Can't wait til the 17th to play Americas Army 3? Head on over to Fileplanet and signup to play the closed beta.  But don't wait long they are only giving away a limited number of keys.

Fileplanet:

"Get into the America's Army closed beta. Test the NEW beta build just released with better game play, new achievements and tons of bug fixes. This event is first come first served. There are limited keys per day and they'll go fast so sign up immediately! "

Today, first week matches for UGL are to be played on Collapsed Tunnels which is a map known to be relying on Teamwork and Coordination. Some new teams have joined UGL for this season, Also some teams went through certain modifications regarding their rosters.

• Severe Insomnia lost Prostyle to ROBOTRIP (Formerly dTp)
• United Gamers added vDom to their roster.
• financial is back with Team Vigilantes.
• Inevitable Defeat lost Chris and added RyanM.
• Unknown Project acquired the entire Final Destination squad.
• Hype left Infamy Gaming for epiC.

Out of all the news teams, Wu Tang Clan should have a successful season with a pretty impressive roster filled with star players.

Read on for predictions.

For those of you who are new to steam, there is the wonderful thing called the 'pre-load' which comes out a little while before a game is released.  This pre-load allows you to download the game prior to its release so that when the day actually comes, you can spend your time playing the game as opposed to downloading it.

With that being said, the pre-load for AA3 is officially out at steam. I encourage everyone to head over there and get it downloading, and also to spread the news and hopefully get some new blood back in the game. To visit the pre-load page simply click here. For those who don't have steam, you will have the option to download it from that page; and for those of us who do have it, one simple click will get AA3 downloading.

This game will unlock in approximately 1 week, and 22 hours

On thursday 24 teams will begin the 3rd season of UGL.  The week 1 match will be Collapsed Tunnel, a challenging first match...no doubt a very difficult map to conquer.  There are 10 returning teams and 12 new teams that have been added to the list.  Its good to see some new teams in the mix, hopefully when AA3 comes out and competition picks up we will see more competitive teams come out of hiding.

Best of luck to the different teams and hats off to the UGL team for putting together another Season to keep us entertained.  Don't forget to cast your prediction for the matches on Thursday!

The AA team has released its first copy of the America's Army: The Graphic Novel series. This exclusive online graphic novel allows you to explore the storyline behind the AA3 game. Readers of the first chapter, "Knowledge is Power" will discover stories of bravery and teamwork by Soldiers whose jobs include Intelligence Analyst, Medic, UAV Operator, Infantryman, and Apache Helicopter Pilot. Read this one-of-a-kind graphic novel now.....and share it with your friends!

Chapter 1, "Knowledge is Power" opens with the deployment of a U.S. Army Long Range Surveillance (LRS) team as a conflict arises between two fictitious countries, Czervenia and the Republic of the Ostregals. In this issue, U.S. Army Soldiers demonstrate combat readiness through superior military intelligence and elite training as they join coalition forces providing humanitarian aid to an allied country under genocidal attack. When an ominous plan is discovered and a dangerous conflict erupts, the U.S. Army answers the call.

 

Read the new novel HERE

America's Army Chief Software Engineer Mike Barnett had a few words about the Graphic Novel.

I am very excited about completing the first issue of America’s Army – The Graphic Novel, “Knowledge is Power.” As a part of developing America’s Army 3, we wanted to create a storyline to give the game context. So, one of our talented development team designers, Jonathan Breese, came up with the idea of a conflict between two fictitious countries, Czervenia and the Republic of the Ostregals. He did a great job outlining the history, geography, and social culture of the region. Breese also introduced a new kind of opposing force that was more conventional and high tech, allowing us to show the U.S. Army’s full overmatch capabilities.

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When I started to read the first few pages I was bored with the paragraphs of talking, I was thinking this was going to be another boring story with nothing interesting.  Like most comic book readers, I'm more interested in the pictures and artwork. How ever after a few pages (mainly to get the story started I guess), things started to pick up and it was very interesting.  Many people were concerned that the AA team was waisting time on something like this when they should be working on the game...how ever the creaters of the novel are not the game developers, so don't worry... no time was lost to this small project. Over all it was time well spent and I will defaintly continue to follow the series!