America's Army Proving Grounds

[Ollie]

Anyone play this? If you have a PC I'd recommend it. It's free to play & you don't die instantly like games like Plantside 2 etc.

[CooLDoG]

ohh this is the game that the Army puts out to try to glorify killing people. Yeah, I'll pass on the propaganda.

[Ollie]

It's a tactical shooting game where you have to communicate effectively to win. & it has army recruitment videos in between the different maps which is a small price to pay for it being free. It's just a game.

[killerjester]

It's just a game.

Bracing for impact.

[Oman]

There are two elements to this: Is it a good game, and is it propaganda? They are independent, though it's really easy for a person's opinion of each could be tainted by the other.

The comment that they are "glorifying killing people" is a no-brainer. Yeah, of course they are. Call of Duty does that, Dragon Age does that, almost every game does that because it's a huge part of the POWER FANTASY that games (AAA especially) are built on. Even the Rug-from-under-you Spec Ops: The Line glorified killing people (even if just to call you a bad person about it later). It's a non-issue in this discussion UNLESS you want to approach the greater discussion of what the power fantasy is worth.

Is it a good game? I literally don't know. I haven't read a review, watched a let'splay, or tried a demo, and I don't want to honestly. I'm leaving the military and that's bringing me a lot of distaste for what they do. Apparently a dude saved some lives with skills he learned from the game and that's pretty fucking cool to be honest. That's games actually doing some good. I do have a problem with something calling itself realistic without dealing with PTSD or war crimes or institutionalised racism. There's a lot more to the army then "join up, get skills, make besties around the planet". There's a lot more to it than "Liberate freedom and bring democracy to brown people." Leaving these out of the game would be an obvious decision for any army recruiters. The big thing to remember when you discuss whether or not this game is good is that it's scope is INCREDIBLY limited because they are not trying to let you feel like a military member, they're trying to give you the experience that will make you sign a few years away.

Is it propaganda? Yes. Yes yes a million times yes. Take it from someone inside the beast, nothing in this game would've gone out without getting approval from a Public Affairs person, and without being written with the goal of getting your name on a uniform alongside some Lance chevrons. All games are limited but this one is specifically limited to change your way of thinking.

I kind of want to play this game just to see how they attack it, but also I don't...Ollie reads Astroturfing to me, but I'm not sure because I can't imagine DoD letting someone go out there with a steamID of GashHound.


Obligatory EC ep:

[Ollie]

This is such a weird response to posting about a game.

I'm English so you can rest assured I'm not recruiting for the American army.

Bizarre.

[Oman]

The problem is that it's not designed to be a game. You're confusing the medium with the product.


Also after looking at videos of it, it doesn't seem to have anything over CoD or Battlefield, and I think it would get shit on by ARMA 3 in it's demo.

[Oman]

It's just a game.

Also this needs to stop being a go-to response whenever videogames get attacked for something.

We spend so long, decades even saying that games are more than just games, that they're art or an escape or worlds unto themselves. We can't just flip back to "lol they don't matter, just pixels bro" whenever we're challenged.

[Oman]

Oh i just saw the fedora in the avatar.

This is a troll thread. Move along. I stand by my points but also I kind of feel bad that I got sucked in. I used to be better than this.

[Ollie]

Also after looking at videos of it, it doesn't seem to have anything over CoD or Battlefield, and I think it would get shit on by ARMA 3 in it's demo.

Your opinion about the quality of the game doesn't really carry much gravitas considering you haven't played it. You'd clearly rather moan about it!

It's just a game.

Also this needs to stop being a go-to response whenever videogames get attacked for something.

We spend so long, decades even saying that games are more than just games, that they're art or an escape or worlds unto themselves. We can't just flip back to "lol they don't matter, just pixels bro" whenever we're challenged.

I don't subscribe to that opinion, so what you have there is a straw man argument. I play games for entertainment without worrying about their intentions. There are more important things to be concerned about.

I'm also not interested in defending the American Army, send them an email if you really feel the need to attack the game so vehemently, I'm sure they'd love to hear from you. I could not care less.

Oh i just saw the fedora in the avatar.

This is a troll thread. Move along. I stand by my points but also I kind of feel bad that I got sucked in. I used to be better than this.

A troll thread? I posted about a game I enjoy playing, to see if anyone else on here did too & you started talking a load of crazy shit about me recruiting for the army in a worryingly long diatribe based off your extensive knowledge of the game (from not having even read a review of it)!

Then you go on to say that it's not as good as other games of it's ilk in your expert opinion gained watching some videos of it.

The thread switched from bizarre to comical. You do make me laugh my friend. x