Close Combat: First to Fight Impressions

By Jason Ocampo, GameSpotPosted Jun 25, 2004 2:55 pm PT

We take a first look at this realistic squad-based action game being codeveloped by the United States Marine Corps.

Over the past few years, we've seen the military--primarily the United States Army--become more and more involved in games development. The powerful nature of today's PCs and consoles means that the military can develop sophisticated games that can serve as recruiting tools, like America's Army, or as training aids for soldiers, like Full Spectrum Warrior. Now, the United States Marine Corps is looking to get into the action with Close Combat: First to Fight, a project it is working on with Destineer, a company formed by several ex-Bungie employees.

Every marine is a rifleman, including you, in First to Fight.

You may remember that Close Combat was originally a series of World War II-based real-time tactical wargames designed by Atomic Games in the mid- to late-'90s. Close Combat: First to Fight represents an entirely new direction for the brand, because it will be a modern-day, realistic, squad-based first-person shooter that will come out for the PC and Xbox. You'll command a four-man fireteam of marines engaged in intense urban combat in a yet-to-be-named city in the Middle East. It may sound a lot like Full Spectrum Warrior, and in many ways, First to Fight is reminiscent of that recently released game. But there's a huge difference between First to Fight and Full Spectrum Warrior. Instead of commanding the fireteam from third person, you'll actually play in first person as the fireteam leader. So you'll be there right along with them, engaging targets and dodging enemy fire.

The Marine Corps is deeply involved in the development of the game--to the point of dispatching as many as 30 to 40 decorated active-duty combat veterans (fresh from Iraq and Afghanistan) to work with the development team to capture the gritty details and nuances of urban combat. The Corps plans to use an adapted version of First to Fight as a training aid for marines in the barracks, and it sees the civilian version as a means to present the Corps' values of honor, duty, commitment, teamwork, and professionalism to the public. What we'll be getting will be very similar to what the Marine Corps will get, because the Marine and civilian versions will share about 90-percent commonality. The main differences rely on the fact that the Marine version will feature some specialized enhancements requested by various groups within the Corps for training purposes.

First to Fight will incorporate the Marine Corps system of formations, movement, and tactics for urban combat, otherwise known as Ready-Team-Fire-Assist. This name refers to the role of each marine in a four-man fireteam. The "Ready" man is a rifleman who stands next to the "Team" leader. Across from them is the "Fire" position, manned by a marine armed with the Squad Automatic Weapon. And behind him there's the "Assist" man, who serves as assistant gunner and is also responsible for covering the team's rear. In the game, your squad will use RTFA tactics to ensure that your marines maneuver and fight like real marines. For example, when you come up to an intersection, the Ready and Fire marines will automatically hug the corners to provide cover.

You'll have support from marine tanks and helicopters, among others.

As team leader, your job will be to make decisions to accomplish the mission and to keep your guys alive. You can issue orders to each marine through a simple radial menu, which includes suppress, cover, grenade, smoke, and flank options. Once you issue an order, your fireteam members will carry it out using RTFA tactics. During a demonstration of First to Fight, Destineer showed us a fireteam clearing out a subway tunnel system and engaging hostiles in one of the subway stations. Using a command to "take down" the area, the marines quickly entered and moved to positions to seize control of the room quickly. Your marines will understand cover, and they'll know how to use it, so they'll look for places where they can get a superior position to fire upon the enemy.

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