Operation Flashpoint (2001) was the first game created by Bohemia Interactive (BI). The game was published by Codemasters. However, BI then parted ways with Codemasters, who retained the intellectual property rights to the name Operation Flashpoint. Thus, Armed Assault (ARMA) was born. Published in 2007, it continued on the theme of tactical military shooter that OFP had begun. Armed Assault 2 is, obviously, the successor to this.<\/p>\n
The game itself is based in the fictional country of ‘Chernarus’ (Black Russia). Chernarus is a country in upheaval, with several different factions involved in a civil war. It features a massive playable in-game area of 225km2. There are, at the least, 50 villages and towns to explore, all of which may yield an encounter with the enemy. The enormous playable area doesn’t mean, however, that your small Recon team is free to run around and do whatever you want in the warzone.<\/p>\n
You and your small team start off on board a US Marine Assault ship, where you are briefed about your first mission – to be the first assault unit into Chernarus, where you are to eliminate an enemy communications nexus. The outcome of all your missions determines to a large extent the progression of the storyline. Similar to ArmA 1, failing a mission doesn’t necessarily mean losing the war. It can make subsequent missions especially difficult, however.<\/p>\n
The storyline itself is actually rather good, and the missions are exceptionally varied. From backing up other Marines in a stand up fight in Chernarus’ capital, to digging guerilla fighters out of their bases in mountains, to capturing the enemy leadership; the missions keep you guessing all the time. As mentioned above, your performance in prior missions has a large impact on how the future missions play out. Also, no mission is ever the same, should you play it over twice. Enemies are always moving around and reacting to the environment, so every encounter with enemies is unique.<\/p>\n
Gameplay<\/strong><\/p>\n The first thing that you need to understand about this game, before you play it, is that it is a Military Simulation (MilSim) . That means a huge degree of realism. If you approach this game in a manner similar to CoD4 you will die. A lot. Even when you approach the missions with caution, all it takes is a single bullet to end thirty or forty minute’s worth of effort. This is a game that most definitely rewards cautious thinking and a fair amount of forward planning. The upside to all of this is a degree of immersion that very few games can compete with. When you’re in a firefight with the enemy, and you hear those bullets cracking past you, or thudding into your cover, you begin to appreciate exactly how terrify it would be to be in that situation in real life.<\/p>\n The immersion extends to the objects in the game. Guns and vehicles are modeled with painstaking detail. Bullet and shell physics are modeled realistically, which means it becomes necessary to compensate for bullet drop, and at extreme distances, wind drift. The player’s character is also dynamic, and will react to the manner which he is treated. Run for a long time, and it will take a very long time for his aim to stabilize. Indeed, it makes running into a firefight a losing proposition, since it then becomes very hard to hit the enemy. Vehicles also handle fairly realistically. One can’t expect a general MilSim to perfectly replicate the handling experienced in dedicated car\/flight sims.<\/p>\n We suggest turning post-process effects off. When on, it adds a horrible blur to movement, which can quite easily induce nausea.<\/p>\n Campaign Progression<\/strong><\/p>\n As has been described above, the SP campaign progression is well planned and excellently executed as one feels they have a level of control over how the conflict plays out. However, there are a number of additions to the game which really add to the value. The first is the ability to play the campaign in a co-op mode with up to four friends. This should be particularly enjoyable as team-mate AI is often shaky, leaving one open to attack from unexpected quarters.<\/p>\n As an alternative to diving directly into the campaign, players can also complete ‘Scenarios’. These are basically once-off missions which often have you playing as one of the other factions within the main campaign. Aside from the multiplayer, the final gameplay type available is the ‘Armoury’. This is essentially a sandbox type scenario where one can test out the various weapons found in the game. The charm in this mode lies in unlocking the various weapons by obtaining points – which are in turn obtained by completing various challenges. These challenges range from completing a PT course in as short a time as possible to stealing a vital piece of enemy hardware without being caught. Items in the Armoury can also be unlocked by completing the various scenarios.<\/p>\n The final gameplay aspect to ArmA2 is arguably the crown-jewel of the game – the multiplayer. Very few other games have allowed you to take part in 50-player battles over such a vast battle area. Players get to take full advantage of all the weapons and vehicles within the game. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, I haven’t had time to participate in a full MP game. There is, however, a small but extremely dedicated community of ArmA players within South Africa. Games are typically organized through the ArmA board on SGS.<\/p>\n Visuals and Sound<\/strong><\/p>\n ArmA 2 is the new Crysis. This may seem a bold statement to make, but quite simply, ArmA 2 is one of the best looking games to appear on the market this year. Unfortunately, it perfectly mimics the performance Crysis had when it was initially released. On the authors high-spec machine (QX9770 @ 4GHz, 4GB ram, 2 X HD 4890), the game managed to maintain barely playable framerates at 1920X1080 through the campaign. This despite four patches from BI since release, as well as four different driver revisions from ATi. I was forced to drop many of the detail levels to obtain a playable framerate, since at maximum detail level, with AA disabled, framerates sat between 15 and 20FPS. This is a great pity, since when you begin turning the detail level down, the game begins to look dramatically uglier, unlike Crysis.<\/p>\n The sound, however, is perfectly done and adds immensely to the feeling of immersion in the game. Guns crack realistically, the sound of bullets zinging past is enough to make players hunch in their chairs. What one won’t hear in ArmA 2, however, is ambient sound such as the chirp of insects or the singing of birds. It is rather eerie to walk through the dead quiet of a large forest and hear nothing but the muted crunch of your boots. Music is another thing you won’t hear much. BI have, by default, set the volume particularly low so that you don’t miss that first aural warning of enemies. Consequently, not much can be said about the soundtrack. What’s wrong with it?<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, to be blunt, quite a lot. Performance issues first and foremost spoil a lot of the fun. The BI forums currently have two pinned topics about performance issues, with a huge number of replies. The performance problems almost kill the game, right from the start. If performance doesn’t kill the game for you, then the bugs will. No ArmA release would be complete without bugs, but yet we were forced to restart the training twice as a result of glitches in the first 10 minutes.<\/p>\n Then we there’s the glitching textures – another characteristic of the ArmA franchise. While not a deal-breaker by any means, it is decidedly odd to see an AI character with his legs going through a solid metal chair. Continuing on with the AI, it can be remarkably stupid at times. Enemies occasionally stand about aimlessly while you walk right through them and AI drivers often resemble learner drivers. All of this can make for a profoundly frustrating experience in ArmA 2.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite the huge number of frustrating aspects to ArmA 2, if you persist with the game it will reward you hugely. There is still no other FPS gaming franchise which can offer the level of realism or immersion attained by ArmA 2. Even if there were, it would be difficult to rival ArmA 2. If you are into MilSims, this game is a must buy.<\/p>\n If you are a gamer who is looking for an FPS different to the crop of games available at the moment, ArmA definitely comes recommended.<\/p>\n
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