Arma II + and -

[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.

[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