2004 is shaping up to be quite a year for Pandemic Studios. They're the development team tabbed by Lucasfilm to create the hotly anticipated Star Wars: Battlefront, no doubt due to their amazing work on Full Spectrum Warrior, the ultimate combat sim. The U.S. Army commissioned Pandemic to create a simulator that could train their light infantry troops for urban combat situations. Full Spectrum Warrior is the tweaked, commercial version of that project.

To give you an idea of how realistic this game is, the U.S. Army commissioned Pandemic to create a simulator that could train their light infantry troops for urban combat situations, and is currently being tested at the Infantry School in Fort Benning, Georgia. If all goes well there, it will be placed in Army training facilities nationwide, and soldiers will be encouraged to play it during their down time. Full Spectrum Warrior is the tweaked, commercial version of that project. Thus, this game is unlike anything any of us have ever seen.

The game takes place in the fictional nation of Tazikhstan, where the present leaders have attained their position through a bloody coup. They utilize anti-American rhetoric to cover up the ethnic cleansing of their country. NATO wants to return the rightful leaders to power as soon as possible, so they send out your combat force to facilitate that end. If the story sounds familiar, that's because it is - this sort of thing is really happening in many places around the world right now.

FSW is mission based and follows a twelve-hour day (from 6:00am to 6:00pm) in the life of a soldier. As the Squad Leader of 2 four-man fireteams, you command these men through a series of missions spread out over six chapters. All combat in the game takes place in the fictional city Zekistan through a third-person perspective. The original purpose of this "game" was to teach soldiers how to lock down a city, so you will learn, use, and follow established U.S. Army Infantry doctrine and Rules of Engagement, which simulate real-world conditions and alter the difficulty level of the game.

In order to successfully complete your mission, you will be utilizing MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain) tactics, which is the military's definition for any action where battles take place in a man-made environment or highly populated area - in other words, urban warfare. This type of fighting employs a different strategy from fighting on other types of terrain, such as large deserts or jungles. If you've seen the movie Black Hawk Down, you saw MOUT in action. The term "full spectrum" in the game's title personifies this new breed of warfare to cover the ever-widening range of battlefield possibilities.

What sets this game apart is that you never take control of one man. Instead, you issue orders to the men in your squad and, via the Chain of Command, it gets carried out. Once you issue an order, they move to follow it as best they can under the exacting principles of MOUT. Still, this game feels like a first person shooter; it forces you to use your head to get out of sticky situations instead of Ramboing your way out of them. You will not be able to succeed with run-n-gun; friendly casualties are not an option; and forcing a retreat by the enemy can be a better testament to your skill than killing them.

Now, you might think this near impossible given current AI standards, but remember - the U.S. Army is using this as a training tool, so it has to be up to snuff. Based on the widely available in-game video demonstrations that I've seen of the AI in action, it has the potential to revolutionize gaming. The realism in FSW encompasses the entire experience of war. Soldiers don't have life bars, ammo is shared among squad members and you'll have to learn to rely on what your squad mates see as you creep to your next objective. As Squad Leader, it would behoove you to make sure one of your team covers alleys and doors as you pass by in case someone is lying in wait. Don't forget about snipers either on top of or in buildings, either. This is real life, folks. Get lazy and you all die.

Graphically, FSW is aiming for the stars - it looks amazing! At times it's hard to tell if you're playing a game or watching a movie. City environments are modeled after actual cities and offer realistic cover like cars and chunks of demolished buildings. In addition, there's billowing smoke from burned out buildings, and pieces of paper and debris kicked up by wind. I mention that because there is an extremely high level of interactivity with environment in this game. For instance, you will have to pay attention to the wind and every other facet of the environment. Why? You probably won't want to pop off a smoke grenade if the wind is blowing too hard or in the wrong direction - it'll dissipate too fast and give off your position instead of covering it. Little things like this make FSW's setting a true, living battle environment. Character models for the soldiers are very detailed, right down to their uniforms. Animations have been modeled after a combat veteran who is an active-duty Sergeant in the U.S. Army Rangers. Your squad's equipment reflects virtually every real weapon and piece of equipment currently used by the U.S. Army.

As in real life, sound plays a very important part in this game. There is an impressive amount of chatter from your squad, which not only sounds good, but keeps you informed as to what's going on in the game. You will have to pay attention to what they say in order to survive. The assortment of weapons' fire and explosions are recorded from their real-world counterparts. Dynamic music will change to reflect the game's mood and situation.

I know, this all sounds overly challenging. My brain was aching just writing up this Preview. Fortunately, Pandemic is trying to make sure the game is accessible and the interface simple to use. There will be in-depth training tutorials that teach you MOUT tactics and how best to use your squad's resources. The most useful aid for learning how to play is through the replay system. As you play, the game records your entire mission, allowing you to go back and watch yourself. What's more, you can actually jump into replay on the fly and pick up playing from there to get through sticky spots. Additional features will enable you to toggle your view between soldiers to show which field of fire they're covering and who is exposed. There's an onscreen compass (the Army version doesn't have that) with checkpoints to guide your way. A cursor hovers above each soldier and will change color to reflect their status - green for when they're using cover effectively, red when they're exposed. "Health" meters will be added to certain types of destructible cover, like cars and trucks. If it gets hit enough it can be destroyed, leaving your butt out in the wind!

FSW was initially designed for the Xbox and not the PC; it remains to be seen exactly how the controls will be handled in the PC version. Unfortunately, there was no information available at press time regarding the control scheme. In fact, there was very little PC specific information about this game at all. However, it's safe to assume that because the controls were designed for a gamepad, it may be beneficial (if not required) to use one with the PC version as well.

Multiplayer and co-op modes are available in the Xbox version; let's hope that at the very least we'll have multiplayer in the PC version. After all, this game is made for multiplayer, and neglecting it here would be a travesty. If co-op mode is available (with each person taking command of a fireteam), it will totally change the dynamics of the game since you'll have to provide support for each other.

Full Spectrum Warrior is different from any other military-themed game we've seen to date. It has caused quite a stir in the industry, and has picked up several prestigious awards since its debut at last year's E3 (Best Original Game, Best Simulation and Most Innovative Design, to name a few). If Pandemic can execute this highly ambitious mission objective by convincing both FPS and strategy gamers to play, it will not only create a new military genre, but could very well usher in a new era in gaming itself through its revolutionary artificial intelligence. So lock and load and check your fields of fire, cuz we're goin in hot!