Realistic Special Forces Combat!
America's Army 2.0 Review
Reviewed by: David Galvin
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Ten-hut!
Listen up, maggot, because you’re only going to hear this once. You’ve just enlisted into the United States Army and everyone knows exactly what you’re thinking. You think you’re going to go out into the field, gun down every crazed terrorist in sight, and come back home with a medal in hand. Think again; that is not how the Army works.
You are expected to use standard-issue army equipment. You are expected to work closely with your buddies and follow instructions. You are expected to identify your targets before you fire. Most of all, you are expected to not act like an invincible hero. There are no re-spawns, extra lives or power-ups to find here; when you die in this game, you are out of the round forever!
If you don’t think you can handle that, then go try one of the hundreds of other shooters on the market. Combat in America’s Army 2.0, also known as Special Forces, is as real as it gets!
Aiming For Realism
Forget everything you have learned in previous first-person shooters.
Don’t think for a second that your old tricks are going to work here;
there is no circle-strafing, rocket-jumping, spy-checking,
bunny-hopping, or any of that other nonsense. America’s Army: Special
Forces does not aim to give you constant slam-bang action. It’s here to
deliver the most authentic combat simulation that your computer can
handle.
- Friendly fire is always on. Check your targets and take special care to avoid shooting your teammates.
- Death is permanent. There is no re-spawning; if you die, you’re out until the next game begins.
- It takes only a few hits for either you or your enemies to die. Be quick or be dead!
- Fire from three positions: on two feet, while crouched, or while lying prone on your stomach.
- Aim your gun freely or look down the iron sights for better accuracy.
- Switch between multiple firing modes, including single, burst and automatic. Firing modes vary from weapon to weapon.
- Learn to run, crawl, hurdle and climb over and past obstacles.
- Guns can jam if treated irresponsibly. Don’t get caught with a disabled weapon in the open; fix it fast!
Train as if Your Life Depended On It!
The Army takes care of its own and won’t send any of its boys to battle while they’re still green. Before you can officially begin your career as a soldier, you must do what everyone who has come before you has done: complete boot camp. You may be a completely clueless whelp when you start out, but once you finish, you will be broken down and rebuilt as a living weapon capable of fighting the way all proper soldiers in America’s Army must fight.- Complete over a dozen training exercises to learn the ropes of America’s Army.
- Learn all about proper marksmanship on the shooting ranges, movement in the obstacle courses, field medication and more.
- Heed the words of your drill instructors.
- Familiarize yourself with standard-issue Army equipment, including the M-67 hand grenade, the M-203 grenade launcher, the M-249 rifle, and more.
- Educate yourself about proper Army protocol to see how soldiers train and are expected to act in the field in real life.
- Complete the more challenging training exercises to unlock even more advanced missions online.
Commence Operations
A soldier’s life is never easy. Just like in real life, America’s Army 2.0 will expect you to fight in all sorts of places and with any number of situations that cannot be covered with training alone. All the while, you must also do as the Army does and abide to its seven core values: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless courage, honor, integrity and personal courage. A soldier is nothing if he has none of these things.- Fight on over 60 enormous maps that take place in a huge variety of settings, including remote villages, urban war zones, collapsed tunnels, insurgent camps, and more.
- Assume your choice of role for each individual game you take part in. Play as a rifleman, marksman, grenadier, medic and so on.
- Use cover, find strategic spots to attack from, and set up traps and ambushes with your team.
- Make your life easier by using a number of useful tools like binoculars to see what lies ahead, bipods to mount your guns on, night vision goggles to see in the dark, and more.
- Sometimes, you might be expected to make the ultimate sacrifice so that the rest of your team can survive and succeed. Jump on a thrown grenade to absorb the explosion and save your brothers-in arms!
- Disorient enemies with flashbang and smoke grenades.
- Follow the Rules of Engagement to the letter. Avoid civilian casualties, abstain from damaging the surrounding infrastructure if you can, and do not inflict bodily harm on your fellow soldiers.
With America’s Army 2.0, you can experience a fairly realistic military shooter. Since it is backed, funded and developed by the United States Army itself, it is likely as close to the real thing as you’re ever going to get outside of actual combat experience.
By playing America’s Army: Special Forces, you will not only get one of the most tactical games the shooter genre has ever produced, but you’ll also surely get a deeper appreciation for what the U.S. Army truly stands for. Best of all, you can experience everything it has to offer for free without any strings attached! Get out there and be all that you can be!
Additional Info
In America's Army: Special Forces, players attempt to earn Green Beret status by completing individual and collective training missions drawn from the Special Forces Assignment and Selection (SFAS) process. Players who complete the SFAS process have the opportunity to take on elite Special Forces roles and are qualified to play in multiplayer missions with units ranging from the elite 82d Airborne Division to the 75th Ranger Regiment.The game features a number of training missions to get you familiar with the controls as well as learning the roles and weapons of a Special Forces soldier. Roles include Weapons Specialist (18B), Intelligence (18F), Engineer (18C), Communications (18E) and Combat Medic (18D). Other game features include:
- Challenging Green Beret training - Complete training missions drawn from the SFAS process at Fort Bragg. Successfully complete SFAS and advance to Special Forces Qualification Course (Q-Course) missions to explore new Special Forces roles.
- Intense Special Forces action - Intense Special Forces action - Experience multiplayer missions in simulated combat combat environments. Take part in missions that span the capabilities of a Special Forces detachment, including unconventional warfare, direct action, surveillance and reconnaissance and Combat Search and Rescue.
- Detailed Special Forces equipment and military hardware - Building on the equipment available in America's Army: Operations, America's Army: Special Forces adds the M4 Carbine featuring the Picatinny rail mod system for attaching laser-aiming devices and sighting systems; the MP5SD6 Remington 870 shotgun for forced entry; the AT4, a shoulder-fired anti-tank rocket and the BDM, a shoulder-fired bunker demolition munition.
- Accurate Soldier behavior - Players are bound by the laws of land warfare, Army values (honor, duty and integrity) and realistic rules of engagement as they navigate challenges in teamwork-based multiplayer force vs. force operations. Mission accomplishment standings are evaluated based on team effort and adherence to a set of values and norms of conduct.
