E3 06: America's Army Special Forces Overmatch Impressions

LOS ANGELES--We checked in with the developers of America's Army to see what was in store for Special Forces: Overmatch, the soon-to-be-released content update to the long-running shooter. Overmatch will include a number of presentation tweaks, including updates to the menus that will make it easier to see player stats and other important information. More visual representations of training qualifications and their dependencies, for example, will be available so that players know exactly what they need to do to get specific qualifications.

One interesting addition to the game will be integration of real-life heroes from the US Army. Pictures, biographies, and video documentaries of highly decorated soldiers from today's army will be available in-game, to give America's Army a more personal feel. The likenesses of these soldiers, as well as their voices, will also be used to replace certain nonplayer characters in the game, such as the drill instructors, or the recruiters inside the game's virtual recruiting station. You'll also be able to view the soldiers in their real-life dress uniforms, complete with all their medals and ribbons, which are explained in great detail. You're never forced to learn about these heroes, but players will be given an incentive to learn about that through experience points for viewing biographies and learning about them.

Overmatch will also introduce a quick-play system for the first time, which will let new players explore different aspects of the game without having to complete the training mode first. Online play in this "explore the Army" mode will happen on separate servers from the regular game, and those playing in this mode will not receive experience points for a character. You won't get access to all weapons and content in this mode of course. However, the developers see this mode as a great way for prospective players to try out the game before committing the time to go through the training modes and leveling up a character.

New character models will also be introduced in the game that better reflect what today's soldiers look like. The ACU uniform is the base model, with the new style helmet and Oakley goggles or sunglasses as part of the package. Helmets will have a night-vision clip, and players can choose to have their goggles or shades up on their helmet out of the way or down over their eyes. The models will also be wearing the new digital camouflage, with updated pouches and no more canteens, as US Army soldiers today use camelbacks to carry water. You'll see those on the new models as well. A total of four new infantry character models and four new variations of special ops are available.

Drivable vehicles, for both players and the computer-controlled soldiers, are perhaps the most exciting new addition to America's Army in Overmatch. We got to see fully armored Hummers, complete with machine gun or grenade launcher mounted up top. What's interesting is that these weapons are not manned with a soldier. In response to heavy casualties taken by turret gunners in Iraq, the Army has developed a remotely operated weapon-aiming system for weapon mounts on Hummers. Put simply, there's now a soldier inside of the vehicle, fully protected by the armor, who controls the gun above with a joystick. Overmatch will simulate this by letting you see through the digital viewpoint that the remote operator sees.

In addition to all of this new content, a new multiplayer map and two new cooperative levels will be released with Overmatch, which will be playable with 12-player teams. We got to peek briefly at the multiplayer map, which appears to be set in a desolate, dilapidated third-world city. Rubble has collapsed from multistory buildings that are falling apart, giving players a more vertically oriented playing field, with plenty of places to climb up and get elevated firing positions. It looked like something out of Mogadishu, as portrayed in Black Hawk Down.

America's Army: Special Forces Overmatch is currently slated to release in late July on the PC.