Now available on FileShack is the deploy client for America's Army 2.8.4, which allows you to obtain the latest version of the free-to-play online military simulator.

The 2.8.4 update adds new Every Soldier a Sensor training and co-op missions, along with a variety of bug fixes. The changelog for the new version follows... Read more

A new update is now available for America's Army: Special Forces (Overmatch), updating the game to v2.8.3. An updated full client is available as well.

The new release doesn't include any new features, but does improve game performance. The full client download size has also been reduced by some 500mb.

Uncle Sam has released his latest America's Army Special Forces free to play game. AA: SF (Overmatch) v2.8.2 is now available for download over at FileShack. You of course need the full America's Army client and the 2.8.1 patch first to get to 2.8.2 but there are some rewards! New game modes:

• Rummage - Rummage takes place in a small urban environment that lends itself to fast paced close quarters battle. In the mission, insurgents are returning to a small town that was formerly their base of operations
• SF Hospital SE - SF Hospital SE is a revised version of the game's SF Hospital map and is now much more immersive with the inclusion of dynamic new elements including modified objectives and civilian AI.

The America's Army: Special Forces 2.81 patch has been released, updating version 2.8 of the game and adding four new missions. These missions were created by students of the Guildhall at SMU.

New at FileShack this afternoon is America's Army: Special Forces (Coalition) 2.8, the latest version of the free Army shooter. Like the 2.7 release this is a gigantic download at 2.5gb, but this time there is also a patch. New in this release is the Mission Editor, and several game fixes and improvements.

Over at FileShack you can now find version 2.7 of the America's Army: Special Forces which is a gargantuan 2.5gb download. As such, it is recommended that you use Firefox to download as IE will likely not be able to handle the file. America's Army: Special Forces (Overmatch) includes co-op gameplay against AI enemies, three new maps, new weapons systems and vehicles, and a "record brief" for each player. There is no patch to update 2.6, and it is recommended that you uninstall that release first.

The America's Army website was updated the other day (thanks Blues News), offering more information on the upcoming 2.7 release. Specifically it goes into the new map Steamroller.

The America's Army website has been updated, offering details on the upcoming 2.7 release which is described as "possibly our biggest - and most ambitious - version yet!". Due out later this summer, the new America's Army will include two new missions with coop gameplay support where 9 people can take on an AI force. Thanks Blues News.

New at FiringSquad this afternoon is an America's Army Q&A. Chris Chambers is asked about the game's success as a recruiting tool, upcoming updates to the game, and future plans.

GameDaily has this new preview of America's Army, taking a look at the 2.7 release. This release will feature a co-op mode, a drivable vehicle, the Javelin anti-tank missile and more.

Uncle Sam sends along the latest version of America's Army: Special Forces, which is now at v2.60. The new release adds two multiplayer missions, a new match-making system, competitive gaming support and has several security enhancements and bug fixes. For people with 2.50 installed there is a patch. Here are the descriptions of the two new maps.

- DUSK: In this active and challenging mission, enemy forces have ambushed a convoy that was transporting a friendly Resistance leader carrying highly sensitive intelligence reports. Radio contact confirms that the Resistance leader is located in an abandoned building. A squad from the 75th Ranger Regiment must locate the Resistance leader and escort him safely to an extraction point for exfiltration. The construction of the new Dusk mission is another of a popular genre of America's Army missions - the VIP rescue mission, and maximizes the use of America's Army's unique use of random spawns and objectives to greatly vary the experience.

- BORDER: In the explosive action of the Border mission, America's Army players must infiltrate the base of operations of a small known terrorist cell. Intelligence reports confirm that the terrorists are planning synchronized bombing strikes at several different civilian landmarks and that high-level sensitive information (Precious Cargo) pertaining to these lethal strikes is being kept at this operations base. A squad from the 172nd Sep. Infantry BDE must secure the precious cargo located in this border village and then proceed safely to the extraction point.

The America's Army site has been updated, offering information on new missions being added to release 2.6 of the America's Army game. There are also some screenshots here. Thanks Blues News.

GameSpot reports from the Serious Games Summit, where Colonel Casey Wardynski gave a presentation on the state of the America's Army game. As previously reported, America's Army will start using the Unreal Engine 3.0, however according to the report development won't start until February of next year. Wardynski's presentation also unveiled that development currently costs about $2.5 million a year, with a much better return than other Army-sponsored events. Even so, the developers are looking to improve the game's recruiting abilities by adding an in-game recruiting center in the game's next update.

