Arma II + and -

[ICantSpellDawg]

I just splurged on this game for full retail after playing the demo, which is unlike me. The full game is difficult to tweak graphically and there are a number of what would seem like glitches.

The campaign is very odd.

Saving graces are the multiplayer and the hybrid rainbow six/ company of heroes gameplay on the scenario maps, which I am yet to figure out. I'm on day 2 of playing it and frustration abounds more than fun due to gameplay and technical issues - although I said the same thing about Empire and now I play it for hours without a hiccup.

what do you all think of it?

[Husar]

I haven't tried the campaign yet, tried a few of the missions and it was a bit frustrating, you lose when one of your team dies...
So I played around a bit with the mission editor and that was some fun (it's what I did most of the time in OFP as well) but then other games got my attention and I guess I'll wait for one or two more patches before picking it up again.

[Warmaster Horus]

Huh, nice coincidence... I just bought it.

I haven't installed it yet, because I just came home, but once I have played a little, I'll give you some feedback (hopefully a positive one!)

I do remember fondly Operation Flashpoint (the game that started it all, inspired Armed Assault and now Arma II), and I really hope this game matches its greatness somewhat.

[Mailman653]

I used to mod for ARMA and it was pretty fun, especially when you get a good group of team players. In regards to ARMA II, I have the demo but I've barely touched it, I'm just not sure if I can get into it anymore. Visually it looks pretty good and the gameplay feels a lot different (to me at least) compared to ARMA.

[Warmaster Horus]

Well... played a few hours (that means half of the first mission, the training and some fun in the armory). And it's a mixed bag.
It looks huge. I mean, a whole island to play with, being able to be an infantryman, tank commander or pilot sounds really nice. And it appears to me that it follows Operation Flashpoint, but mainly with updated graphics (which would suit me just fine).
But, there are a couple of issues. Looks like there are glitches - scripts that don't work properly (mainly cues - it took about five minutes in game for my squad-mates to realize I'd completed the objective), the AI is somewhat messed up (mainly path-finding issues here, which don't bother me in an RTS; but this isn't one). The fact is that there are some long moments of downright inactivity (as if the AI had died or something).
For example... First mission: secure a village, blow something up, and then rendez vous at a certain location, away from the village. I blew the thing, then proceeded to the point. After getting there (which took me a couple of minutes, seeing how I was being cautious), the squad leader informs me to "RETURN TO FORMATION". I take a look at the map, and my squad mates were far away, on the opposite side of the village! I go to join my team-mates, and the leader tells me that we have to move to the rendez vous point. So, I go through the village, which is of clear of all foes. I can't see any squad-mates, so I look at the map, and see that instead of going through the village (the logical thing to do), they went around it, which was the illogical thing to do.
I took a break after that.

And mainly, well... I wasn't expecting this game to run very well on a year old gaming laptop (which did get me through GTA IV in a very decent way). Hence my graphical tweaking was limited to turning everything to the lowest setting possible. So, it runs well enough. But the graphics settings are low. And in this game, that's not a very good thing, because it looks sort of... ugly, is the best way I can put it. On a better computer, it'd be much better.
I guess I'll try to play a bit more. It does sound like I can have some fun, despite some of those things (and I'm the kind to favor gameplay over graphics).

[Crazed Rabbit]

The graphics, in the demo at least, are so far from optimized. On my pump-up-to-max-settings-for-ETW computer, I have to turn everything to medium or lower.

I bought ARMA I and hated all the bugs and lack of optimization on that, years after release. I DL'd this demo and like it better, but I'm going to wait quite a while (a year or more) before I even think about buying this, another unfinished game from the devs.

CR

[Husar]

I usually see it like this, well roughly:

Games from the east: made with love, an art form, but usually buggy and not optimized.

Games from the west: made using engineering standards, optimizations, relatively bug-free but often lack a heart

There are exceptions of course but that is my personal guideline of sorts, just compare the latest ubisoft titles for example to stalker, arma II etc.

When the companies manage to mix the two concepts you often get great games IMO.

[Hooahguy]

i played the demo and i am not impressed. leaving the bugs aside, the voice commands are the worst ive ever seen. it sounds like MicrosoftSam is giving them, or worse.
the graphics are ok, but if you go into 3rd person mode and tell your men to move, it looks very robotic.
overall, its a good thing i didnt get the full thing.

[ICantSpellDawg]

After owning the game for half a week and joining the tactical gamer server (www.tacticalgamer.com) and teamspeak, This game is like no other. Coming from playing the immensly fun battlefield 2 for 2 years, the divide is similar to the difference between bumper cars and destruction derby. MUCH more complicated and fulfilling.

I would now suggest it to all.

[Crazed Rabbit]

I usually see it like this, well roughly:

Games from the east: made with love, an art form, but usually buggy and not optimized.

Games from the west: made using engineering standards, optimizations, relatively bug-free but often lack a heart

There are exceptions of course but that is my personal guideline of sorts, just compare the latest ubisoft titles for example to stalker, arma II etc.

When the companies manage to mix the two concepts you often get great games IMO.

Well the Witcher managed to release an update that saw many optimizations and bug fixes. Such an update has eluded ARMA, which has been out longer.

CR

[Husar]

Well the Witcher managed to release an update that saw many optimizations and bug fixes. Such an update has eluded ARMA, which has been out longer.

