Every couple of months, it seems, there’s some flurry of excitement over the military’s interest in using some computer game as a training tool. The idea seems reasonable, on the surface; how well it really works in practice is another matter entirely. In part, this is because computer-based training, as it is today, can only take you so far; sitting in front of a computer won’t improve your marksmanship, or help you learn how to clear a jammed SMG. If it doesn’t hone or develop skills, though, it can at least drive home some very important lessons about tactics, teamwork, and situational awareness.

I’m not really a video gamer, and I’m not in the military; I don’t have access to the simulations they use. What I do have access to are everyday commercial video games. So, in the interests of science, I bought a copy of Battlefield: 2142, a fairly popular “first-person shooter”, installed it, then played it for a few hours - I mean, performed research. What I took away from this experience might be fairly surprising…
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