AA4: Americas Army 4 OpenBeta Free Download via Steam

"Danny, America's Army needs you. Download AA4 Proving Grounds" said one of my Steam friends.
"Lol. No, they don't. I'm just a middle aged dude with a computer." I replied nonchalantly at the kid who had Aang's Avatar. "I'm not even American. LOL."

I downloaded it anyway, the kid made a nice marketing pitch. Hahaha: 

"America's Army Needs You."   

Hahaha. 

I downloaded it overnight. After which, I played for 30 minutes. My PC was too slow but the game ran - surprisingly. However, during launch, it made me download Internet Explorer 9 on a Windows XP box. 

Yes. Yes. Yes. 

Windows XP has less RAM requirements. And no, Internet Explorer 9 cannot be installed on Windows XP. Anyway the game ran, that's all that mattered.

Initial Impressions: After playing for 30 minutes

I was surprised that AA4:PG ran on my old dual core Windows XP box. That is a small miracle in itself. There was a lot of servers to choose from and about 10 of them had less than 300 ping. Not bad, since I am from the Philippines. 

"Cartoonish"
"Nadel" the resident grandpa of AA3 (Intel says he's a 70 year old vet who plays AA3 - just a rumor lol) complained that the "game sucks".
"I like complaining about free games too." I was sarcastic.

There was a lot of bugs to be sure and it gave me something that I haven't seen in a while. The blue screen of death.

Overall, it looks good and "more colorful" than AA3. It feels less realistic but at this stage, I'll leave the developers to do their jobs.

One commenter on youtube says it all:

"this game breathes recruitment of kids"

It has a valid point. The overall feel of the game is that it's slightly less realistic compared to AA3 possibly to encourage younger Americans to join the US Army and not fat, middle aged bloggers from other countries. Hahahaha.