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Pendleton News

During game play, Marines can use the take-down mode, which allows the player to "stack" a door and charge a room using actual combat techniques.

First look at First to Fight

Lance Cpl. Joseph L. Digirolamo

ST. PAUL, Minn. - After fierce combat in Iraq, a few chosen Marines returning home were detoured here for warfare in a different realm.

The upside is that there was no immediate danger, because the Marines left the reality of weapons-toting insurgents and roadside explosives for a world of joysticks, reset buttons and glowing screens housed in climate-controlled offices.

Exit reality. Enter virtual reality.

The five Marines, from 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, spent time at Destineer Studios, commercial developer of "Close Combat: First to fight" - a video game designed with input from Marines. It's conceived not only as a commercial game - but as a training tool for combat troops.

And soon, Marines all over Camp Pendleton will get their chance to try the game. Destineer, in cooperation with the Marine Corps, will host a basewide Drug Free "Close Combat: First to Fight" tournament April 25, at Camp Horno. Marine teams from all over the base are invited to take part in four-on-four fire team battles conducted in cyberspace.

"It's an amazing project," said Lt. Col. Christopher A. Sharpe, head of the Marine Corps Family Team Building Branch, at Headquarters Marine Corps, a native of Warrensburg, Mo. "It's going to change how we train in the Marine Corps."

Meanwhile, Destineer is already working on a sequel to the game. The five Operation Iraqi Freedom vets tested the unreleased video game on Xbox and PC format. They also shared war accounts with game designers to help fine-tune the sequel.

"I like the realism of the game," said Lance Cpl. Aaron W. Vasconcelos, a machine gun team leader with Company K. "You've got a fire team who you actually need to use to beat the levels, because it's impossible to go out by yourself."

The four-man fire team operates in the streets and buildings of Beirut, Lebanon, according to the game's combat scenario.

The game uses artificial intelligence to mimic "ready-team-fire-assist" tactics, thereby allowing a 360-degree field of protection, said Peter Tamte, Destineer president.

Marine Air Ground Task Force and other Marine elements enhance the realism of the game's battle schemes.

"The AI (artificial intelligence) allows you to walk through levels without issuing too many orders, because your team knows what to do," said Tamte - one of three main producers of "Halo," a blockbuster warfare video game.

But, as in real combat, the fire team leader must bark more orders at higher levels of play.

"As you go through the game, it progressively gets harder," he said.

Players can order teams to "stack" doors before storming a building. Players can also call in snipers, airstrikes and other support. To ensure the game's authenticity, more than 40 Marines were enlisted to help create the game, Tamte said. Those combat advisers included Marines from the "Thundering Third."

During this trip, lead game designers interviewed Marines one on one.

Vasconcelos, 20, from Stockton, said he answered a lot of questions about the machine gunner's role on gun trucks.

"They asked me about the things I saw and how our vehicles moved in firefights," Vasconcelos said.

The Marines' battlefield accounts produced 15 pages of notes and three complete (digital audio) tapes in 30 hours of "intense" interviews over four days, said Kris Stout, a game designer.

"They also consumed a couple cases of soda, three boxes of pizza, 28 sandwiches and five large tins of Chinese food during the meetings," he noted.

Cpl. Wesley L. Payne, a sniper from Beckley, W. Va., drew special attention from game designers. He may become a main character in the sequel, they said. Payne offered them battlefield accounts that may broaden the next version. The visiting Marines also took front-line combat online - battling professional gamers with Electronic Gaming Magazine. They squared off in a four-on-four "death match" tournament on Xbox Live.

"We kicked their butts," said Sgt. Jason T. Kyle, infantry weapon squad leader with Company L from Chargrin Falls, Ohio. "We played 27 games and won 24 of them."

Gunnery Sgt. Matthew R. Hackett, a platoon sergeant with Company L from Seattle, was fired up about the experience.

"It was awesome to come here, and it's an honor to represent the Marine Corps in a video game," he said.

During game play, Marines can use the take-down mode, which allows the player to "stack" a door and charge a room using actual combat techniques.

During game play, Marines can use the take-down mode, which allows the player to "stack" a door and charge a room using actual combat techniques.

Cpl. Wesley L. Payne, scout sniper from 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, from Beckley, W. Va., points out to game designer Kris Stout his exact movements during operations in Iraq.

Cpl. Wesley L. Payne, scout sniper from 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, from Beckley, W. Va., points out to game designer Kris Stout his exact movements during operations in Iraq. Photo by Lance Cpl. Joseph L. Digirolamo.

Screen shot from "Close Combat: First to Fight" shows simulated images of actual Marines from 3/1 using ready-team-fire-assist tactics.

Screen shot from "Close Combat: First to Fight" shows simulated images of actual Marines from 3/1 using ready-team-fire-assist tactics.

Jeremy Bryant, from Destineer Studios, creates motion of a computerized model Marine for the new anti-drug game module. This module is being created for the Consolidated Substance Abuse Counseling Center here. It will show Marine fire teams how drugs affect their performance.

Jeremy Bryant, from Destineer Studios, creates motion of a computerized model Marine for the new anti-drug game module. This module is being created for the Consolidated Substance Abuse Counseling Center here. It will show Marine fire teams how drugs affect their performance. Photo by Lance Cpl. Joseph L. Digirolamo.

Lance Cpl. Tancred Sano from Company K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment looks at a satellite image of Iraq. He wrote accounts of operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom II to ensure authenticity and accuracy in the game "Close Combat: First to Fight." The 21-year-old from Cypress, Calif., was a point man and team leader during the war. The game will be used in military training and will come out for consumer use this summer.

Lance Cpl. Tancred Sano from Company K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment looks at a satellite image of Iraq. He wrote accounts of operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom II to ensure authenticity and accuracy in the game "Close Combat: First to Fight." The 21-year-old from Cypress, Calif., was a point man and team leader during the war. The game will be used in military training and will come out for consumer use this summer.
Photo by Lance Cpl. Joseph L. Digirolamo.