One of the more interesting facets of AA3 will be its MOS (Military Occupational Specialist) feature. Part of the promised regular content release schedule (they say every 4 months or so), the MOS allows players to specialize in a secondary profession, like Infantry, or Combat Medic. The way these play out is in the deployment of additional abilities in the field. For example: all players will have the ability to use CLS (Combat Life Saver) techniques to revive a fallen teammate once; the Combat Medic, with his specialized training, will be able to revive others an unlimited number of times, and address more serious wounds than the average soldier would.

More cool new elements in AA3 include: a very detailed hit model, which will give you stats based on where you've taken hits throughout a mission, and where on enemy bodies you've done damage; a Battle Planning feature, which allows team leaders to specify subordinate's spawn points on the map before it goes live; new weapon configuration options; and new animations, including the player-requested slide, which allows players to dive for cover; stealthy movement, which allows for the negation of loud footsteps; and different animations for negotiating variable-height obstacles, like walls.

I would be severely remiss if I didn't talk about how AA3 looks and sounds. This game is all about tiny details that help immersion better than any broad effect might. For example, when the player whips the camera around, there is a slight blur to the surroundings that really sells the movement. The actual player models are detailed enough to show the different ammo clips in the belt, which actually animate as they're changed. There's also an amazing lighting model in place, that simulates the effect of moving from outdoors to indoors, and vice versa; the way one's eyes adjust to the absence/presence of light.

Weapon behavior is also subject to the Realism mandate. For example, activating a grenade within an enclosed space subjects the player to "overpressure", a deleterious effect that reduces health. Similarly, a flash-bang grenade will cause the player's eyesight to blank out for a few seconds, leaving a static image onscreen as vision returns. Building materials also factor in, as stronger materials like stone or metal will cause ricochets, while weaker ones like glass or wood allow penetration. In fact, the modeling is detailed enough that ricochets off of a cobbled stone floor will produce unpredictable results, as opposed to the ricochets from a smoother surface.

And the quality of the sound work is amazing as well -- specific attention has been focused on tiny details like the sound of a bullet as it whizzes past one's head, or the way a shot cavitates as it disappears into empty air. The positional audio is good enough, in fact, for you to be able to tell how close to your soldier a shot has landed. You'll even hear the impact before the report, just like in real life.

There is a lot to enjoy in America's Army 3, and a lot I don't have the room to write about. AA3 is scheduled for release later this year on PC only.