America's Army

[Coota0]

I was watching TechTv and they said there was a free download of an online BF1942 type game called America's Army. It was designed as a recruiting tool, it's completley free, and is supposed to the most realistic game of it's type. Here's the link America's Army.

So has anybody played it? If you have what did you think?

[Macross_Fanboy]

For some reason it won't work on my PC after installation.

[UN Spacy]

I got through the training which was very interesting b/c you have to pass BT (basic training) before you go online. After that I lost interest and now I'm only playing Wolftenstein: ET and Counterstrike.

[Tristan Lindo]

If you are looking for a game with multiplayer , teamwork, realism, fun, and a sense of camraderie, I think AA is the best game.

AA is better then many other multiplayer games like Battlefield 1942 and Medal of honor, and its absolutely FREE.

You should definitely check it out.

[Ladic]

there is no game better than BF 1942.

[Ranger_Karl]

BF1942 is good, but I wouldn't call it the best. It is fun though, I'll give you that.

I used to play AA, right until 1.9, where it would kill my modem every time (stupid Samsung). It was alright I guess.

[Mechamaniac]

I used America's Army to live out my greatest fantasy.

That's right, I shot the goddamned Drill Sergeant.

Oh, it was great, and the best part was that after you do it, the screen fades out, and fades back in with you looking out from behind prison bars. And that's IT, you just sit there forever, there's someone whistling in the background, but noone talks to you, noone interacts with you, you just sit. I let it run once for hours, and nothing changed.

[nemesis120]

I used to play America's Army every day, but I haven't played it in over a year. Lack of a single player was a pain and the time between rounds was really annoying. Personally I think Ghost Recon is much better.

[Commander McBride]

Bf1942 is a good game. With mods, it's the best there is right now.

AA is cool, I played it for a while. I'm really into tactical shooters, well, I used to be. I was a Rouge Spear master. AA can't be beat for the price, that's for sure!

[KingNor]

AA is a horrible game in my oppinion, your aim is affected GREATLY by your breathing; wich, unlike real life, you have no idea when you are inhaleing or exhailing, you have to LISTEN for your own breathing. Horrible.

it has a horrible system of HONOR points, wich degrades the militarys ethics of honor into a lame point system for getting to diffrent maps and skill levels for weapons specialization. plus only the top players get choice of weapons while the less tallented players (aka people who don't spend every wakeing hour playing ) get stuck with what ever is left over.

the game in my opinion is a very good example of what NOT to do in a FPS. just my $0.02

[bsu legato]

Sorry guys, BF1942 is bantha poodo. It tries to include so many features, but as a result they're all less than stellar. It's abhorrent as a FPS, the vehicles are about the same as the old Twisted Metal for PS1, and the aircraft aren't much better. I like the concept of BF1942, but it won't be until we've had at least one or even two more "generations" of game engines before such a game is truly satisfactory.

Edited October 27, 2003 by bsu legato

[Akilae]

I think AA is really the Next-Best-Thing after Counter-Strike... and Counter-Strike is getting VERY old... however, a few things to note:

1) Being that the aim is more realism, it plays very differently from other games, it's a whole lot slower paced. That's not saying that rushes don't exist (Anybody who's been naded at spawn point on pipeline will agree...), but the rounds drag towards the end as all the rushers are killed off. I'd say that's when the game REALLY kicks in, with assault trying to reach the objective and defense keeping them from it. Some people complain about camping, but IMHO, with proper team play and communication, no single map in AA can be camped.

2) Breathing. This plays a HUGE part in the game, as KingNor noted. But ONLY if you do distance shooting, and if you're doing distance shooting, more likely than not you're gonna be prone andy maybe with bipods down, which cuts down on the breathing. Depending on the map, a majority of the game plays out short to mid distance (aside from bridge.. but bridge is sick...). One observation: a lot of people just don't get the breathing part... your gun heaves up, and down... up, and down.. get the rhythm right, and distance shooting is easy.

3) Weapons. the Honor system affects weapon selection, but only if you're a hardcore SAW gunner, sniper, or nader. The default M-16 is a very versatile weapon, easy to snipe with, and useful in CQB. There are times when a certain weapon would be nice to have, like when newbies get the nade launcher and don't know how to use it... but you can usually get said weapons off dead bodies within the first two minutes of the game.

4) If there's any part of the game that REALLY shines, it's communication. With radio signals, hand signals, team chat, whisper, shout, etc.. It's very easy to establish teamwork.

5) I think the Dev Team is also pretty responsive to the wants and needs of the community. Witness bridge... notorious for being a nader's heaven, the Dev team thought it wise to give the assault team two nade launchers to make the job easier... except they also screwed up and gave the defense team two launchers, which turned bridge into a massacre. Huge uproar in the community, and by next release, the map was toned down to only one launcher for defense, but assault still retained its two launchers.

6) It's FREE!!! How much more can you ask of a game?

[Commander McBride]

Sorry guys, BF1942 is bantha poodo. It tries to include so many features, but as a result they're all less than stellar. It's abhorrent as a FPS, the vehicles are about the same as the old Twisted Metal for PS1, and the aircraft aren't much better. I like the concept of BF1942, but it won't be until we've had at least one or even two more "generations" of game engines before such a game is truly satisfactory.

That's where mods come in. Play Desert Combat, or Eve of Destruction. It's practically a whole other game.

[Akilae]

Sorry guys, BF1942 is bantha poodo. It tries to include so many features, but as a result they're all less than stellar. It's abhorrent as a FPS, the vehicles are about the same as the old Twisted Metal for PS1, and the aircraft aren't much better. I like the concept of BF1942, but it won't be until we've had at least one or even two more "generations" of game engines before such a game is truly satisfactory.

