Edge Online is running an article by WILL’s own Sharon Sloane (President & CEO) which discusses how the difficult emotional issues that Soldiers face can be addressed by reality-based simulations, or ’serious games’.

Specialist Kyle Norton is a 19-year old soldier two months into his first deployment in Iraq. Already lonely for his fiancée, Anne, Kyle receives a “Dear John” email along with the news that Anne is pregnant with his friend’s baby. Feeling as though his life is turning into a bad soap opera, he initially receives some support from his buddy, Specialist Brad Blair. Unfortunately, Kyle is soon hit with another devastating loss–Brad is killed in an ambush…

While not the story lines usually associated with video games, reality-based situations that test the emotional resiliency of today’s soldiers are redefining the next generation of military gaming and simulation. Internal battles such as Kyle’s, portrayed in the Army’s new suicide prevention game, Beyond the Front, confront users with complex personal challenges in the context of war. In this instance soldiers “become” Kyle Norton and navigate through a series of traumatic events within the game. The decisions they make in each situation ultimately determine whether Kyle decides to attempt suicide.

Read the rest of the article here.

Play the online demo of Beyond the Front here.