Hell Let Loose: Vietnam Hands-On: Warfare Mode, Tunnels & the Dragon's Jaw
Published 2026-04-26Updated 2026-09-195 min read
A preview build of Hell Let Loose: Vietnam showed off Warfare mode on the Thanh Hóa Bridge map — tunnel flanks, helicopter insertions and one very exposed bridge.
Before launch, a round of preview sessions gave outlets a proper taste of Hell Let Loose: Vietnam's flagship Warfare mode — and the takeaway was consistent: this is the most authentic-feeling shooter many of us had touched. The series' first entry never posted eye-watering Steam numbers (its all-time peak sat around 21,000 in January 2025, per SteamDB), yet its concurrent curve climbed steadily for five straight years — proof of a devoted core that most niche shooters never build.
Warfare mode: a 100-player tug of war
The preview ran two matches of Warfare mode, the franchise staple: fifty players per side, five objectives, capture the active point to push the front forward, fall back when you lose it. Nothing about the loop has changed — what changed is the map it plays out on.
Tunnels versus helicopters
The Vietnam setting earns its keep through asymmetric new tools. NVA-aligned engineers can dig tunnel networks that link outposts and garrisons, functioning as in-map fast travel: slip underground, resurface behind an enemy position, and a flank that would take minutes on foot happens in seconds. In a game built on communication and squad play, tunnels also let a team shift its weight between objectives fast.
The US answer comes from above. Hueys ferry whole squads across the map for the fastest insertions available, backed by unmanned air support — recon passes and bombing runs. Both sides share the rivers: armed patrol boats navigate the winding waterways and double as spawn points.
The Thanh Hóa Bridge map
The preview map — one of six planned for launch — was Thanh Hóa Bridge, split by the Sông Mã river. Its centerpiece is the Dragon's Jaw, an enormous east–west span with a train parked across it. Game director Paul "Rushy" Rustchynsky framed the design intent in a Discord Q&A: every map should have one natural strategic focal point that pulls both armies toward it. The map pool varies hard around that rule — claustrophobic jungle, an open harbor with exposed urban ground, and the Dak To airbase where a bare runway has to be crossed in the open.
What a match actually feels like
Positioning beats twitch aim here. Dense vegetation rewards ambush lines and sightline discipline over raw gunplay, and one preview session — holding a cliffside perch beside the Dragon's Jaw, picking off attackers with an automatic rifle until a flanker finally ended it — captured the loop perfectly: patience, cover, then sudden violence.
The threshold hasn't dropped. If squad leaders barking orders while an unseen rifleman drops you sounds like frustration rather than fun, this genre remains what it has always been. For everyone else, the preview landed as a natural, worthy sequel.