US military reveals computer game

Soldiers "stormed" the stand to promote America's Army

A computer game designed by US military experts which simulates warfare has been revealed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, US.

Crowds at the Los Angeles conference watched as special military assault teams slid down ropes to the US Army stand to promote the game.

It's pretty much just plain vanilla opponents

Dave Wagner
Lethal Skies stand

Engineered by the US Naval Postgraduate School's Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation Institute in Monterey, California, America's Army lets users team up to take on the terrorists.

PlayStation spokeswoman Amanda White said she thought some of the games allowed for the "post-11 September need for catharsis".

"These sorts of games let people have a way better ending than what we have right now," she said.

Across a host of E3 stands, games like SOCOM (Special Operations Command) and Lethal Skies proliferate.

America's Army only has generic "baddies"

Many of the 420 companies at E3 are keen to link their offerings to the 11 September, while admitting no identifiable nationalities are singled out for assault.

"It's pretty much just plain vanilla opponents," said Dave Wagner, a spokesman at the Sammy game publisher's stall, which promotes Lethal Skies.

The game lets users pilot high performance combat aircraft, hunting down enemies over modern urban landscapes.

SOCOM is a sophisticated next-generation online game, which lets users form teams of eight soldiers and eight terrorists via the internet.

The teams can then hunt each other in various scenarios, including close combat in urban ruins or the desert.