CR

Yes, and that update caused some really ugly bugs itself IIRC. They had to redo/explain the installation for many people.
But I was just highlighting general trends, it's absolutely great if the programmers actually try to fix bugs, I don't want them to stop just to prove the trends I mentioned.

[Furunculus]

awesome game.

buggy, as BIS games always are for the first year, but stupendous in scope.

looks amazing as well.

been playing BIS games since the demo of Op-Flash came out all those years ago. we were blown away then, even going so far as to play the demo drunk whilst wearing a helmet and night vision goggles.

the love affair has continued ever since, (though i don't have access to NV these days).

[ICantSpellDawg]

Holy Jeez. The more I play this, the more I realize it is the combat sim of my dreams. totally insane. If you have a good system and love war, you are disgracing yourself for every second you don't run out and buy this game full price.

Imaging if hidden & dangerous and GTA got together and brought battlefield 2 and Company of Heroes along for a fourway.

[Hooahguy]

are the voice commands fixed to be less robot-like?
what about bugs?

[ICantSpellDawg]

The Game has a rather steep learning curve, yes. That includes fixing graphical irritants.

BUT: Once you get over that (for me it was around 7 days) and get a decent feel for the game PARTICULARLY after you take the southern part or Chernarus in the Red Harvest campaign, you will see what I mean. Try the boot camps and log on to tacticalgamer.com servers for a baptism by fire.

Since the game has been out for just over a month in the US, I'm gonna give it more time for stopyline glitches, but in the mean time, you can't pass this game up.

[Hooahguy]

what about the robot-sounding commands? that was the biggest turn-off for me.

[Krusader]

what about the robot-sounding commands? that was the biggest turn-off for me.

They are still in there.

[Husar]

what about the robot-sounding commands? that was the biggest turn-off for me.

They're single soundbits put to gether depending on the command/situation because that is a helluvalot easier than making 2 million perfect soundfiles for all the different possibilities. This is not a linear scripted CoD where you just have the same line in the same situation all the time.

[Hooahguy]

true, it would be very hard to do recordings for all those commands, but i do think it could have been done a bit better when it comes to putting together the commands.

[Mailman653]

From what I recall reading, the voices were supposed to be more fluid and natural sounding compared to the ARMA I voices.

[Hooahguy]

no, clearly theyre not.

i may just give the demo a try, if im not too involved with cod4. oh wait, im too involved.

[Crazed Rabbit]

If you have a good system

I doubt this exists by ARMA's standards.

CR

[Hooahguy]

ok i gave the demo another whirl.
the game looks nice, even on medium. very realistic, and overall if it wasnt for its horrid controls id like it. there is a big in the basic training where if you fail the firing range the first time you cant do it again. the mouse sensitivity needs altering, and aiming is very shaky.
driving is fun, but i really hate the movement blurr. cant find a way to get rid of it yet.
flying is horrid. i cant figure it out no matter how many times i do it.

[ICantSpellDawg]

I doubt this exists by ARMA's standards.

CR

gts 250, quad core, 4gbs of ram, etc makes it look pretty good. You really need to tweak the game, but not too much.

ok i gave the demo another whirl.

the game looks nice, even on medium. very realistic, and overall if it wasnt for its horrid controls id like it. there is a big in the basic training where if you fail the firing range the first time you cant do it again. the mouse sensitivity needs altering, and aiming is very shaky.

driving is fun, but i really hate the movement blurr. cant find a way to get rid of it yet.

flying is horrid. i cant figure it out no matter how many times i do it.

One way to get rid of this is to go into "control panel" - "mouse" - "pointer options" and un-check "enhance pointer precision". This helps the movement blur AND makes aming the same as ever other game. (CR this gets at what I meant by tweak - hit each concern one by one until you can live with the game) As for flying, it is better than Battlefield by a long shot.

[Hooahguy]

ok ill try again... not being able to pass rifle training is very annoying.
EDIT: ok i officially give up on arma2. if i cannot pass basic rifle training due to the horible aiming system, its not a game for me. is there no steadying option like there is in AA3? even on AA3, which is supposed to be the most realistic army game in terms of weapons, i scored "expert" in BRT. why i cant here is a mystery. whats the minimum score you have to get on the BRT anyhow? and theres a timer, which it doesnt show.

so basically the arma2 demo is a flunk in my books, despite it looking good.

[ICantSpellDawg]

ok ill try again... not being able to pass rifle training is very annoying.
EDIT: ok i officially give up on arma2. if i cannot pass basic rifle training due to the horible aiming system, its not a game for me. is there no steadying option like there is in AA3? even on AA3, which is supposed to be the most realistic army game in terms of weapons, i scored "expert" in BRT. why i cant here is a mystery. whats the minimum score you have to get on the BRT anyhow? and theres a timer, which it doesnt show.

so basically the arma2 demo is a flunk in my books, despite it looking good.

Hold down right mouse button while crouched and prone after changing the pointer control panel option. You should have a good week of wanting to throw arma out a window. then it is all downhill

[Husar]

There was a mod from Kegetys that turns motion blur off but the patch 1.2 or so should have added that to the options from what I read.

[Hooahguy]

yeah but i still have the demo.
and i tried that right clicking thing. all it does is let you zoom in, but doesnt get rid of weapon sway.

[Furunculus]

are you drunk? :p

Arma 2 is still the most awesome game eva, EVA i say!

[Hooahguy]

no i havent been drunk since june.
tell me, how many targets do you have to hit to pass BRT?