'''America's Army''' (also known as '''AA''' or '''Army Game Project''') is a
tactical multiplayer first-person shooter owned by the
United States Government and released as a global
public relations initiative to help with
U.S. Army recruitment.
The PC version, subtitled ''Recon'', was first released on
July 4,
2002. Subsequently ''Operations'' was first released on
July 12,
2002. The most current version ''Overmatch'' debuted
Dec 21,
2006, the SMU GuildHall Map Pack was released
Mar 22,
2007, bringing the current version to 2.8.1, and has had many upgrades since Recon. It is financed through U.S. tax dollars and distributed for free. It was originally developed by the
MOVES Institute at the
Naval Postgraduate School and continues to use the
Unreal Engine.
'' is the subtitle for the
Xbox version that was developed by the U.S. Army,
Ubisoft and
Secret Level. A mobile phone version, published by
Gameloft, is also available.
[1] An
arcade version using
light guns is also being developed.
[2]
Overview
The game falls into the sub-genres of an
advergame,
serious game and
militainment. ''America's Army'' has been developed since 2000 and still changes through
add-ons and
patches. The
Windows version can be found as a download on the
Internet or as free DVDs at U.S. Army recruiting centers. The
Macintosh and
Linux versions are no longer updated. All versions use
PunkBuster technology to prevent
cheating.
Professor Michael Zyda, the director and founder of the
MOVES Institute, acknowledged ''
Counter-Strike'' as the model for the game.
''America's Army'' is relatively authentic in terms of visual and acoustic representation of combat, especially pertaining to its depictions of
firearm usage and mechanics, but its critics have alleged that it fails to convey wartime conditions as accurately as it claims.
''America's Army'' is the first computer video game to make recruitment an explicit goal and the first well-known overt use of computer gaming for political aims. The game is used as a playable recruiting tool and critics have charged the game serves as a
propaganda device. In reality the game is developed by a regular game company that is funded by the Army. There is no subliminal messaging or brain washing. The game has hundreds of genuine hardcore fans and fan websites. The latest version is 2.8.2 which was released on 07/09/2007, with new features, bug fixes, and two new maps including Rummage and SF Hospital SE.
It is often pointed out that the game bears resemblance to the movie ''
The Last Starfighter''
[3] and to the novel ''
Ender's Game'', a popular
science fiction story of the 80s.
Its developers state that ''America's Army'' has over 8.6 million registered accounts as of
August,
2007, with over 4.8 million having completed the "basic training" part of the game. With several thousand players online at any one time between 2002 and 2007, it ranks in the top 10 FPS (
first-person shooter) games played online during the period, as tracked by
GameSpy. It was similar in performance to or
Medal of Honor, also in the top ten, for much of that time period.
[1]
History
Background
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (''
DARPA'') had plans for using video games since the early 1980s. However, it was not until 1996, shortly after computer-based wargames were permitted on government computers for U.S. Marines, that U.S. Marine simulation experts modified the commercial game ''
Doom II'' to create ''
Marine Doom'' as a tactical training tool.
The success of ''Marine Doom'' led the
U.S. Marine Corps to contract with MÄK Technologies for the development of ''
Marine Expeditionary Unit 2000'' the following year. This was the first game funded and developed by both the
Department of Defense and the commercial
game industry.
[4] The game was both used for U.S. Marine training and released to the public.
A 1997 report of the
National Research Council, of which Professor Michael Zyda was a member,
[5] observed that the Department of Defense's simulations were lagging behind commercial games and advised joint research with the
entertainment industry.