I was all hyped up about BF1942 after all the raves my roommates were giving it... then I tried it.

My first map was Midway, and I chose to spawn on one of the destroyers. Apparently, the other side had a very skilled bomber and was sinking our ships left and right. Seeing .50s on the sides of the ship, I think it's a good idea to go up and provide some AA cover for the ship.... so I climb up the ladder, and promptly get thrown off when I reach the top. Wash, rinse, repeat.... I never get to the .50s. Apparently, the way the game engine is built, there's not way I could get to the .50s when the ship was in motion, I would just get thrown off whenever I reached the top of the ladder.

I never touched BF1942 after that... although I had tons of fun in the Corsair.

[Noyhauser]

On AA and command and conquer generals, I try to keep my political views and my fun time separate (I'm a political analyst.)

[Coota0]

For some reason it won't work on my PC after installation.

The website said to turn off your virus program, install the game and then turn back on your virus program.

[Lynx7725]

The website said to turn off your virus program, install the game and then turn back on your virus program.

So you're telling me AA is a virus...?

On BF1942, I think it should be taken as a fun game rather than a sim. The good thing is that it has AI support to a genre that traditionally ignored AI support.. assaulting Omaha beach against the AI opponent maxed out is a pain, I tell ya. I liked the game, really. Could get it to work to connect to big games though, but that's probably my network.

As for the Midway map, on singleplayer it's ridiculously easy sometimes. As an Allies player I would jump into the halftrack or tank and race to the hanger (where I got repair AND reload.. happiness!). There I'm shielded from most air attacks AND I got LOS to a flag, so that's THE god spot on the map.

Alternatively I would use the Destroyer to sink the other side's Destroyer.

[Macross_Fanboy]

Yes, Ghost Recon is much better. Too bad my DVD drive and my CD rom drives took a dump. Man I suck at Red Alert 2 now since I haven't played online in more than 4 months. <_<

[Alpha Omega]

I've been wanting to give it a try. Lately I've been stuck on Counter Strike and Aliens vs. Predator2 .

[Eternal_D]

I'm an AA junkie! =[MOB]=Pvt.Eternal_D 41 honor and climbing...well, not for 2 months at least.

at first that game sucked...but as you get better and better at it...takin out 3+ people with one nade can leave a real satisfying grin on your face.

if you play insurgent camp, I can nail you while your on assault hill and I'm sittin in west entry room, most of the time, I can get 2 or 3 opfor this way, unless they have a good 203er....I hate those bastards.

I think this game is awesome and it's as realistic as you can get it. your aim goes off as you shoot, your pace and aim is worsened as you're shot, and you can bleed to death! damn, now I wanna play. well, I'll be on in 2 months so whoever wants to play, LMK...I'm always down for some AA! Hooah!

[Uxi]

Who wants to be a nasty Army puke? Now if they had an option for USMC I'd be all over it... But I'm happy with Unreal 2003 and Jedi Academy for my FPS fix for now...

[bsu legato]

Who wants to be a nasty Army puke? Now if they had an option for USMC I'd be all over it...

LOL! they should make a game where ALL the different services have to duke it out for supremecy. The air force would have to be handicapped, though. An F-16 against an M16 is a tad unfair.

[Mechwarrior]

AA is by far the most realistic game, with the best graphics up to date. I live multiplayer games, and this game is awesome. Most who play, find it too hard due to the realistic fps and gameplay. You have to give it awhile, but once you get your kill and find players with TEAM WORK ( A must in this game), you will be hooked. Better have a fast computer with at least 64 mb graphics card, any less and your computer passes out, its a resource hog. But I do not recommend this game to anyone. Sure it's free, sponsored by the Army and created by the DEV team, but thats the problem. I had an honor of 62 (do the math and that's alot of game time, ALOT), then a couple months ago I log on and find out iv'e been BANNED! What? Banned? Why?

Come to find out that the new punkbuster (cheat detector in the 1.9 version) did not like that I had a hacked version of Kazaa on my PC. No way I say! So at the end of the day after research, I gave up the game totally (my loss, the game rules). Newer versions of punkbuster coming will be worse for players sorry to say.

So my new favorite game is of course BF1942 (Desert Combat baby). What it lacks in graphics and realism (compared to the greatest game so far in that area, Americas Army), it makes up for in gameplay. The BF arena is so large and what you can do in the game is more then any other game. I had no idea any game in the world had such versatility. BF is my multi-player go to game now. Americas Army is a great game, but don't get hooked. One day you will find your self banned for any number of stupid reasons and punkbuster is just to nosey and future releases even more so.

[bsu legato]

One day you will find your self banned for any number of stupid reasons and punkbuster is just to nosey and future releases even more so.

God, I love this. I'm sure STEAM will do the same thing for Half-Life players in the near future too. <_<

[renegadeleader1]

Who wants to be a nasty Army puke?  Now if they had an option for USMC I'd be all over it... 

LOL! they should make a game where ALL the different services have to duke it out for supremecy. The air force would have to be handicapped, though. An F-16 against an M16 is a tad unfair.

I take it you've never heard of a patriot missile battery?

[bsu legato]

I take it you've never heard of a patriot missile battery?

I'd rather do without all of the teamkilling.

[Akilae]

Well, supposedly the Dev Team wants to add Blackhawks for players to rappel down from... also Humvees somewhere down the line... but that's all still up in the air.

[Alpha Omega]

I take it you've never heard of a patriot missile battery?

I'd rather do without all of the teamkilling.

But, teamkilling is what makes a team based FPS.