Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam occupies a very strange place. It's a great addition to the Battlefield franchise, no doubt. But, whether it was originally intended as a standalone game à la Battlefield 1943, or as an "expansion" to Battlefield Bad Company 2, is a question that lingers. Of course, it's hard to focus on such questions while you barbecue the enemy with a flamethrower.

Vietnam is, the way publisher EA and developer DICE sell it, a multiplayer-only "expansion pack" to this year's hit, Battlefield Bad Company 2. The $15 upgrade includes four new maps (a fifth will unlock shortly) and ramps up the overall game's tension by turning back the clock on weaponry. It occupies a separate location in the BFBC2 menu and the maps are not part of the core game's rotation. For all intents and purposes, Vietnam is such a different Battlefield experience that you'll forget it has anything to do with Bad Company 2.