[2]
Initial Development
'Version history'
★ '1.0 (''AA: Recon'') - July 4, 2002'
★ 1.0.1 (''AA: Operations'') - July 12, 2002
★ 1.0.1b (''AA:O'') - July 25, 2002
★ 1.1.1 (''AA:O'') - August 1, 2002
★ 1.2.0 (''AA:O'') - August 22, 2002
★ 1.2.1 (''AA:O'') - October 3, 2002
★ 1.3 (''AA:O'') - October 10, 2002
★ 1.4 (''AA:O'') - November 15, 2002
★ 1.5 (''AA:O'') - December 23, 2002
★ 1.6 (''AA:O'') - March 16, 2003
★ 1.7 (''AA:O'') - April 21, 2003
★ 1.9 (''AA:O'') - August 8, 2003
★ '2.0 (''AA:Special Forces'') - Nov 6, 2003'
★ 2.0a (''AA:SF'') - December 21, 2003
★ 2.1 (''AA:SF Downrange'') - June 1, 2004
★ 2.2.0 (''AA:SF Vanguard'') - October 19, 2004
★ 2.2.1 (''AA:SF Vanguard'') - Nov 18, 2004
★ 2.3 (''AA:SF Firefight'') - February 18, 2005
★ 2.4 (''AA:SF Q-Course'') - May 16, 2005
★ 2.5 (''AA:SF Direct Action'') - October 13, 2005
★ 'Xbox (''AA:Rise of a Soldier'') - Nov 16, 2005'
★ 2.6 (''AA:SF Link-Up'') - February 9, 2006
★ '2.7 (''AA:SF Overmatch'') - September 14, 2006'
★ 2.8 (''AA:SF Coalition'') - December 21, 2006
★ 2.8.1 (''AA:SF
SMU GH Map Pack'') - March 22, 2007
★ 2.8.2 (''AA:SF Overmatch'') - September 6, 2007
Lieutenant Colonel E. Casey Wardynski, at that time an economics professor at the
United States Military Academy, West Point, took the idea of an online U.S. Army computer game to the Deputy
Chief of Staff for Personnel and the Deputy Assistant
Secretary of the Army for Military Manpower. After convincing them of the project's cost-effectiveness, Wardynski – who later became director of the Office of Economic and Manpower Analysis at West Point and the head of the ''Army Game Project'' – began working with Professor Zyda.
In May 2000, the
MOVES Institute at the
Naval Postgraduate School was contracted by the U.S. Army to create the game.
In 2001 the Department of Defense licensed '' from the French software company
Ubisoft for training military personnel.
Zyda said later in an interview with
Gary Webb that, "We thought we'd have a lot more problems. But the country is in this mood where anything the military does is great. ...
9/11 sort of assured the success of this game. I'm not sure what kind of reception it would have received otherwise."
[6]
In May 2002 the game was announced and presented to the public at the
E3 combined with a static display provided by the US Army that included Soldiers and an M6 Bradley Linebacker armored air defense vehicle.
[7]
On July 4, 2002, the United States'
Independence Day, the first version of ''America's Army'', named ''Recon'', was released after three years of development and production costs between between $6 million and $8 million.
The game was easily available, the gameplay was similar to ''Counter-Strike'', and it had the
Unreal Engine as well as free servers sponsored by the U.S. Army.
''America's Army: Soldiers'', a
role-playing game in the development stage that was to elucidate career paths in the U.S. Army "died a sad and whimpering death before ever seeing the light of day," a former developer concludes.
[8]
Also in 2002, the ArmyOps Tracker website was created by a German computer engineer with the purpose of tracking gameplay statistics such as a player's number of kills or hours played.
Later Development
In 2003, Ubisoft's commercial '' was licensed by the U.S. Army to be used for testing soldiers' skills.
On
November 6,
2003, version 2.0 of ''America's Army'' was published, with the full title of ''America's Army: Special Forces''. In a booklet produced by the MOVES Institute, an article by
Wagner James Au explains that "the Department of Defense want[ed] to double the number of Special Forces soldiers, so essential [had they proven] in
Afghanistan and northern
Iraq; consequently, orders [had] trickled down the chain of command and found application in the current release of ''America's Army''."
[9]
After the game proved successful, the lack of the Army's acknowledgment for the contribution by the
US Navy annoyed the Navy and led to tension and political fights over the project.
Eventually the project was withdrawn from the Naval Postgraduate School due to allegations of mismanagement
[10] in March 2004 and the development team was moved to two new locations.
Further Platforms
One month after taking over production, the Army declared it has signed an exclusive long-term contract with
Ubisoft to reach a wider and younger audience. , a different version of the game for
Xbox was produced by Ubisoft in collaboration with the U.S. Army.
