With the success of DARWARS-Ambush, the U.S. Army plans to invest $50 million more into combat training games.

According to an article over on Stars and Stripes, the Army is rather serious about its Games for Training program kicking off in 2010 — enough so to sink its newly approved $50 million wad into the program over the next five years. But while the Army realizes the potential of the gaming industry, what it doesn’t want is to compete with commercial developers and publishers.

"We want to take advantage of that, but we don’t have the intent to become a competitor with the commercial gaming industry," said Lt. Col. Gary Stephens, product manager for air and ground tactical trainers at Project Executive Office — Simulation Training and Instrumentation. "We don’t have the intent or capability to be a commercial game house."

Instead, the Army intends to focus solely on creating games that will prepare soldiers for any kind of situation while keeping an eye on the latest industry trends. Currently the Army is working on "Game After Ambush," an off-the-shelf product featuring tools that allow for modifying missions, terrain, scenarios and more. Previously "DARWARS Ambush," another commercial first-person shooter that is currently used to train soldiers, uses technology based on the Operation Flashpoint engine and does not allow for editing on the fly.

According to Stephens, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) modified DARWARS Ambush for the purpose of training soldiers through a desktop computer. Soldiers learn to quickly adapt to situations such as roadside bomb attacks on convoys and ambushes... in other words, get twitchy. But because the engine dates back to 2001, the game offers small maps and minimal network support. The game is also unable to connect to the Army’s real world battle command systems.

But with a new bag of cash sinking into the Army’s gaming unit, soldiers will be able to experienced detailed environments and complex situations that modern gamers currently enjoy on the PC and next-generation consoles. The Army is even sinking money into new "state-of-the-art" gaming systems that will hit the fields come February, capable of running the upcoming Game After Ambush title.

According to Leslie Duvow, project director for gaming at PEO-STRI, there will be 70 gaming systems in 53 locations in the United States, Germany, Italy and South Korea between February and September 2009. Each system will consist of 52 computers with headsets, mice and steering wheels. Soldiers will have the ability jump into virtual vehicles and battle across a 100km x 100km battlefield. While the systems are built to train only one platoon at a time, the systems also have the ability to access the Internet and connect to other soldiers.

Additionally, another piece of the $50 million dollar pie is going towards another gaming project entitled Dismounted Solider, and includes virtual-reality goggles that will allow the soldier to walk around the artificial terrain and shoot virtual targets with in-game weapons. Unfortunately, gamers outside the armed forces will probably never see the likes of Game After Ambush, Dismounted Soldier or even the outdated DARWARS Ambush, stuck with the crusty America’s Army that seems to have been around since the introduction of DOOM.

But while it’s good to know that soldiers can gain experience by battling in virtual environments, one has to wonder if picking up a commercial first-person shooter would be equally as effective. If popular (and misinformed) media has people believing that video games are murder simulators, then modern first-person shooters could teach soldiers how to be more "twitchy."