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''Full Spectrum Warrior'' is a Video Game classified as a Real-time Tactics action/ War Game . It was developed by Pandemic Studios and published by THQ . It was released on June 1 2004 for the Xbox and on September 21 2004 for Windows , it was also released for Sony 's PlayStation 2 on March 23 , 2005 . The name ''Full Spectrum Warrior'' relates to the Army's program of training soldiers to be flexible and adaptable to a broad range of operational scenarios. The game was originally developed as a Serious Game training aid for the United States Army . The US Army also developed '' Full Spectrum Command '' with the Institute For Creative Technologies (ICT) as a more strategy-oriented serious game intended for higher ranking Military Officer s. FSC has not been officially released to the public, though it was included in the Windows version and all that was necessary to access it was a password, soon available on the Internet . The game uses the Havok 2 physics engine, featuring realistic manipulation of objects in the game environment (such as knocking over crates) and Ragdoll Physics . Pandemic is working on the sequel, '''', due out in March 27 , 2006 for North America and March 31 for Europe . GAMEPLAY ''Full Spectrum Warrior'' is essentially a squad-based game in which the player issues commands to two Fireteam s, Alpha and Bravo. Each fireteam has a ''Team Leader'' ( Sergeant Mendez for Alpha, Sgt. Williams for Bravo) who is equipped with an M4 Carbine . The Team Leaders also carry the team GPS , which can be used to locate mission objectives and enemy locations, and a radio for communication with HQ . The second team member is the ''Automatic Rifleman'' ( Corporal Devreux for Alpha, Cpl. Piccoli for Bravo) who is equipped with an M249 SAW Machine Gun , used to lay a large volume of fire on the enemy to Suppress it. The third team member is the ''Grenadier'' ( Private First Class Silverman for Alpha, PFC Shimenski for Bravo), who is equipped with an M4 mounted with an M203 Grenade Launcher , which is used as a team weapon, the most powerful. The last team member is the ''Rifleman'' ( Private Shehadi for Alpha, Pvt. Ota for Bravo), equipped with a single M4 Carbine. If a member of the team gets hit by the enemy, the Rifleman will be the one assigned to pick up and carry the wounded team member (unless the Rifleman himself is the one down). Lieutenant Phillips is the team commander and the player will usually find him with the CASEVAC s (healing and ammunition points). Each of the teams has a limited amount of Hand Grenade s ( Frags and Smoke Grenades ), in addition to the M203 grenades — which can be fired directly at the enemy position from further distances, exploding on impact. Throughout the game, the player does not directly control any of the fireteam members; instead, orders are given using a cursor that projects onto the terrain, letting the player tell his/her soldiers to hold a corner or wall and set a specific zone to cover with fire. It is also possible to order them to lay down suppression fire on a given zone to cover the second squad's movement, or to simply cut back on incoming fire. However, the game does feature some restrictions due to its coding, resulting in some unrealistic actions. For example, the game is heavily based on the concept of cover and suppression, so a team member or enemy standing behind a solid object is considered "behind cover" and is generally invulnerable to small arms fire. The game does not precisely distinguish between ''how much'' cover a target is protected by; an enemy rifleman with only a leg concealed is almost as protected as a soldier crouching behind a car, forcing the player to perform flanking maneuvers that should not be necessary. Another example is that the M203 grenade launcher lacks its real-life Parabolic Trajectory and instead has straight-line rocket-like physics, making it almost possible to snipe with it. The basic gameplay mechanics remain the same for the retail version of ''Full Spectrum Warrior'', which was released on both the Xbox , Sony and Microsoft Windows platforms. All versions are very realistic, although the retail version places much more emphasis on aesthetics — it possesses substantially improved graphics and sound, and while the story is fictional in both versions, the retail version greatly resembles a war movie. Fleshed-out cinematics and high-quality voice acting are also characteristics that distinguish the retail version from the military version. The original military version of the game can also be unlocked within the retail Xbox version only. MULTIPLAYER ''Full Spectrum Warrior'' includes a cooperative mode that was designed to take advantage of Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming service through the use of voice communication. In co-op mode, two players are in command of their own fireteam and must work together to accomplish the goals of the level. CULTURAL REFERENCES ''Full Spectrum Warrior'' is often compared to Ridley Scott 's film, '' Black Hawk Down ''. A musical group called Machine Head worked on the music for both ''Black Hawk Down'' and ''Full Spectrum Warrior''. As well as referring to an Army programme, the game's title could also be a play on the title of the Stanley Kubrick film '' Full Metal Jacket ''. The shaky camera that follows the characters as if from another soldier's perspective is also said to be reminiscent of the camera work in ''Full Metal Jacket''. EXTERNAL LINKS
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