In today's world, these FPS programs are of limited use. War has changed, and twitch-response shooters no longer represent a soldier's reality in combat. Today's soldiers are more likely to face a difficult decision, with a need to weigh ethical concerns with potentially global consequences, than to fire round after round at clearly identified enemy soldiers. While consumer games are still rooted in simply defeating the enemy, U.S. Military programs focus on the subtle nuances of war.
According to Major General Vincent E. Boles, Army Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, G-4, "the most critical skill for junior military leaders is the art and science of decision making. There is always 'more' for leaders, more information that masquerades as 'knowledge' but in reality is just a series of data points to attempt to grasp as they wrestle with the choices in front of them, usually without having a wealth of experience from which to make those decisions. All this in a combat condition, where the stakes will be high, the pressure will be on and the outcome uncertain."
With the changing role of the Army in mind, leading-edge learning technology companies and the Department of Defense are working together to create programs that move away from traditional shooters to emotionally engaging serious games that deal with subjects never before included in simulations. The recently developed Beyond the Front goes beyond leadership and combat operations to address the increasing problem of suicide in our armed forces by reducing the stigma associated with seeking mental health help. In Beyond the Front, players deal with some of the most emotionally jarring experiences of war, including the death of a friend in combat. They experience different outcomes based on the decisions they make throughout the game. Make poor choices, and the result may be the tragedy of suicide; make good choices and you save lives. Outcomes are based on the users' ability to cope with a continuum of complicated emotional behaviors and ask for help.
Serious games such as these overcome the limitations of animation by using actual video to realistically simulate environments and the decisions users face in a multi-dimensional slice-of-life setting. Contextual adventures with elaborate branching storylines create an intricate web of critical decisions that soldiers are likely to face, and provide a safe environment in which to make these decisions before facing them in potentially life or death situations. This increased realism not only prepares users for the realities of a potentially hostile environment, it teaches them to think under such circumstances.