Despite a 10-year publishing deal, the control over all communication and advertising remains with the Army.
[11] The Xbox version was released in November, 2005. It was also to be released on the
PlayStation 2 but was later canceled.
[3]
According to Colonel Wardynski the game generated interest from other U.S. government agencies, including the
Secret Service, resulting in the development of a training version that was similar to the public version but for internal government use only.
[12] At the ''Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center'', one of the new places of the developers, the game is used to test new weapons.
Use of Specialized Hardware
The America's Army developers have recently been implementing the use of specialized hardware into the game. As of version 2.8.1, America's Army has limited support of NaturalPoint Inc's
TrackIR motion tracking headset to use in lieu of a mouse. Upcoming version 2.8.2 will include improved support for the headset.
Also announced is native support for the
Logitech G15 gaming keyboard. The LCD screen attached to the keyboard will show game statistics and player information once the game is loaded. The keyboard will be fully supported for use in America's Army upon release of version 2.8.2.
F2C2
A successor to America's Army is ''Future Force Company Commander'' (''F2C2'') portraying the military in 2015.
[13] It is a serious game developed by
Zombie Studios based on the
Empire Earth II engine to promote the
Future Combat Systems (''FCS''),
[4] a project to modernize the Army. It was commissioned by defense contractor
Science Applications International Corporation, together with
Boeing, the lead integrator for FCS, for $1.5 million, also ultimately paid by taxes. After developing it for more than 11 months, it has been available for free at the
Army website since March 2006.
[14]
Gameplay
Screenshot of old version of the first training map
''America's Army'' is a round- and team-based
tactical shooter with a
gameplay similar to ''
Counter-Strike'', with the player depicted as a soldier in the U.S. Army.
Before being allowed to play online a player must first go through four training
maps and have his or her progress saved online in a player account. Accomplishing the other thirteen training levels enables the player to become a
combat life saver (CLS,
medics are not depicted in game),
special forces operator,
SDM (squad-designated marksman, not to be confused with a
sniper which is currently not present in ''AA''),
HMMWV driver,
CROWS gunner, and
Javelin missile operator.
The main section of the game is the multiplayer part, in which players fight either as the U.S. Army or, on "Special Forces" maps, as Indigenous forces against an opposing enemy team.
The game is a medium-paced tactical shooter, similar to the
''Tom Clancy'' series of shooters. Pacing is fast in the sense that players can be killed very quickly, but the players' movements are a lot slower and the gameplay contains fewer firefights than
first-person shooters ''
Unreal Tournament'' and ''
Counter-Strike'', especially on larger maps. Unlike Counter-Strike, players are required to aim using
iron sights to shoot more accurately, though a crosshair is still provided in non-aim mode (only the
Infiltration mod for Unreal Tournament has eliminated this).
One of ''America's Army's unusual features is the design of the player's opponents.
The players characters' are divided into two teams: usually an "Assault" group and a "Defense" one. The Assault team loses the round if the time limit runs out. Players always see themselves and their team as U.S. Soldiers or friendly Indigenous Forces. The other side is always seen as the enemy (or OPFOR in the case of training maps.)
The players on either team appear as U.S. soldiers carrying U.S. weapons such as the
M16A2. Their opponents usually appear as non-uniformed people carrying
Warsaw Pact weapons such as the
AK-47. Dead players drop weapons, and an enemy's corpse provides the opportunity to pickup a non-US weapon.
Round-start on ''AA'' 's SF hospital map
Each round starts with the two teams
spawning simultaneously and each always starting with the equipment of their
soldier class. This equipment normally consists of one or two firearms and several grenades (high explosives, flashbang, and smoke). The regular soldier will carry an assault rifle (M16A2, M4, or M4A1), but there are specialists like the automatic rifleman (M249 SAW), grenadier (M16A2 with M203), sniper (M-24 or M82, plus a Beretta M9 pistol as a sidearm), or team leader (assault rifle and binoculars). For balance, the defending team will usually have less grenades and often no night-vision goggles.