Wardynski uses "cost per person hour" as a metric for the effectiveness of America's Army as a marketing tool: How much does it cost to put the Army's brand in front of someone for one hour? The game delivers a cost per person hour of 10 cents, versus $5 to $8 for TV. Even more telling, 20 percent of entering cadets at West Point have already played America's Army, and from 20-40 percent of new Army recruits have played it as well. Referring to other Army marketing efforts, Wardynski said, "We've had success above anticipated. Compared to the [Army-sponsored] race car, the bull riding, and so on, this is more effective than all of them, but costs less."

Uncle Sam sends along the latest release of America's Army, now titled America's Army: Direct Action. The new release adds two new maps, additional tournament mode features, adjusted recoil and other new features. A patch to upgrade v2.4 is available as well.

Multiplayer Missions
SF Extraction: SF Extraction keeps the action fast and furious as the objective keeps moving! Both teams must race to retrieve a briefcase containing sensitive information about terrorist operatives in this daytime urban mission. Each team's mission to locate and secure this briefcase and then carry it to their extraction point successfully. However, once the objective is in one teams' hands, the mission is on the move as the other team must intercept them to retrieve the briefcase. The team that successfully extracts with the briefcase in hand wins. This mission's spawn points and extraction points (1 per team) are all randomly selected each round. For SF & Indigenous Forces playable classes.

SF Dockside: Dockside is a small tournament mission that takes place during a stormy night in a run-down harbor setting. Both teams must locate and secure two cargo containers containing biological agents. The first team to secure and hold both containers wins. This mission's spawn points and container locations are randomly selected each round. This mission was designed to hold only 18 players (9 per team). For Special Forces playable class only.

There hasn't been a whole lot of news on the America's Army game recently, but the official site has now been updated to show off upcoming changes to the game. The next release, subtitled Direct Action, will include tournament mode enhancements, a new training map, two new multiplayer maps, a "Command Post" server admin interface and weapon accuracy changes. No release date is mentioned. Thanks Blues News.

Uncle Sam sends along version 2.4 of the America's Army: Special Forces game. The 855mb download has four Special Forces multiplayer missions, two new weapons, an updated user interface, and also adds random objective locations and random player starts. Here's a bit about a new inventory objective type

Q-Course features an all new objective type in which objectives can be transportable in maps (via a player's inventory), requiring their delivery to specified locations. These 'inventory objectives' can be picked up, dropped (upon death), and passed on to other teammates. Inventory objectives provide a new style of objective-based gameplay by adding another dimension to objective completion. These objectives must be picked up and taken to a specific location in order to be considered complete. If a player dies while carrying one of these objectives, it drops, and must be retrieved by another teammate to continue the mission. These objective types also take advantage of random objectives, by moving the drop point/pickup point of the inventory objective to different locations from one round to another.

We received a press release announcing that the U.S. Army is licensing Unreal Engine 3 for America's Army. According to the PR, the move from the Unreal Engine 2 codebase will start in the next few months. Also mentioned: "Upcoming versions of the game include America's Army: Special Forces Overmatch, which will release this fall; and America's Army: Stryker-Overmatch to be released this winter".

For the America's Army: Special Forces people on Linux systems, the 2.2.1 to 2.3 upgrade patch is now available. We also have the full 2.3 download.

Hooah! A new version of America's Army: Special Forces (Firefight) is out. Version 2.3 adds two new multiplayer missions as well as a tournament mode. If you already have v2.2.1 installed you can grab this patch. Here's a bit about the new missions

Woodland Outpost: In this mission, enemy forces have established a remote woodland outpost from which they can launch reconnaissance patrols and conduct ambushes. This guerilla outpost rests in a valley surrounded by rocky woodland terrain. The enemy command tent is centrally located within the camp. A squad from the 75th Ranger Regiment must perform reconnaissance of the area in order to identify the location of the guerilla command tent. Once identified, they must then assault the command post to prep and destroy the enemy weapons depot.
Urban Assault: In Urban Assault, a coalition convoy was raided and the cargo was stolen. It has been confirmed that the insurgents and the cargo are now based in a residential area of the city. Due to the dense urban nature of the area it is necessary to do a house by house assault on foot. A squad from the 172nd Sep. Infantry BDE must conduct an assault to take and hold objectives cargo ALPHA and BRAVO. Once objectives are captured, wait for arrival of friendly reinforcements to transport cargo.

There's a new patch for America's Army: Special Forces, updating this free first person shooter from v2.2 to v2.2.1. The 28mb update includes map updates, training bug fixes, and some Punkbuster changes.