Unreal Tournament 2005!!!!

[Crowbar]

okay, I lied.

 

Download America's Army!

 

There really is no excuse not to at least try this game. It's totally free, just click the link above and pick a download location, then install it. It's a hefty download, at almost 800 mb, but come on, it's a full fledged game. Several in the community have tried it out, and liked it, one or two have found it more difficult than the average no-brainer FPS and given up. It is much more difficult to pick up than a game such as Counterstrike, Battlefield or even Unreal Tournament. America's Army requires patience, tactics, teamwork and a good aim. Requires it. Try to play the hero in this game and you'll be dead in under a minute, and have to watch the rest of the round for another 6 minutes. Work with your team, concentrate on the objectives, and keep sharp, however, and you will realize what an adreniline pumping game this is. So allow me to give you an overview of America's Army.

 

Training

Like real soldiers, you start the game in Basic training. Training is done in single player, and after passing each stage, your results are uploaded to a global server where your online soldier is kept. You can log in on www.americasarmy.com and view what training you have completed, your honor level, what tours of duty (maps) you have participated in, and various other stats.

As it's name suggests, Basic training is just the beginning. You can go online and play on many servers after completing just Basic, or you can contine your training and open up other maps and weapons. Basic is very simple, consisting of 4 phases, each only taking a few minutes.

Marksmanship training is first, teaching you to use the M16 rifle. For best accuracy, shoot during the pause at the top and bottom of each breath. Next is the obstacle course, teaching you various movements. (Hint: at a particular spot you may continually fall through the obstacle and hear, "That may be your way, but that's not the army way!" To get across, repeatedly jump.) After the obstacle course is heavy weapons training, which after being completed allows you to use the SAW, M203 grenade launcher, and various types of grenades. Finally, you must go through the MOUNT facility, where you must infiltrate a building, navigate through it blowing away wooden enemies, and finally pick a lock and escape though the other side. This completes your Basic training, bestows you with 10 Honor points, and opens up online play.

If you wish, you may continue training, or come back anytime and qualify in a different area. Each section of training opens up new abilities on the battlefield. Medic training allows you to pick the medic class, and treat wounded teammates. Sniper training is availible if you score greater than 36 on basic marksmanship, and will allow you to use the Barrett .50 calibur sniper rifle or the M24 bolt action sniper rifle on certain maps. Airborne training opens up a few new maps, and Special Forces training allows you to use a personally modded M4 rifle on SF maps.

 

 

 

 

 

Gameplay

The team setup in America's Army is different then any other game I know of. Whatever side you are on, you are the Army and the other team is the OPFOR (opposing force). You will always see your teammates as Army. However, when you kill an OPFOR, you can pick up their weapons (typical Soviet-style rifles) and use them. But you cannot pick a team that starts with OPFOR weapons.

The basis of the game is the Honor system. Honor is similar to experience points or levels in an RPG. It is tracked globally, therefore it stays with you whatever server you are on. Honor is gained mainly through completing objectives, however you also gain 10 Honor for each kill, and a small amount for actions such as treating teammate's wounds. You do not loose Honor for negative kill-to-death ratios. The only way you loose Honor, is by violating the ROE (rules of engagement), that is, by attacking and/or killing a teammate. Most servers only allow players with 9+ Honor to join, so if you have violated the ROE and gone below 9 Honor, you must join one of the designated training servers, which allow only Honor levels of 1-15. These servers are also a good place to play when you first begin, since the skill levels are pretty much the same. Some servers also set higher minimum Honor levels, these are elite servers, only letting players with 25+ Honor join, thus eliminating the newbies.

Gameplay in America's Army is very slow, and combat is very fast. You can only take a few bullets in the extremities, and only one, maybe two, in the head or chest, so combat between small numbers is usually over in a few seconds, however combat between larger teams using cover well can last a few adrenaline rushing minutes. Combat is enhanced by realistic features such as side-side rolling, guns not being fireable when crawling, and realistic accuracy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Communication

Communication in game is done by typing, by radio commands, or by hand signals. Yes, if you learn the key combinations, and learn what the signals mean, you can communicate with your team in-game by hand signals. This is just one of the things that makes America's Army so team based. Also the use of detailed radio commands to communicate is recommended. Particularly recommended is using the "U" key to report in often. This tells your teammates where you are on the map, so they don't accidentally shoot you, and also, when you're first learning a map, it tells you where you are.

 

 

Well, I have more I wnated to write, but I must go, so I will close with a request to all of you who have read this far to please give the game a try. It's a wonderful team based game that a few of us coalition members have had a blast playing together. For the competitive among you, there are several leagues that play America's Army, the game community around it is one of the best communities I've seen for any game. It takes some work to get good at, but that simply eliminates all the idiots who just want to ruin people's games. As you can see from the screenshots, the graphics are good, but they don't require a stellar machine to run, an average rig will run the game fine. And finally, it's just a really fun shooter!

[bullet-401]

I love that game. So realistic. BUT I'm addicted to City of Heroes

[TheBugs]

I tried it, but for some reason i never really got into it. Maybe if i knew more people that played it would be different.

[Watchtower]

Gonna have to download again.. Actually wait, do they have incremental patches yet? I still ahve it installed..

[Memorydude]

Yes they do have incremental downloads. You can find them out there, I don't know if Crowbar wants me to post where. LOL, guys get hooked up and let the lead fly!!!

 

Abracadabra..... Nope we can still beat you.

[Crowbar]

for all you regulars, Mr. Crucial Labs up there is a member of an awsome America's Army guild known as TeamAMD (http://www.teamamd.com.

 

Go ahead and help the man, post up the links. It ain't "my" topic, I'm just the one who started it. You're a veteran of AA:O, give you're endorsement

[Memorydude]

Roger that Crowbar,

 

You can find all the incremental updates here. I hope this all works for you and look forward to seeing you on the battlefield.