"America's Army gives hoo-ah a new definition"

It is unnerving when a game is produced not by a normal game developer, but by the US Army itself.

That's right. While we're familiar with seeing US soldiers in popular games, we've never seen a game made by the US Army to promote itself. The rationale behind the game is to provide young gamers with an insight into the US Army, using gaming technology and the Internet as a medium of communication, taking the form of a first-person, squad-based shooter.

Of course, it wouldn't be much of a promotion if the audience had to pay for it. Instead, America's Army is a free game, available for download off the Internet or on CD from local US Army Recruitment centres. The US Army has also set up an extensive website to support the game and major news in the Army.

So what can a free game like America's Armybring to an audience who has already gone through popular titles like Medal of Honor, Counter-Strike and Operation Flashpoint? Quite a lot.

First things first, the game is organised to reflect operations in the real-world US Army. While not extensive enough to cover individual online avatar careers; training, squad roles and missions have a strong basis in modern military operations and infrastructure, giving players a virtual taste of how the American Army works.

To demonstrate this, America's Army implements mandatory training for players. After creating an account, all players most undergo Basic Training before being allowed to play online. Basic Training is modelled on real-life training, and includes qualifying on the rifle range, obstacle course, urban warfare and weapons training. After Basic Training, players may also complete Advanced Marksmanship training, Airborne Training and Medic Training. Completing these training missions allows players to play on more maps and assume the roles of Sniper and Medic in a squad.

Naturally, many players are put off by the compulsory training, but that is exactly what the US Army wanted to achieve in America's Army. By making training a requirement, the quality of players increases, or so the theory goes. The training missions also teach players key skills and useful background knowledge in and out of combat.

Then comes the core of America's Army: online play. The game lacks any sort of single player. Levels are mission-oriented, usually with an attacking side and a defending side. Objectives vary between maps, but they can include reaching a certain part of the map or capturing key points. Players are able to select different squad classes, including Riflemen, Grenadiers, Automatic Rifleman, Medics and Snipers.

Depending on selected classes, players can use weapons such as the M16, M203, M4, M249 SAW, M24 SWS and M82A1 .50cal., as well as a selection of hand grenades. Players can also pick up enemy weapons such as AK47s and Mosin-Nagants. America's Army contains a unique system in which the player's team is always shown as the US Army, while the opposing team is always shown as Opposing Forces, or OPFOR. In other words, an enemy will appear to you in enemy clothing and carrying an AK47, but they will see themselves as a US Army soldier with an M16, but see you as an AK47-wielding terrorist. Another interesting feature is the inclusion of weapon jams. As in real life, weapons do malfunction due to mechanical failures. Weapons like the M16 jam more often, and all weapons are more prone to jamming later in rounds than they are at the start, due to fowling and exposure to residue.

The developers provide plenty of servers, and allow third-party groups to host games as well. However, America's Army divides servers into "Official", "Leased-Official" and "Unauthorized" for the purpose of standardising scores. Why focus on scores? While many other games use scores as a form of bragging rights, America's Army introduces a unique 'Honor' system. Honor is the measure of how well a player has performed throughout their career in America's Army. Honor is gained by completing objectives, treating teammates as a Medic and eliminating enemies. On the other hand, you can lose Honor by shooting teammates or civilians. Points are also awarded for Leadership, demonstrated by the survival of the squad leader and team members.

To stress the importance of team communications and tactics, the game includes preset radio commands, shouted orders and hand signals. Damage is not along the lines of one-hit kills ala Tom Clancy, but damage is modelled by degrading status, from "Green" to "Yellow" to "Red". Hits in critical areas will either kill or severely damage. Injured players will bleed until treated by a Medic or it clots by itself. Injured players also move slower and are less accurate in their shots. Consequently, players must work together as a team, devising the most effective and efficient strategies to reduce casualties while completing objectives.

Probably the main gripe about America's Army is the relatively high amount of lag in online games. However, loading times are quite fast, and most of the time the lag is bearable.

Although America's Army can be quite hard to get into, the game's action is fast enough to keep interest, while requiring a reasonable amount of tactics and maturity. Most importantly, it's free, so feel free to download or drop by the Recruitment Centre.

Graphics: 8/10
Sounds: 8/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Replay: 9/10
Overall: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/05/04