The realism in America's Army is undeniable. If you’re too close to a grenade going off, your ears will ring. And flash grenades white out your screen, making you useless for 20 seconds. Aiming a sniper rifle is affected by your breathing – and it’s much more accurate if you take the shot from a crouched or prone position or take the time to set up your tripod.

Optimized for GeForce graphics, weapon effects – from real Army weapons such as the M16A2 assault rifle and M24 sniper rifle – offer another layer of realism. Tracers zip by as machine gun fire barely misses, shell casings ping off the ground around you as you return fire, wood splinters and glass shards rain from the wall behind as bullets tear out chunks – this isn’t like any “free” game you’ve seen before.

Multiplayer missions support up to 32 players involved in assignment tours, but before gamers can play online, they’ll have to complete the appropriate training. Teamwork is emphasized, especially through communication – via speech, radio messages, or actual military hand and arm signals.

Gamers are also subject to the Rules of Engagement for online combat. Any major violations – such as injuring or killing a teammate – could result in being sent to virtual prison. And just as in the Army’s real force-on-force training practices, players always perceive that they are fighting as members of the Army – the opposing force appears to be in enemy uniforms with appropriate weapons.