I went back and played a little "Americas Army" the other day. I had reloaded and updated the whole thing. This was the first
strategic Shooter in my book. For the first time, teamwork counted and so did the rules... Specifically the ROEs.
Built on the Unreal Engine, free for download and containing recreations of actual firing ranges... It was as close as you could get to being in BCT again.
But now the engine feels dated and the graphics don't do much for me. The characters run too slow and "Donkey Kong" has more realistic ladder-climbing animations.
It could be that I've spent too long playing "Battlefield 2" and become spoiled, but there is one thing I truly believe needs to be taken from the new game and added to "A~A":
The option to forgive for a teamkill (Or Friendly-Fire ROE violation).
I can't stand it when I'm laying down cover-fire and some noob walks right into it. There is NO REASON I need to be punished for that.
Honestly... For a game that has the WORST consequences for killing teammates, it has the MOST of that going on.
Knowing the government, there will be no sequel and the project will be dropped completely for some other venture.
It was originally built as a "recruitment tool".