The round usually ends with only one team winning. In certain circumstances, such as when both teams are eliminated or both sides are Assault and time runs out, there will be a tie. A team wins when its objectives are achieved or when all members of the enemy team are killed. For example, the objective on the SF Hospital map, one of the most played maps, is to kill the rebels' "VIP," while the other team's mission is to keep him alive and escort him to the extraction point.
The game features a kind of
honor system making use of
operant conditioning, which means that gamers who obey to the rules, dubbed "
Rules of engagement" (ROE), are rewarded with
experience points or else punished with a decrease of them. Rewarded are the achievement of specific mission objectives, killing enemies and healing injured teammates, although one receives more points for completing an objective or healing a teammate than for killing enemies. Punished are
friendly fire and eliminating objectives which are assigned for protection. Players are kicked from the server when their ROE is too low and their characters are sent to the
Fort Leavenworth military prison. A higher ROE gives the player priority over other teammates in selecting specialist classes such as automatic rifleman, grenadier, sniper, or team leader.
Spectator-view of a battle in ''America's Army''
Any player character killed before the round is over becomes a spectator; their
chat or text messages cannot be seen or heard by the players still alive, but they can watch the rest of the round. The developers of ''America's Army'' do not prevent spying spectators from communicating with those still playing, which has become a common type of
cheating, widely referred to as
ghosting. Players whose protagonist is dead receive information through the chat and the view as spectator and are capable of using external
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) communication programs to gain information, especially on players' positions. As is not uncommon in multiplayer online games, cheating, such as through the use of
wallhacks or
aimbots, is a common problem in ''America's Army'', which is being fought by the cheat-prevention utility
PunkBuster. In the more recent versions, cheating activity not related to ghosting appears to have been significantly reduced. America's Army developers actively work against cheating. With the help of Anti-Cheating Organizations such as Anti-Cheating Incorporated, ACI, Airdale Ops Network, AON, and America's Army Server Admins, AASA, Server Admins can stream their
game server to one of these organizations so they can verify PunkBuster Violations. After the violation is verified, they can add the account to their Master Ban List, or MBL, and that account cannot be played on servers that run the organizations MBL. Some servers have rules against using grenades or grenade launchers within a certain amount of time from the beginning of a match. These rules are set up because some players think it is unfair when they are killed when the enemy fires a grenade into an area that is where players usually are at that moment in the round (particularly "spawnshots", a type of "dropshot"). Some servers have rules against firing a grenade at a target which you can not see. This is mainly due to shots known as "dropshots", which are M203 grenades fired into to the air from a certain point, direction, and angle to hit a predicted spot, usually well out the players view. On the map Bridge Crossing, there is a dropshot documented for almost every position of cover on the map. Whether or not these are indeed cheats is in dispute. "Spamming" is usually said in reference to the enemy firing the SAW or 203 grenade in the general direction of the enemy without a specific target.
Depending on server configuration, spectators can watch the rest of the round in up to three ways. One, which is always available, allows the "dead" player to choose a member of his own team and see through their eyes; another allows the "camera" to rotate his view around the chosen player; there are also certain fixed viewpoints that allow the "dead" player to observe a specific area of the map.
2.8 SF version AA editor
The latest version 2.8, includes a tool called ''AAEditor'' (also referred to as the ''America's Army Mission Editor'', or ''AAME''), based on the same ''Unreal'' editing tool used to create the official maps currently in AA, in order to allow players make and submit their own custom maps. The submitted maps are judged at
AA Mission Depot and in the future in could be included on the full package with the normal maps. There are official tutorials available in the
game manual, which is written using the
Wiki system.
Controversy
E³-interview about ''America's Army'' on ''
ARD''
Apart from the common controversy that surrounds games rewarding the virtual killing of other human beings, ''America's Army'' caused additional debate and disagreement that made it become the subject of journalistic and academic research.
Intention
''America's Army'' is intended to give a positive impression of the U.S. Army. In the official
Frequently Asked Questions page the developers, too, confirm that in a statement giving the reason why people outside the United States can play the game: "We want the whole world to know how great the U.S. Army is."
