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Games: America's Army: Operations and Soldiers
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Developer: United States Army Publisher: United States Army ESRB: Teen Street Price: FREE Genre: First-Person / Role-Playing |
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We’ve all seen the games that you can play for free – they’re often Java-based throwbacks to the 80’s arcades, combining lackluster graphics with minimal gameplay. Well, no more. Check out these titles on the way from the U.S. Army. The first game, America’s Army: Soldiers, gives gamers a chance to role-play the Army experience, from signing up at the recruiter to handling basic training to taking their first tour of duty. Players choose the attributes, career path, and goals for their character and apply six different resources to reach each goal (health, strength, knowledge, skills, finances, and popularity). But the game that has shooter fans signing up is America’s Army: Operations. Using a next-generation Unreal engine, this ultra-realistic first-person shooter will contain 20 single- and multiplayer missions with 140 dedicated servers hosted by HomeLAN. The game’s realism was evident during a demonstration at E3 – if you’re too close to a grenade going off, your ears will ring. And flash grenades white out your screen, making you useless for 20 seconds. Aiming a sniper rifle is affected by your breathing – and it’s much more accurate if you take the shot from a crouched or prone position or take the time to set up your tripod. Optimized for GeForce2 graphics, weapon effects – from real Army weapons such as the M16A2 assault rifle and M24 sniper rifle – offer another layer of realism. Tracers zip by as machine gun fire barely misses, shell casings ping off the ground around you as you return fire, wood splinters and glass shards rain from the wall behind as bullets tear out chunks – this isn’t like any “free” game you’ve seen before. Multiplayer missions support up to 32 players involved in assignment tours, but before gamers can play online, they’ll have to complete the appropriate training. Teamwork is emphasized, especially through communication – via speech, radio messages, or actual military hand and arm signals. Gamers will also be subject to the Rules of Engagement for online combat. Any major violations – such as injuring or killing a teammate – could result in being sent to virtual prison. And just as in the Army’s real force-on-force training practices, players always perceive that they are fighting as members of the Army – the opposing force appears to be in enemy uniforms with appropriate weapons. Soldiers and Operations can be played interdependently, with experiences in one reflected in the other. We sat down and spoke with Dr. Michael Capps, the executive producer of the Army Game Project, about both games and what’s in store for gamers. |
    "I should note that the Army took a leap of faith that GF2 technology would be generally available by our launch time. Of course, two years later, we’ve seen Nvidia have great success, and their market penetration is just plain staggering." Dr. Michael Capps |
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NVIDIA: When will America’s Army be released? Will it be available for download or just via CD? NVIDIA: Since the game will be free, what will the Army get out of providing it to gamers? The only thing cooler than the Army building a first-rate, realistic action game is that they're giving it away for free. And the only way to top that is to keep adding new content to the game, and keep giving it away for free -- and that’s just what we're going to do. Players can expect regular content updates throughout the summer, and then a major update just a few months later. NVIDIA: How does the game vary in its level of realism from other games of its nature (i.e. Soldier of Fortune, SWAT, etc.)? Our clear mission was to provide the most realistic U.S. Army experience possible, from basic training to Special Forces missions. That meant visiting dozens of Army bases, interviewing hundreds of soldiers, and of course, hands-on experience with Army equipment. In Operations, everything from the direction and velocity of bullet shell ejection, to the way soldiers high crawl when carrying a rifle, is based on the way the Army really operates. NVIDIA: How have the Unreal engine and Nvidia graphics allowed the development team to recreate the “Operations” experience for gamers? How is the game optimized for GeForce2 processors? Players are going to be amazed at the complexity of worlds that we’ve been able to build. We’re using the very latest, next-generation Unreal engine; it’s easily rendering scenes 100 times more complex than those seen in Unreal Tournament. Our content team has had a blast constructing within those parameters. Building realistic environments has always been much more difficult than fantasy settings, because everyone knows just what reality looks like. We’re finally at the point where the technology, put in the right hands, can pull off realistic urban environments, sweeping outdoor scenes, and even combinations of the two. I should note that the Army took a leap of faith that GF2 technology would be generally available by our launch time. Of course, two years later, we’ve seen Nvidia have great success, and their market penetration is just plain staggering. NVIDIA: What types of weapons and weapon effects will be used in the game? As for weapon effects, we’ve put Unreal’s particle effects system to excellent use. We have 3D muzzle flashes, smoke trails, huge dust clouds for the heavy sniper rifle, and of course some great explosions. You can’t overestimate the effect that a special forces weapon sergeant has when he looks over your shoulder and tells you what’s wrong with the weapons in the game. You don’t tell him why it’s too hard to do it that way – you just do it right, and our game reflects that attention to detail. NVIDIA: What types of multiplayer modes and features will be available in the game? One interesting twist is that we support the MILES laser-engagement system, which is a version of ‘laser tag’ that the Army uses in training. In the mountain phase of ranger school, for example, a team of students must successfully ambush a team of instructors; we use MILES systems for that. NVIDIA: How do you feel the game was received at E3? (In our opinion, gamers and industry folks alike seemed pretty dang excited about it.) While we enjoyed all the attention the Army received for making the game, we were pleasantly surprised (and thrilled, of course) when we started receiving Best of Show awards. To me, that means that not only did the Army have a unique, brilliant idea - but that we built a darned good game. Try it out and see.
We definitely will do that. The novel approach of both Soldiers and Operations – and the excellent price tags – ensure that there will be more than just an army of one downloading and playing these games. So what are you waiting for? Download the game and start playing! 
America's Army Screenshot 1 |
