Pentagon Sends Real Soldiers Into Video Game

May 12, 2006 — -- When Staff Sgt. Brian Zedwick joined the Army, he couldn't have predicted where he would be deployed next: inside a video game.

In a small backroom at the electronic game world's much-hyped trade show under way in Los Angeles, the U.S. military has been showing off the latest version of America's Army, a video game based on soldiers' actual experiences.

 The new edition offers the game's 7 million registered players a unique opportunity to take control of Zedwick and other actual U.S. Army soldiers whose likenesses appear in the game.

In addition, the nine soldiers chosen to appear in the game will also be immortalized in plastic -- as action figures.

"It's kind of surreal," Zedwick said. "I'm 25 years old, and I come back from Iraq and someone wants to make me an action figure."

Zedwick jokes that he used to play with G.I. Joe as a kid, and now he is one.

The game and the figures are the military's way of reaching out to the gaming public -- a predominantly male, young audience -- in part for recruitment, but also to give players some perspective on who these soldiers are and what they actually do.

 "We're real people," Zedwick said. "We're not robots. We're not just killing machines."

To help get that message across, the popular first-person shooter includes brief in-game biographies that tell players about soldiers like Zedwick. Plus, gamers can go online to watch a full two-minute piece discussing the soldier's exploits.

Maj. Jason Amerine, who's been working on America's Army for three years, says the developers have gone to great lengths to give players a sense of what it's like to be in combat but also to acknowledge the rules of engagement.

 "I'm very happy both as a gamer and as a member of the military to see that we're getting it right," Amerine said.

 Players suffer penalties for slaying comrades or civilians. If friendly fire becomes a habit, it's off to the brig.

 "If you're reckless, you're harming other players and civilians. You'll get kicked out," said Phillip Bossant, executive producer and art director for the project. "If you get really out of control, you'll actually go to Leavenworth, where you'll have to sit for 10 minutes before you can return to the game."