America's Army, the increasingly controversial computer game/military recruitment tool, is getting a makeover.

A press release issued yesterday by the Army announced that America's Army 3 will be launched later this year. Executive producer Michael Bode commented on the upcoming revision:

In AA3 we've taken all of the best features in AA2, incorporated feedback from the AA community and added the latest technology to develop a high-tech game that can be customized by the player to create a much more detailed interactive experience.

 

One of our key design philosophies is to make the game easily accessible to a new player, while at the same time keeping a deeper layer of complexity for the more advanced players to discover and take advantage of.

Col. Casey Wardynski, who created the original America's Army in 2002 and continues to serve as director of the project, added:

With AA3, we're taking military gaming to an all new level where every detail counts. We want our America's Army 3 players to have a greater understanding of the Army and its values. Our Soldiers are aspirational figures and our players are able to virtually experience many aspects of a Soldier's life from their training, to their missions, to the way the Army has influenced their lives.

As with previous editions, America's Army 3 is expected to be rated T (13 and older) by the ESRB. The new version will be based on the Unreal Engine 3.