Navy video game targets future sailors.

• Author: Peck, Michael
• Position: TRAINING & SIMULATION

With the Army and Air Force using video games as recruiting tools, it was only a matter of time before the Navy followed suit. The Navy Recruiting Command last summer released its own public relations game.

"Strike and Retrieve" is an online game based on shooting skills, aimed at teens and young adults, ages 17 to 24.

At least 29,000 copies of the game had been downloaded by late August, said Cmdr. David Hostetler, director of the advertising plans division for the Navy Recruiting Command.

At first glance, "Strike and Retrieve" seems an odd choice for a Navy recruiting tool, given that the game has little to do with actual Navy life. The plot line is standard for the entertainment shooting genre.

A spy plane carrying secret data has gone down over the Atlantic.

The player's mission is to locate the plane, crack a security code to retrieve the data, and return the plane to a pickup zone. Instead of wielding a machine gun--as players do in the popular game "Doom"--participants operate remote-controlled submarines that navigate a fantastic world of undersea caves, dangerous fish and enemy subs.

The game is designed to force players to use their decision-making skills. "Our sailors, from the junior most up to the senior enlisted as well as our officers, are placed in positions on a daily basis where they make decisions. The game is obviously futuristic and fantastical. However, a lot of the things that go into the game have to do with decision-making," Hostetler said.

Players must determine how to outfit the submersible. They must gauge their fuel requirements and decide at what speeds to travel in order to remain covert. "We feel that the way the game is designed takes much more analytical ability than just going in there with guns blazing and knocking down everything in our path," Hostetler explained.

Indeed, "Strike and Retrieve" does try to insert a bit of military into the fun. When installing the game, players see a screen proclaiming that it is "more than just a game--you are now involved in a U.S. Navy training exercise that is being conducted to help evaluate future recruitment benchmarks. 'Strike and Retrieve' is a mental challenge that requires sound reasoning and quick-thinking action."

Some might question whether by that logic, such video games--including the infamous "Grand Theft Auto"--would constitute mental challenges. However, "Strike and Retrieve" also serves another purpose: It entices players to visit the navy.com Web...