Much like a new recruit in boot camp, the Army told Ubisoft to jump, and the giant game publisher asked, "How high?" Nothing in America's Army was done without the nod of one the Army's SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) giving it the nod. This goes for everything from the 16,000+ lines of recorded dialogue to the missions in the all-new single-player campaign.
Speaking of single-player gaming, that's really the main objective of the new hotness that is Rise of a Soldier. As executive producer Tony Van says, "America's Army is really about being a soldier -- moving from recruit to the Special Forces." You actually start in boot camp, becoming a stain on the drill instructor's boot. Once you get the bad green off of you and the good green flowing through your veins, it's time to pick your specialty. Do you want to be a sniper? What about a grenadier? You can choose, and each role has several specific missions.
Take the above-mentioned ranks, for example. A sniper's job is to take out targets from long range, and get the heck outta Dodge. A grenadier, on the other hand, gets to blow big things up in spectacular fashion. There are even near-impossible missions for expert classification. To be considered an "expert sniper," your qualifying mission is a 48-hour term waiting for one specific target. Developers told me they're literally going to require you to sit for 48 hours and wait for your mark -- which will come at a randomly set time. Nobody said realism was always fun, but this is just one extreme; most of the game is more conducive to gamers' needs.
Regardless of your career choice, you'll be doing as close to the real thing as possible. Your teammates aren't just moronic lemmings, but have their own A.I. and think for themselves. Sometimes you'll be leading, and other times you'll be following. Scoring is based on how the team does, rather than the individual. Points awarded can be spent to jack up your skills in such areas as leadership, observation, stealth, marksmanship, and conditioning.
What you choose to be in single-player carries over to your online character. Multiplayer is team scored, as well, so it's important to posse up. At the event Ubisoft threw at Ft. Benning near Columbus, Georgia, we were able to check out multiplayer on Xbox. The edge toward realism really shows, and it's interesting what things are different from your typical military FPS. While you can do the requisite three-stance shift, if you try walking while crouched, your character essentially stands straight up until you stop. That's because not even a highly trained soldier can duck-walk with a full pack and loaded weapon.
