Soldats Previews
America�s Army: Operation Recon Preview
Rare, id Software, Raven Software, Epic Games...these guys are part of a handful of companies out there that can claim that they have the most experience with first-person shooters. And while there's no doubting their abilities as great game developers, no one--and we mean no one--knows shooters like the United States Army. Talk about inventing the genre--this talented group of individuals has been involved in some form of shooting for more than 225 years, so it only makes sense that they've finally decided to make a game that chronicles their exploits. First unveiled at this year's E3 in Los Angeles, America's Army will be the first game to be developed by the actual US Army, and surprisingly enough, it's quite good.
As you've probably heard by now, America's Army is actually two games in one. The first component of America's Army is called Soldiers, and it's basically an adventure game that uses full-motion video to introduce players to the "values" of the Army--it's more or less a somewhat interactive marketing tool for the armed services. The second portion of the game is called Operations, and it's the one that's been creating all of the recent hubbub. Operations is a first-person shooter that uses Epic Games' impressive Unreal technology in an attempt to re-create the various training and military action that a typical soldier in the US Army might go through. It'll let you experience army life without signing yours away to Uncle Sam. Over the July 4th weekend, the US Army will release a "recon" version of America's Army: Operations, and it will have 10 of the final game's 19 levels. We enlisted in the Army's beta program a few weeks ago, and we're impressed with what we've seen so far.
Operations is primarily a squad-based multiplayer game not unlike Counter-Strike. You pick a team to play as, you select your primary weapon, and you try to eliminate the bad guys. But before you're allowed to go out on the battlefield, you, like every soldier, have to go through boot camp first. Unlike the real thing, however, doing so in Operations is a snap. You'll simply create an online persona by picking a unique handle and password, and then you'll participate in the first of several training sessions, this one for rifle marksmanship. Normally, this portion of training takes place between weeks three and five of boot camp, but you'll be able to complete it within a few minutes. It's here that you'll really start to appreciate the Unreal engine's graphical prowess. The training takes place at Fort Benning in Georgia, and the firing range is an expansive outdoor area that overlooks a wooded region. Like Operation Flashpoint, America's Army: Operations lets you see for miles on end--only this game runs a lot smoother and, quite frankly, looks a lot better than last year's shooter from Bohemia Interactive. You'll have to pick off human-size targets at ranges that exceed 300 meters, but you'll have no problem spotting the farthest of these orange metal cutouts. The weapon models are also highly detailed and are composed of numerous moving parts. You'll qualify with the Colt M16A2, and you'll easily make out your character's hands fiddle over every aspect of this assault rifle during training. The gun models are so detailed that you'll be able to spot the .223 cartridge in the firing chamber when you lock and load a new magazine.
You'll be given 40 rounds to hit all the targets, and you'll need to hit 23 to qualify as a marksman and move on to the next phase of training. Interestingly enough, you can also qualify as a sharpshooter by nailing 30 targets and as an expert if you successfully get 36 of the 40 targets. Players who earn an expert qualification will be eligible to move on to sniper school, where they'll learn to shoot with the M-24 and the M-82 rifles. Not everyone who plays Operations will be able to qualify for sniper school, and not everyone who moves on to sniper school will finish it. Those skilled enough to do so, however, will be part of an elite few players who will actually get to play against others online using either of the powerful M-24 or M-82 sniper rifles, making them a deadly addition to any squad of players. Unfortunately, sniper school won't be available in the recon version, but read on to find out what will be.
After you qualify with the M16A2, you'll move on to get familiarized with some of the other weapons that the US Army employs. This phase of training will have you shooting targets at nearly 800 meters with the powerful M249 squad automatic weapon. The gun is so powerful, in fact, that you'll never be able to fire more than half a dozen rounds at a time without being completely ineffective, and it's here that you'll learn how to control your rate of fire by firing in bursts and by supporting your weapon. America's Army: Operations has numerous positions that your character can assume while moving around and firing his weapon. While standing, the M249 is all but useless. However, you'll quickly learn that kneeling or going prone will steady this gun's vicious kick noticeably. You can even support your fire while in the prone position by deploying a bipod, which keeps the M249 as steady as a rock. Additionally, you can look through this gun's sights for the most accurate firing mode available in the game. This mode, complete with out-of-focus rear sights, resembles the way it was visually represented in Operation Flashpoint. However, it's very well animated--you can actually see your soldier moving the gun up to his cheek, as opposed to a simple toggle in Flashpoint.
Zooming in with any weapon will reveal another impressive aspect of Operations: the sound. When you take aim with a rifle, you'll hear your character inhale once and then exhale half a breath, at which point he'll hold the gun steady for about four seconds before he repeats this breathing process. It's a very intuitive way of letting you know when the best time for taking a shot is, and it's a realistic addition that doesn't get in the way of the game being fun. In fact, most shooter fans will welcome the new challenge that Operations will bring to sniping. Other aspects of the game's sound seem to be just as well executed. Shell casings, for example, will make different sounds when they land on different surface types. In outdoor areas, you'll hardly hear your casings as they land on soft grass and dirt, but they'll clatter loudly when they bounce off metal grating or concrete. Likewise, all the guns in the game are sampled from their real-world counterparts--the Army has no shortage of M16A2s and M249s to spare for a few sound-capture sessions, after all.
Before being able to move online and test your mettle against other human players, you'll have to undergo MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Training), where you'll learn to combine all of the skills you've learned earlier into one intense session. Here, you'll have to navigate a plywood house filled with cardboard enemies. This training area is dark, so you'll have to use your night-vision goggles, which, in a first-person shooter, greatly reduce your peripheral vision initially. Making out the silhouettes of your targets isn't really a problem, but you'll have to be careful not to shoot at the friendly cutouts that are interspersed throughout the house. Once completed, you'll finally be allowed to play online against others, but your formal training won't be over just yet. The recon version of Operations will have six different multiplayer maps, one of which is required to play before you can move on to the other five. This one is an enhanced version of the offline MOUT training, but you'll be equipped with MILES laser gear instead of live rounds, and you'll be up against thinking, breathing human opponents--not pieces of cardboard.
The last five multiplayer maps are live fire, real-world operations. They are fashioned after typical first-person shooters in that players will be split into two teams, and each team will either have to defend or assault the other. It's interesting to note, however, that neither team will play as the terrorists. Both teams play as the Army, and both teams see the opposing side as terrorists. For example, one of these four missions takes place in a POW camp. The objective for one team is to rescue the US POWs from the enemy camp, while the goal of the other team is to keep the opposing force from raiding the US camp and capturing the enemy POWs. It's obvious that the US Army, the game's developer, wanted to avoid a situation in which players kill Army characters in Operations. It's also interesting to note that, while both sides start with US weapons, they can pick up AK-47s from fallen enemies.
The recon version of Operations, which includes all the 10 levels detailed above, will be available for download in a matter of days. The developers say that they will continue to release additional missions for Operations throughout the following months, some of which include airborne school, operations with the 82nd Airborne Division, ranger school, and operations with the 75th Ranger Regiment. It's not tough to see that Operations has the potential to displace a game like Counter-Strike as the online first-person shooter of choice. You can make your own judgment call this weekend. In the meantime, however, be sure to take a look at our latest batch of movies and screenshots from America's Army: Operations.
 M16 reloading
 nightvision goggles
 Night combat
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