Civilian version of PLA's first video game to debut in 2012

The makers of the Chinese army's first video game Glorious Mission, jointly developed by the Nanjing Military Region and Giant Interactive Group, Inc., have been authorized to launch a civilian version in 2012. Some experts believe that this move is aimed at fostering teenagers' interests in military and strengthen their awareness of national defense.

The Glorious Mission is an advanced simulated 3D online shooting game with completely independent China-owned property rights. The game features a soldier's story in the military camp as the background and his participation in a confrontation drill code-named "Glorious Mission" as the main storyline. The game is divided into three parts: basic training, individual soldier's tasks and squad confrontation.

The PLA's military game is designed to make soldiers feel a strong political atmosphere as well as fiery army life while being entertained, which provides soldiers with knowledge and military quality in the virtual Web-based training and battle environment. Authorized by the Chinese military authority, the Glorious Mission will be developed as a commercial online game and is expected to be unveiled in 2012.

In the United States, the military games created by the United States Army usually receive good responses from civilians and have begun to play an important role in national defense education. For example, the video game "U.S. Army" developed by the U.S. military was initiated to promote recruitment and attract more young people to join in the army. Some experts who were involved in the game design believe that the Glorious Mission makes players of the younger generation carry on the Chinese army's valuable heritage, promote their patriotism and enhance their awareness of national defense.