Peace Time: February 6, 2003

Archives

The U.S. Army has released a new computer wargame for company commanders, and other officers and senior NCOs. The game, Full Spectrum Command, uses the same visual technology as many current commercial action games, but presents the world as seen by a infantry company commander engaged in peacekeeping or combat missions. Unlike previous wargames for company commanders, which presented the player with a map, this one only shows the company commander what he can actually see and hear. The game allows him to ask for advice from his officers and NCOs, as well as local civilians. He has to interact with friendly, neutral or hostile civilians as well as armed opponents. Another version of the game, Full Spectrum Warrior, will be released for squad leaders. Both games were developed with an eight million dollar budget (about normal for commercial games using this visual technology.) The scenarios in the game are based on actual events, but are somewhat abstracted to avoid offending any touchy former foes.