America's Army: Proving Grounds is the follow up to America's Army, a military simulation developed by the U.S. Army whose involvement in it is something of a bone of contention (many have accused the army of using the game as a recruitment tool that creates confusion). Everyone is free to make their own decision on the matter, whilst keeping in mind that from the perspective of gameplay, America's Army: Proving Grounds is more successful rather than exceptional.

More a multiplayer action game than a military simulation

Contrary to first impressions, America's Army: Proving Grounds is far from being a strong military simulation. Unlike military simulation games like ArmA II, America's Army: Proving Grounds is more a fun and fast-paced multiplayer action game reminiscent of Counter Strike and Call of Duty.

You will face teams of 6 to 12 human players in a classic game mode where you will need to capture/defend objectives, explode/defuse bombs... On this level, America's Army: Proving Grounds is made in the classic game mold and at present it lacks diversity and originality.

A lot of fun with tense playability similar to Call of Duty

Everything happens reallyr quickly in America's Army: Proving Grounds. Each match begins with prep time of less than a minute, during which you can communicate with your allies in order to determine the best strategy. Once the game has begun, you don't have a second to lose! America's Army: Proving Grounds is a FPS where the speed of your reactions will prevail over everything else. Matches follow one after the other in quick succession and you rapidly become addicted to this very successful action game.

A solid but unremarkable technical achievement 

America's Army: Proving Grounds is far from impressive in terms of graphics.  The aging textures and game engine fail to impress. However, the animation is good, and all pistons are firing when a team of twelve people crawl towards a target!

The audio is also good and the sound effects for the firearms are quite realistic. A microphone/headset is strongly recommended in order to fully benefit from the experience and communicate with your teammates.

A good game for fans of multiplayer FPS 

America's Army: Proving Grounds returns to the classic roots of the multiplayer shooter games, including holding and controlling points with two teams engaged in fast and furious combat. Although the game isn't particularly original, it is very enjoyable and those that like the genre will certainly have fun.

America's Army: Proving Grounds is entirely free (without any optional transactions, unlike most free-to-plays on the market) since it's funded by the U.S. Army for promotional purposes.