Listen up, soldier, this
is the United States Army and around here we do things a lot differently than
the other armed forces branch you’ve all seen out there. This isn’t the Boy
Scouts and this isn’t a day of shooting bottles with your drinking buddies. This
is the genuine real deal because this is America’s Army: Rise of a Soldier,
an Xbox game that happens to be considered the official U.S. Army game. What’s
that you say? You wouldn’t have it any other way? Well, heck, that’s what I like
to hear … now drop and give me twenty.
The military themed
first-person shooter is no stranger to the Xbox and neither are the realistic
tactical shooters that give gamers a look into the tactical training and
situations our fighting men and women face defending freedom. From Delta
Force: Black Hawk Down to Full Spectrum Warrior the genre has seen
the best and worst but it’s Ubisoft’s first-person shooter that has earned a
stamp of approval from the U.S. Army and why should it be? After all, the game
used actual military tactics thanks to the input of some real Army soldiers.
America’s Army
concentrates on a single soldier you get to
name, nickname and add specific information such as what State the created
soldier comes from and what specialty he would like to concentrate on during
training. You start the game in boot camp, first going through an obstacle
course that serves as an introduction to the game’s controls and movement. You
will start the game’s Career mode as a low ranking rifleman and, depending on
your performance on the field, earn different ranks until you become leader of
your squad as a Master Sergeant. You’ll even get a taste of other specialist
roles from grenadier to sniper.
Beginning with a few
training exercises that include a fully functional squad, you’ll soon find
yourself in a combat situation. Taking place in a section of the world that is
obviously Iraq, disaster strikes on your way to your first post. With enemies
surrounding the area, you and your squad fights for survival. It is here that
you earn skill points based on how many enemies you bring down to healing squad
members who are too injured to continue. At the end of each mission you can use
the skill points to upgrade your soldier’s skills (leadership, marksmanship,
conditioning and stealth just to name a few). You can even fit certain weapons
with modification upgrades.
As I mentioned above, you
can also take on a few other roles but first you go through training and
qualifying rounds before you take on the four missions for each specialist role.
Sniper, for example, starts you off at the firing range learning the basics of
sharp shooting and then reporting to a superior officer for qualification.
You’ll then go on missions that require you covering your teammates using a
powerful sniper rifle with a good scope. As a grenadier, you’ll specialize in
grenades and other explosive devices and then as Fire Team Leader you’ll get a
chance to issue commands.
As far as the game’s
controls are concerned, though, America’s Army is an acquired taste that
might not suit the casual first-person shooter fan. For one thing the game
attempts (and succeeds to some extent) to depict realistic shooting. As a result
aiming becomes a lot harder so you’ll often be pointing the sight at a distant
enemy but hit nothing at all. The auto aim feature allows you to point your
weapon in the right direction of the nearest enemy but it is up to you to really
focus the sight. Pull the left trigger too hard and you will overshoot your
target. It’s tricky stuff but after playing awhile you’ll get the hang of it.
The game’s second problem
comes in the form of the enemy AI. The enemy can fire their weapons and on
occasion they can toss a mean grenade but when it comes to taking cover they’ll
rather stand around waiting for a grenade to blow in their faces. You won’t see
the enemy duck when your troops are firing back nor will they often pull back.
Shoot an enemy that was dumb enough to enter an occupied room and you’ll think
his friends learned their lesson but they don’t.
At least there’s Xbox Live
online multiplayer and with mission based battle mode that allows up to sixteen
players on screen. The game pits one team against another and you’ll even have
your own role to play in the skirmish so you can be a medic or a sniper if you
wish. You’ll even get to earn skill points to upgrade your online soldier. The
game runs at a steady framerate so that’s not bad at all.
Sadly the game’s visuals
lack the incredible detail found in most Ubisoft action games. There are areas
that look decent enough but then again there are some rather plain-looking
areas. The sewer mission, for example, is just awful. Nothing good can be said
about the character models that move really oddly. Worse yet is the facial
details during conversations and the fact that there is no lip movement when
someone is speaking directly at you. The visual effects, particularly the
explosions, aren’t bad but they’re not great either.
At least the game’s sound
is better than its visuals … but not by very much. There’s militaristic music
during your upgrading and that’s also mixed in with licensed tunes from Saliva
and Incubus as well as hip-hop. The voice acting is handled well enough and
there’s hardly a moment where the voices sound like they’re trying to imitate
soldier-speak. The sound effects aren’t flashy, though, and that’s just too bad.
America’s Army: Rise of
a Soldier had all the right elements
that would have made this an amazing game but with some weak spots here and
there the game just lacks polish and looser shooting action. Feeling too strict
for its own good, some of the more impatient gamers will want to abandon the
game while the more experienced and hardcore first-person shooter will find a
real challenge. The enemy AI is poor but at least the game adds solid online
multiplayer. A rental is definitely in order either way so give this one a shot,
soldier.
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Gameplay: 7.0
The controls are familiar
first-person shooter fare but the added realism just makes the shooting all the
more difficult for those use to the loose style of FPS like Far Cry Instincts
or even the Rainbow Six games. There are some good levels thrown in
there that are great at showing off each specialty and the game is great at
depicting the trials and training that go into shaping our US soldiers.
Graphics: 6.5
On the one hand there are areas in
the game that look pretty good and some locales are impressive. Then again, the
character models aren’t so great to look at and their movements are so unnatural
that watching them crawl on their bellies look like sand crabs in movement. The
visual effects aren’t even that great either.
Sound: 7.5
There are some licensed tunes that
play in the game’s main menu and its recognizable artist list includes tunes
from Incubus and Saliva. The rap isn’t so bad, especially the tunes from
real-life Army soldier Corporal Orlando Lang. The rest of the sound effects are
not that bad either and the voice acting is pretty accurate when it comes to
standard military jargon.
Difficulty: Medium
The game’s missions add a nice
variety of challenges when it comes to the mission objectives. The real
challenging part, though, comes in the form of the game’s realistic aiming that
makes it hard to target distant enemies. Then again, the enemy is so dumb that
all you really have to do is wait for them to blindly rush you.
Concept: 7.5
The game’s Career mode allows you to
customize your soldier through experience points earned on the battlefield and
strengthen his Special Forces specialty skills. The game allows you a good look
at different roles so you’ll have a chance to live out your sniper fantasies and
experience what it’s like to be a rifleman. There’s also online multiplayer for
up to 16 players.
Multiplayer: 8.0
While not as brilliant as other
Ubisoft online multiplayer modes, this game is no slouch when it comes to
bringing a smooth Xbox Live experience with up to sixteen gamers. There are
different roles you can play and you can always gain new skills as you play so
you’ll be able to upgrade. Team up with others to take on rival teams on the
battlefield.
Overall: 7.0
America’s Army
isn’t a bad game at all but it certainly does
lack the style and finesse of other games in this genre. With weak enemy AI and
a few so-so missions, the real treat here is how well the game handles true
military tactics and the things our fighting men and women have to go through to
make it in today’s Army. I highly suggest you rent this one first before
considering a purchase.
