Asymmetrical

The factions are not mirrors. This is the biggest structural difference from Hell Let Loose:

• NVA tunnels are the faction's spawn-and-mobility backbone. Engineers build tunnel networks underground, but launch balance patches already tightened them: tunnels are auto-destroyed when the territory they sit in is captured, cooldowns are 5 minutes, and tunnels can only be 400 m apart (roughly one grid square).
• US helicopters are the American answer — transport, supply drops and fire support. Officers can also deploy a spawn point (Field Pad) after stepping off a chopper, which is a huge tempo tool.
• Patrol boats exist for both sides on river maps. They transport troops, act as mobile spawn points, and NVA boats can carry supplies along the waterways.

If you're coming from the original game, our how to play guide covers how spawns work now, and the beginners guide explains what a new player should actually do in their first hour.

Reception & Player Count So Far

Launch-window reality, reported honestly: the game is sitting at "Mixed" on Steam — around 57% positive out of roughly 2,000 English-language reviews in the first two days, with the overall review total slightly higher (58% at last check). The praise focuses on the atmosphere, sound design and the weight of jungle combat; the complaints concentrate on launch-day crashes (especially AMD GPUs), server capacity issues and some console visual quality complaints. The developers published a dev comms thread acknowledging the issues and shipped a first hotfix within days.

Player numbers are strong for a tactical shooter: the recorded peak hit 30,614 concurrent players on launch day (August 13, 2026, 18:20 UTC), and the team said launch saw "almost three times the number of concurrent players compared to Hell Let Loose's all-time peak." Current-player counts were hovering around 21,000–27,000 in the first 48 hours.

Crossplay, Platforms & Technical Notes

• Crossplay is in, but filtered: servers are tagged Console + PC, PC Only or Console Only. On PC you get PC Only or Console + PC; on consoles you get Console Only or Console + PC. Community server owners can toggle crossplay and choose which platforms join. Official servers launched with crossplay enabled by default.
• Social features run through Epic Online Services — you link an Epic account and use it for friends, parties and queuing with friends across storefronts.
• Aim assist exists for gamepad players (High/Medium/Low/Disabled, High default), only active while aiming down sights, and limited at range — per the official dev comms.
• PC upscaling: TSR and DLSS at launch; FSR 4.1 is implemented in-game but was being validated and is coming in a post-launch update.
• Steam Deck / SteamOS: the game works on SteamOS and Linux per GamingOnLinux's launch testing, though performance expectations on a handheld should be modest.
• Anti-cheat: Easy Anti-Cheat, with a kernel-level driver. There are 49 Steam achievements.

See our best settings guide for graphics and performance tuning, and the system requirements guide if you're still checking whether your PC can run it.

Updates & Roadmap

The game is live-service from day one. Confirmed near-term items: a roadmap reveal on August 19, 2026, a first hotfix targeting AMD stability, server browser improvements (auto-refresh, hiding full servers, low-ping prioritisation) and audio fixes on PS5. Beyond that, the team said they're exploring urban combat — the Battle of Huế city map and Hạ Long Bay were named as inspirations being investigated, and night maps with flare/floodlight mechanics are in internal experimentation. None of those are confirmed additions yet.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Hell Let Loose: Vietnam?

A standalone 50v50 multiplayer tactical FPS set during the Vietnam War, developed by Expression Games and published by Team17. US Armed Forces fight the NVA across six maps using squads, commander abilities, tunnels, helicopters and patrol boats.

How many maps are in Hell Let Loose: Vietnam?

Six at launch: Thanh Hóa Bridge, Huế Outskirts, Vạn Tường, Quảng Ngãi, Đắk Tô Airfield and Cam Ranh Port. More maps are planned post-launch.

Is Hell Let Loose: Vietnam a DLC for Hell Let Loose?

No — it's a standalone game with its own price and store page. It shares the franchise's design philosophy but is built separately on Unreal Engine 5.

How many players is Hell Let Loose: Vietnam?

100 players per match: 50 US vs 50 NVA, split into multiple squads across infantry, recon, armour, mortar and helicopter units.

When did Hell Let Loose: Vietnam release?

August 13, 2026 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

What platforms is Hell Let Loose: Vietnam on?

PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Crossplay servers can mix PC and console players.

Related Guides

• How to Play Hell Let Loose: Vietnam — Objectives, Modes & Spawns
• Hell Let Loose Vietnam Beginners Guide: First Match, Roles & Survival
• Hell Let Loose Vietnam Maps: All 6 Battlefields Explained
• Hell Let Loose: Vietnam Roles — All 17 Roles Explained
• Hell Let Loose: Vietnam Weapons — Full Arsenal Guide
• Hell Let Loose: Vietnam System Requirements — PC Specs

Last updated: August 15, 2026.