Gaming Target - Xbox: Full Spectrum Warrior

Written by Leigh Culpin on June 12, 2003

First Impressions: No, there's no colors or samurai's involvedЕ just some American badass.

It's seems that the PC УAmerica's ArmyФ has some competition on the way, and while it's not exactly in the same gaming category, it certainly is shooting (no pun intended) for extreme realism. The problem was that training simulators exist for a broad range of military-related branches, yet not for the average grunt. Well, that problem will soon be one of the past, as Pandemic Studios is releasing a strategic gem on the Xbox within a year. While you don't directly control your soldiers (such as in Ghost Recon, for example) you do have some control over them, to a degree that will get you thinking alongside some of the militaries hired men and women.

Full Spectrum Warrior is a term that might be used to describe the ultimate soldier Ц one who has a broad range of talents and capabilities that allow him (or her) to adapt to his (or her) situation. This УgameФ is going to try to aid the military's efforts in creating such a group of soldiers. It gives you 9 troops to command as you see fit, though the game's more about personnel placement and caution than anything else. You take the role of the field commander who issues orders to be carried out by the game's AI, and as such you're left in the hands of others, as it is in real life.

The game's focus is on thinking tactically and logically more than anything else, acting more like a strategy game than any other. It certainly will have it's fair share of action in it, but not so in the typical sense Ц losing a troop is a big deal in this УgameФ and not something that can easily be remedied. You can prevent such casualties by carefully adjusting your troops' behavior and positioning, which in turn allows you to get a jump on the bad guys, or, if done correctly, lets you defend against them without too much of a problem. Various real world tactics will be necessary for survival here, such as laying down suppression fire, leapfrogging, flanking and ambushes, and all will be vigorously incorporated into the game.

The AI will follow general US Army procedures during the game, so you can get used to such things and furthermore gain a further understanding of them. This game is as much an educational tool as anything else Ц those who frequently play the game upon it's release will quite possibly be far more competent should they opt to join the Army than those who have not.

Graphically this game is just downright sexy Ц the troops all look fantastic with crisp textures, excellent models and eerily lifelike animations. The environments look equally as impressive and this is almost certainly going to be one of the Xbox's most graphically impressive games. The audio follows suite, with com chatter and realistic voices and FX Ц if you really want to know what real weapons sounds like then this is your best bet short of using one yourself. However, a limited arsenal will be present (only weapons which are used in real life will be available) including M4's, some grenades and a SAW or two, so don't go looking to whip out the miniguns or anything of the like just yet.

The sweetness keeps coming too Ц this baby even has Xbox Live support. Although the details on this are vague at the moment, it looks to be promising regardless Ц the single player campaign will have you controlling your two fire squads intuitively and make good use of the very intelligent AI, which should make for interesting multiplayer combat.