Full Spectrum Warrior Updated Impressions

We received an updated briefing on Full Spectrum Warrior, the upcoming Xbox Live shooter from Pandemic Studios, at ECTS 2003. As you may have heard, the game is actually the result of a separate project--a highly realistic simulator for the US Army, which is already complete and being used in training. However, Pandemic was approached by THQ to make a more-accessible version of the game for public consumption, and this game has come along a bit since we first saw it at E3.

Full Spectrum Warrior's focus will be on tactics, maneuvers, and split-second decisions during a tour of duty in the ruined cities of a Middle Eastern country under the control of a tyrannical dictator. You'll control two squads of four soldiers each, and these soldiers will actually each have individual personalities, voices, and mannerisms--some soldiers will be more aggressive than others, and some will get along better with their teammates than others. Though the action in the game covers a series of missions that take place within a single day, similar to the TV show 24, your troops will actually improve somewhat over the course of their missions and will work better as a team, since they'll get better acquainted with each other. In the game, you'll have a pool of about 20 soldiers, but you can and will take casualties, which will require you to call for an evac. This causes two of your troops to pull out a mobile stretcher and carry their downed teammate out of action, so in essence, having a man down actually means losing three troops.

Controlling your teammates will be easy; you'll be able to use the left control stick to issue movement orders, and you'll also be able to use the D pad to issue specific orders, such as covering fire. Interestingly, the developer has apparently just implemented the game's 3D fog-of-war feature, which causes all peripheral areas that aren't currently being covered by your troops to appear fuzzy and unfocused. If you don't wish to get blindsided, you can order individual soldiers to turn and face each direction, though the game will have complex AI routines that will mimic actual US Army protocol, such as lowering weapons near teammates and actively avoiding friendly fire.

Though you'll occasionally have the opportunity to call in some extra help in the form of airstrikes, as well as help from other outfits from both the US and from other international armies, you'll generally have to rely on your teammates' abilities and your own judicious assignments of your men to various positions. Enemy soldiers will be marked onscreen with a colored bar over their heads that indicates how clear a shot you have: Red indicates that they have too much cover, yellow indicates that they have some personal cover, and green indicates that your troops have a clear shot. Full Spectrum Warrior is scheduled for release next year.