A graduate of
Utrecht University concluded the game "with its governmental background, is instead of an advergame, better to be described as a propagame."
[15] Chris Chambers, the deputy director of development for ''America's Army'', admits it is a recruitment tool,
[16] and "the Army readily admits [''America's Army''] is a propaganda device," wrote Chris Morris, a ''
CNN/Money'' columnist and director of content development.
[17]
''America's Army'', considered by the U.S. Army to be a "cost-effective recruitment tool," aims to become part of
youth culture's "consideration set," as Army Deputy Chief of Personnel, Timothy Maude, testified before the
Senate Armed Services Committee.
The game has also been described as an extension of the military entertainment complex or so-called "
militainment", further blurring the line between entertainment and war,
with criticism that it contributes to a militarization of society.
[18]
The ''Army Game'' and its official webpage, which must be visited to be able to play the game, contain links to the army recruitment website ''goarmy.com'', another recruiting tool that, according to the ''Army Subcommittee Testimony'' from February 2000, has a higher chance of recruiting than "any other method of contact."
Leading American players to the website is a major goal of the game, and it was confirmed that twenty-eight percent of all visitors of ''America's Army's webpage click through to this recruitment site.
In the Frequently Asked Questions section of the game's official website, its developers argue its suitability for teenagers. It reads, "In elementary school kids learn about the actions of the Continental Army that won our freedoms under George Washington and the Army's role in ending Hitler's oppression. Today they need to know that the Army is engaged around the world to defeat terrorist forces bent on the destruction of America and our freedoms."
[5]
Gary Webb argued that the game's other purpose was aptitude testing of potential recruits and that this had never been noticed by the public. He concluded that this could be the only reason for spending taxes to track players and collect statistics.
On April 25th an article in a French Canadian newspaper argued the morals of the game, saying the Army has no right to try and recruit kids at ages of around 9-12 which is the more persuadable audience of gamers.
Realism
One of the major aspects of the game is the relatively realistic depiction of used equipment. However, critics of the project state that it excludes some notable facets of Army life from its portrayal, such as the emotional trauma that soldiers may experience when they are confronted with combat.
One commonly brought up example is
gore, which is much more tame than it is in real life. One reason for this is that too much gore would raise the ESRB's rating of the game above Teen, while the target audience is teenagers just below recruiting age (17). Another reason is that high gore would not attract potential recruits to join the military. As one
post on the official forums states, "[...] I doubt anyone would want to join the Army after watching their arms and limbs get shot off and such." Another possibility is that a high gore depiction may direct even more intense criticism towards the Army for the perceived glorification of violence that other developers have been the target of.
As well, Alexander R. Galloway, an assistant professor at
New York University notes that, "What is interesting about ''America's Army'', is not the debate over whether it is thinly-veiled
propaganda or a legitimate recruitment tool, for it is unabashedly and decisively both, but rather that the central conceit of the game is one of mimetic realism." In his analysis, Galloway concludes that ''America's Army'', despite being a fairly realistic game, with real-life settings, does not make even the least attempt to achieve narrative realism—that is, accurately representing what serving a tour in the Army would actually be like. Instead, it simply expresses a
nationalistic sentiment under the guise of realism, being little more than a "naïve and unmediated or reflective conception of aesthetic construction."
[19]
Usefulness for recruits
At the
United States Military Academy, 19 percent of 2003's freshman class stated they had played the game. Enlistment quotas were met in the two years directly following the game's release.
[20]
M. Paul Boyce, an Army
public affairs officer at
The Pentagon, was quoted as saying it would never be possible to find out what difference the game has made to recruitment numbers, but that he hoped no one has been recruited because of the game alone on the grounds that ''America's Army'' makes no attempt to help answer "hard questions" about the Army, such as "Is it right for me, is it right for my family, and is it right for my country?"
[21]
Because ''America's Army'' focuses on the
technological aspect of war rather than the
moral, it has been referred to as ''How We Fight'', alluding to the
U.S. government's series of films named ''
Why We Fight'', which supported the war effort for
World War II.
[22]
Cultural Impact
The Canadian
punk-rock band
Propagandhi wrote a song against the game in its album ''
Potemkin City Limits'', comparing it to the premise of the science-fiction novel ''
Ender's Game''.
