For once, I approve of how my taxes are being spent!

[Vaarok]

Taxes cost me $37.00 US this year. Just about the cost of a computer game.

Yehold, the army has licensed Unreal for an army game, a la Ghost Recon, for free.

Yayness. Seems awfully Flashpoint-y, but hey, free is free.

Propaganda and a free download (www.goarmy.com)

[Mazar_Paktu]

Wasn't there some other game that was developed by the army and then released? Real War or something like that? Anyways, they're not admitting it (it sucked a$$)... hopefully, this will be better...

[Kayosoni]

Only 37????

Ugh.. there are reasons to not be in the top 5% of incomes in Cali :/ you wouldn't believe how much we paid...

[Walker]

Wargasm. It was silly and didn't look too great. And parents hated it for the name. They used to use Mechwarrior net games for hardware combat sims too. I think.

I think the military should stop the hell trying to seem cool and modern by playing games. They already run propoganda campaigns through advertising and docusoaps, don't think we need any more ways to drag in fresh young blood and convince the nation they're doing a worthwhile job.

[SquidDNA]

Walker, to clarify, we're talking about the US armed forces, not the British. Don't complain about the US armed forces as if it's your own.

[blackjack]

Hmmm...

Really looks to me like nothing but propaganda bullshit, but the game looks decent. Might download it once they get the high-speed connections up and working.

[Mnementh]

Wargasm wasnt made/developed by/for any army. Its was made by DID and published by Infogrames. Was fun too :)

[Langy]

I find it to be funny propaganda:D

BTW, the game that the Army made was the game Real War was made from. And, in fact, it WAS realistic, at least more so than other games. It wasn't made to be fun. It was made to show what tactics were required to win a war. It also was liscensed FROM the Army by a game publisher to create a game for the public with it. That turned into a commercial failure.

At least, I hope that's all true. I never actually bought the game:p

Anyways, this is still really funny propaganda. I think I might want to try it, though. See what the Army is paying millions of bucks for. Probably something worthless:p

[Walker]

Squid, I find it's best when discussing anything online to be American - less arguments. I can insert "Warning: Below applies only to the US" if you like. But you knew that's what I was talking about anyway, so is it necessary?

Blood Dragon, I thought it was wrong. Wargasm just isn't a very Army-like name, is it.

[SquidDNA]

I knew you were talking about the US, which is why I said

Don't complain about the US armed forces as if it's your own.

You don't have the right to do that. You do have the right to criticize the US armed forces all day long, and US foreign policy, and politics, and cultural trends, and so on, until you're blue in the face. But not as if it's your own. It isn't your place to be personally irritated by the way our armed forces try to recruit people who aren't you.

For the record, I think the efforts of both our armed forces in Afghanistan have been entirely worthwhile, if for no other reason than we removed a brutally totalitarian regime which was supporting the international terrorists we were after to begin with. Argue all day long about the failure or success of our primary objective, but women in Afghanistan can be educated now because of those in service, and that's worthwhile.

That concludes my griping.

Back to the topic, the PA crew (http://www.penny-arcade.com/) spoke shiningly of "America's Army" and did an amusing sketch (http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3) to that effect.

[zenogias]

Wow, the Army's game actually looks pretty cool.


I saw footage once, a few years back, of a VR simulator the Army was using to test armored tactics -- it was pretty damn badass, with a joint attack using armor and helicopters. The damage model was fairly realistic -- at one point, one of the tanks had its turret blown clean off thanks to an ammo explosion, and the helicopters crashed, rolled, and slid around rather than just blowing up. The graphics themselves weren't so ultra-realistic, but what do you expect from a game designed maybe ten years ago?

[Uzod I]

lol, I love the picture.
Hell, I'm kinda bored, might dl it for the hell of it.