Tech blog post 6/3/12 Arma II

Hey guys

Yesterday evening I was planning on playing some battlefield 3 with friends, but I had logged onto my PC a few hours before my friends were due to come online. So I was browsing the steam catalogue and came across Arma II. I had previously played this demo on my old laptop but it ran at around 5 fps so I removed it almost immediately without even playing it. Now that my computer is capable of playing high end games reasonably well I thought Arma II deserved a second chance. So I downloaded the demo and began to play.

Arma II is a battlefield esque shooter, perhaps even more realistic, and undoubtedly more realistic than modern warfare. The maps are huge in scope and you even have Equipment like binoculars and a compass incase you get lost. The game is entirely playable in either first or third person views both on foot and in vehicles, and despite it being a shooter I actually found myself getting more kills from the third person viewpoint.

The free version of Arma II only features the map editor and multiplayer modes, so I started off on the map editor so I could place some helicopters and planes to get some practice and get used to the controls. The game isn't designed to be a fully fledged simulator (neither on foot or in vehicles) but I was impressed at the amount of detail, especially for the air vehicles, which offer full control for the flaps, landing gear and ejector seat, which are usually an automated action in most games.

I haven't spent much time with the guns as of yet, or even much time on the ground for that matter, as after i had finished on the map editor i decided to give multiplayer a go and joined a dogfight server which is where everyone gets in a jet and engages in aerial warfare. This portion of the game was very fun and you get the standard chain guns, heat seeking missiles and flares, and then if you return to your aircraft carrier or airstrip you can repair and rearm.

I have found Arma II to be a very enjoyable war game so far and am looking forward to spending more time with it, perhaps even purchasing the full game + expansion packs. I will talk more about the game once I have had a little more time spent on the ground which is a core part of the game.

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow

Ryan