Starting with the anniversary of the
Iraq invasion in March 2006,
University of Nevada, Reno Art Professor Joseph Delappe began a protest both against the war in Iraq and the game. He logs into the game under the username ''dead-in-Iraq'', and then uses the chat to broadcast the name, age, service branch and date of death of real soldiers who have died in Iraq.
[23]
Author
Max Brooks, in New York Times Bestseller
World War Z mentions the game in his fictional chronology as one of many failed attempts to increase recruitment in the days before the Zombie War.
References
1. Bramwell, Tom. “America's Army launches mobile offensive.” (2007). 17 March 2007 .
2. Brinkley, Mark. "Expand and conquer" (2007). 19 March 2007 .
3. Christensen, Bill. “America's Army And The Last Starfighter: Science Fiction in the News.” (2005). 16 March 2007 .
4. Turse, Nick. “The Pentagon Invades Your Xbox.” (2003). 16 March 2007 .
5. Zyda, Michael. Autobiography. 16 March 2007 .
6. Webb, Gary. “The killing game.” (2004). 16 March 2007 .
7. Breznican, Anthony. “Army Recruiting Through Video Games.” (2002). 16 March 2007 .
8. “America's Army -- Behind the Scenes.” (2005). 16 March 2007 .
9. Davis, Margaret, and Phillip Bossant, eds. “Vision and Realization.” (2004): 40. 16 March 2007 .
10. Granetto, Paul J. "Development and Management of the Army Game Project." Arlington, Virginia: 2005. 16 March 2007 .
11. Burns, Enid. “U.S. Army Invades Video Game consoles.” (2005). 16 March 2007 .
12. Wardynski, Casey. "E3 Update: America's Army polishes up its act - PC News at GameSpot." 2005. 16 March 2007 .
13. Graham, Marty. "Army Game Proves U.S. Can't Lose." (2006). 18 March 2007 .
14. Hart, Kim. “Not Quite a Prototype, but Something to Play With.” (2006). 18 March 2007 .
15. Beck, Justin. “The message is the game, or is it?” (2003). 16 March 2007 .
16. Turse, Nick. “Zap, zap, you're dead...” (2003). 16 March 2007 .
17. Morris, Chris. “Your tax dollars at play.” (2002). 16 March 2007 .
18. Li, Zhan. "The Potential of America's Army the Video Game as Civilian-Military Public Sphere." 2003. 16 March 2007 .
19. Galloway, Alexander R. “Social Realism in Gaming.” (2004). 16 March 2007 .
20. Gwinn, Eric. “Army targets youth with video game.” (2003). 16 March 2007 .
21. Bushman, Brad. “Army video game breeds violence with tax money.” (2004). 16 March 2007 .
22. Huntemann, Nina. "Militarism & Video Games." 2003. 16 March 2007 .
23. Clarren, Rebecca. “Virtually dead in Iraq.” (2006). 17 March 2007 .
See also
★ ''
Under Ash''
★ ''
Special Force''
★
Recruitment tool
★
Militainment
★
KumaWar
External links
★
Official website
★
The MOVES Institute (former developers)
★
"War games in a time of war", ''
MSNBC'' article (July 18, 2004)
★
"Social Realism in Gaming" academic analysis of ''America's Army'' in terms of "Social realism" by
Alexander R. Galloway a book author and Assistant Professor at
New York University.
★
"The Potential of ''America's Army ''as Civilian-Military Public Sphere" extensive February 2004 thesis (149 pages) by graduate student Zhan Li for the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology - includes
ethnographic analysis of Soldiers who play the game during the
invasion of
Iraq, and interviews with West Point directors of the ''America's Army'' project (
PDF)
★
"The Army Game Project" article for the ''Army Magazine'' by Chris Chambers (deputy director of ''AA''), Thomas Sherlock (teacher of political science) and Paul Kucik (economic analyst in the ''Office of Economic and Manpower Analysis''), 2002
★
Enjoy the video game? Then join the army. by the
Christian Science Monitor[6]
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