America's Army: Rise of a Soldier
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| America's Army: Rise of a Soldier | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Secret Level U.S. Army Ubisoft |
| Publisher(s) | Ubisoft |
| Designer(s) | Single Player: Major Jason Amerine |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 2.0 |
| Release date(s) | 11/15/05 (Xbox)(NA) |
| Genre(s) | First Person Shooter |
| Mode(s) | Online Play |
| Platform(s) | Xbox |
| System requirements | Broadband Internet for online play |
America's Army: Rise of a Soldier is a game developed by the U.S. Army, Ubisoft, and Secret Level. It is the version of the America's Army series for the Xbox. The game has a single player campaign as well as a multiplayer mode. It was released in the United States on December 14, 2005 for the Xbox. Plans to release it on the PlayStation 2 were made, but later confirmed canceled.
The single-player campaign is based on U.S. Army's Major Jason Amerine's experiences in Afghanistan in the year 2001. The player starts as a recruit who undergoes Rifleman training, and has his convoy ambushed in National Tunnel. With the help of his squad-mates, the recruit helps them escape Old Town.
After this, the player works on Grenadier training. Shortly after training, the player is thrust into aiding the 10th Mountain Division's convoy from attackers. The remaining three missions in a mountain trying to prevent enemy forces from escaping with supply crates dropped by C-130 transports.
The player is then assigned as the Automatic Rifleman, which involved defending their established base in the oil fields, and bringing the fight to the attackers. They eventually find a supply of money funding the terrorists inside a radio station's underground tunnels.
The player is then assigned as a Sniper. After training, the player is sent into arctic regions to kill high-ranking officers, capture enemy territory and hold the line.
After sniper training, the player is a Ranger Fireteam Leader, in which the player has an M4 assault rifle with pre-chosen modifications. The Fireteam Leader goes through MOUT training again with the ability to give limited orders to fellow squadmates. After training, the Rangers raid a drug processing base and defends it from ambushing OPFOR members, and also heads to a desert base to capture a high-ranking officer, as well as defending the base from enemy attack.
The player then becomes a Special Forces member, in which the player can modify his M4 assault rifle and lead indigenous forces. The two remaining campaigns has the player leading the forces to capture the main leaders behind the attacks, as well as helping the local allied forces protect Old Town. The campaign ends after Old Town is successfully protected, with the player and fellow Special Forces members returning home.
[edit] Criticisms
A large amount of detail was given to the game, but not without flaws. AI problems mean that the teammates, although helpful, are cannon fodder, with the missions being somewhat more reliant on luck rather than the player's skills in terms of protecting them. There are occasional freeze-ups when the game is played for long periods of time, as well as questionable hit detection. For example, if a player had his M16 rifle at least one centimeter away from an enemy, the round might not hit him.
In the online portion, a substantial amount of lag is evident, regardless of the players having good internet connection. To add to this, players were not able to bring their single-player characters over to on-line and vice-versa, as well as on-line cooperative play despite the original plans to do such a feature prior and during development. Players have speculated that this was due to the rush of Christmas sales.
