Game Play Reflection #5

At 2:03pm I started playing. Yes, I am timing it as I am not willing to spend more than the requisite two hours per week playing – and I am counting the time it takes to write my reflection in those two hours so as to minimize my suffering.

I am still trying to complete the Special Forces Escape and Evasion training. And it’s so hard to see! After about a half hour I went to the internet to see if there were any good hints. One post mentioned adjusting your brightness. Huh? I can adjust the brightness? It didn’t say how, so I just started pressing function keys until I saw some reference to brightness. OK, at least now I can see.

So I continue to stay low and slow. But it doesn’t matter. The “enemy” always sees me. When you are seen, the game zooms in from the perspective of the spotter. Sometimes I can see myself clear as can be. Oops. I was out in the open (but there wasn’t any cover!) Othertimes, I can’t see any hint of me. I have no idea what they saw. So it’s back to the start again.

A couple of game forums mentioned that this particular part of America’s Army can take three hours to complete: one hour per checkpoint. I have yet to make it to the first checkpoint.
I continue to try and to retry. In this picture I have gotten farther than ever before by going through the trees to the left of the enemy camp. I managed to get here three or four times, but I always get spotted.


I check the clock. 3:03pm. I’ve spent an hour. An hour I can never get back. OK, new strategy. From this point on – or until I adopt a new strategy – I will spend one hour in training and one hour in combat; that is, if I can find a combat mission to take part in. What I really need now is an hour of bloody mayhem to calm me down abit.

So...I’ll try “Infantry – Border Missions”. But wait...it looks like I have to enter a multi-player game. It’s probably full of nerdy kids and frustrated graduate students. I can’t face this kind of humiliation yet.


But somehow – no, I don’t know how – I’ve stumbled on a “map” game where I just walk through the map, picking up “briefcases” with sensitive information. No one shooting. Just the wind howling and the occasional dog barking. I don’t need to be Special Forces to do this! So I walk around, and I am understanding how the navigation tool works at the bottom of the screen.

Here’s some nice desert scenery. This is good. Afterall, I like desert.


And here’s a briefcase, just before I press “F” (how intuitive) to pick it up...


And approching another objective (B, C, and D turn out to be beat up pickups.)


Having accomplished all of the objectives (and meeting no resistance at all) I have no choice but to start playing the game. I choose a server, and then I am required to enable something called “Punkbuster”, which requires about 5-10 minutes. Finally, I “pass” and I am fighting with the likes of “IMA HOE”. I can see that Punkbuster is really doing its job. I have to join a side and pick a squad (at least I think that’s what this is...)


And eventually I am in the game. So I start walking around. I see a few friendly forces running around haphazardly. I attempt to find an objective. About three minutes into the game, some asshole shoots me in the back. This is me dead...


And this is my corpse rotting in the desert...


Actually, it’s just bad rendering, but I think it looks like my body has been picked clean by rodents.

OK, it’s now 4:18pm and I’ve gone over my required time by fifteen minutes. Seriously, enough is enough. I am going to buy “ToonTalk”, which I reviewed earlier in the semester, and start playing that game in earnest. I am far more interested in an educational game that teaches “visual programming” than in this piece of crap. With all due respect to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, this Private is taking his leave now.