A Tactical Exercise Without Troops (TEWT) is a problem solving exercise used by the Australian Army to teach the practical application of tactics to its leaders. A group of Corporal rank or above are taken to a location representative of ground they may one day command troops on. The members are assessed by Directing Staff (DS) and are given a realistic scenario from which to come up with a plan of attack before briefing the other members of their group (and DS) on their solution. TEWT's however, are very much tailored to reinforce teaching points specific to each piece of ground. For this reason, although there are multiple ways to tackle any given scenario there is always one ‘Best' solution. Those participating in the TEWT affectionately refer to this as the ‘DS Solution'.

Full Spectrum Warrior (FSW) is a new Tactical Real-Time Strategy game from Pandemic Studios. It began life as the US Army's computer-based training system and has been adapted for use on Xbox and later on PC. In fact, the full US Army version is available on the FSW disk and can be accessed by entering ‘HA2P1PY9TUR5TLE' into the cheat codes menu. This gives users a unique opportunity, not only to experience the authentic US Army system but also to compare both the start and end product of Pandemic's latest effort.

FSW has simply gorgeous visuals and squeezes every last graphical effect out of the Xbox. Likewise the sound design is amazing and utilises the Xbox's Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound support superbly. The physics in FSW are powered by the ‘Havoc' engine, the same used by Max Payne 2, creating some fantastic destruction effects such as cover and buildings that degrade realistically under fire. This combined with rag-doll physics for character models results in animations that are always different and appear more realistic than if scripted or programmed. Cut scenes and story elements are used to give a cinematic feel as it follows the eight distinctive members of your squad through 12 hours of one day in a fictitious conflict.

During the game you control two teams of four soldiers each, a Team Leader, Automatic Rifleman, Grenadier and Rifleman. The game is viewed from a floating over the shoulder perspective that at times gives the impression of actually being in the thick of the action, complete with shaky-cam running and concussion effects. Pressing the Left Thumbstick in any direction moves a formation of four rings over the ground that represent where each of your team members will be positioned when moved. These rings are context sensitive and bind to walls, corners and cover. It doesn't matter if you can't see the rings clearly because an icon will appear when each of the context sensitive areas are selected and the rings remain visible when concealed by scenery. This method works perfectly and allows you to move to new locations accurately and quickly even when they are not clearly in view.

Tapping the A Button will cause all team members to rush to the new location and holding the A Button will cause them to ‘bound' in two groups of two, covering an area of your choosing as they move. The X Button toggles a cursor that is used to direct your teams fire. When activated a tap of the A Button orders them to fire at any target while holding the A Button suppresses all targets within this cursor. If no targets are present, they will cover that area. Holding the X Button toggles grenade mode and the D-Pad is used to choose between Fragmentation, Smoke, M203 Grenadier and Indirect Fire. Once selected the Left Thumbstick controls the trajectory and indicates if the target is within range. A tap of the A Button releases the grenade or indirect fire. The Y Button switches between teams and the B Button cancel orders when tapped and orders your team to seek cover when held. It might sound overly confusing but it's very intuitive and an exceptionally well designed control set and interface.

In FSW if you are behind cover, you and the enemies are completely invulnerable to bullets. If the cover is indestructible (such as the corner of a building) you could fire at them indefinitely without hitting them. Degrading cover as the name suggests, will eventually be destroyed by bullets and expose anyone hiding behind it. This although unrealistic is intended to simplify gameplay and take the guesswork out of whether someone is in-cover or not. Icons above your team members and any visible targets indicate their current status, ranging from being in full non-degrading cover to out of cover. (Typing in the code ‘SWEDISHARMY' and starting a new profile unlocks ‘Authentic Difficulty' which is void of these icons). The main gameplay mechanic of FSW can be broken down to moving your teams from cover to cover trying to fix in place and outflank the enemy.

This is where FSW will fall down for some gamers as the gameplay can become repetitive and forced. This repetitiveness is a product of the simplified cover system and very linear level design. Enemies always spawn in the same locations and the levels are designed in such a way that although there may be more than one way to kill a certain enemy, there is always one way that works best and within the restraints of the level. Unfortunately some gamers will see FSW as more of a puzzle game then tactical strategy where the intent is simply to find this best solution. It may not be quite as shallow as it sounds, but it is more forced and linear than it ‘should' have been. The unlockable Army version allows you to enter and clear buildings, working through multiple rooms and even multiple stories with the overall level design being far more open and non-linear. It appears that the features intended to make FSW more accessible may have also made it somewhat boring, if not repetitive.

Save points or Situation Reports (SITREPS) are scattered at various points throughout each level but one innovative feature offered in FSW is the ability to record your progress for later replay and trade over Xbox Live. This is especially useful after failing a mission as at any point during a replay you can choose to jump back into the action and continue from there. This is a great option and makes being restricted to set save points less of a burden. However, the only VCR functions available for the replays are Play/Pause and Fast Forward. Some of the save points are quite far apart and it's not unusual to fast forward for up to 10 minutes before you reach the point where your game ended.

Considering replays are generally used after you make a mistake and this almost always happens at the end of the replay, it would have made sense to include a function to jump to the end quickly. If you upload your replay to Xbox Live, other gamers can watch you play through a mission and choose to jump in and play at any point they wish.

Live support isn't only restricted to replays however as FSW supports future downloadable content and 2-player on-line co-op play utilising the Xbox communicator headset. Playing FSW on-line with a friend is a whole new experience to playing off-line and extends the life of the game considerably. Surprisingly there is no support for System-Link, therefore if you do not have access to a Broadband connection you will be restricted to the single-player campaign and training missions only.