Glorious Mission begins with simulated basic training before deploying the player to an imaginary battleground to duke it out in close-quarters combat. News reports show scores of Chinese troops dutifully gaming away in front of their computer screens.

“The game itself looks pretty well-made,” one blogger commented. “Graphics definitely on par with at least the [Call of Duty] series.”

But there’s one key difference between the American and Chinese “shooters.” Where the bad guys in America’s Army are generic Middle Eastern or Central Asian insurgents and terrorists, the enemy in Glorious Mission is apparently the U.S. military. A TV report offers glimpses of an American-made Apache gunship crashing in flames.