Customer Reviews

ARMA Gold Edition

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This game as a stand-alone was buggy and difficult. But with new patches and the unlimited source of modding for this game, ArmA is THE #1 reaslistic MilSim out there. After a couple months of playing I found myself in a squadron of prior-service guys like myself and was soon coordinating attacks over ventrilo every night.

Sadly, ArmA 2 will probably soon blow this game out of the water. But I'm sure the modding community and those without state-of-the-art computer specs will stand by ArmA for years to come.

If you are tired of the "arcade" feel of games like Call of Duty and Battlefield 2, this is the game for you.

The only reason I gave it 4 stars was for how buggy it was at release.

I'm just commenting on this game after having played the single player mode without benefit of any mods or map editing features, which presumably add even more value to the game.

First of all, I'm not a fanatic about realism in a game, nor do I believe that sandbox games are necessarily better or more fun than linear games. I'm a fan of mindless, linear, run-and-gun shooters but tactical squad shooters and sims like this offer a nice change of pace as well as offering a more complex intellectual engagement with the game.

This game is a sandbox game of immense proportions (something like 400 square kilometers). In terms of environment, it boasts changing night and day, changing tides, speed of sound (you see an explosion before you hear it), Doppler sound (sound changes as a vehicle approaches and then passes you), and gravity effects on bullets (you have to shoot high for long distance shots), and time to target (bullets take time to get to the target, so you have to lead moving targets). From what I understand, even the night sky has accurate star constellations. These features, all by themselves, show that the producer of the game was dedicated to going the extra mile.

The game encompasses both air and ground fighting, so there are missions where you have to fly a helicopter in either transport or attack operations. I do not like flying simulators, so this was not appealing to me, but I was able to master the flying enough to finish the missions. If I can do it, anyone can. Only a few missions involve flying.

There are a lot of vehicles to drive and fight in. Tanks, trucks, Humvees, APCs, Strykers, etc, but mostly you spend time on foot, on your own, as part of a team, or as the leader of the team. As leader you command your guys (individually or as a team) using a set of nested pull-down menus. It's a bit cumbersome when you're in the middle of a fight, but it's probably the most comprehensive and realistic team command scheme I've seen. There's no doubt that I had only partially mastered it by the time I had finished the game.

The missions are fictional, modern day, scenarios where you have to destroy a convoy, assassinate a leader, clear a town of enemy, etc. Graphics are decent, but not even close to games like Crysis or Fallout 3. There may be technical reasons for that, so I'm not inclined to treat it as much of a shortcoming. The game ran smooth on my computer with everything set to max. I have a 3GHz Core 2 Duo with dual SLI-linked 8800GTS 512 GPUs.

Much is made in other reviews of the ease with which the enemy seems able to kill you from great distances while you are laying in the grass unable to see him. That's completely true and very frustrating. My solution for that was to enable infinite saves. One of the interesting features of this game is the ability to adjust several individual options in the difficulty level. Difficulty can be set to easy or hard, but you can tweak the various attributes that define those levels. While I started out playing the hard difficulty at its default settings, I finally changed to the easy difficulty level and set everything the same as the hard level except I enabled infinite saves. Being able to tailor the difficulty levels like that is another exceptional innovation that I have not seen on any other game.

I think the real value for this game is the unstructured approach to the missions. You often have to figure out, on your own, how best to execute a mission. There is a lot of replay value in the game because each time you play it, you will almost certainly do it differently and become better at keeping your guys alive.

Arma Gold comes with a set of individual missions as well as three story-based campaigns, one of which is quite long. I played this game regularly for three weeks to get through it, so I'm guessing there is a good 30-40 hours of fun here. At $16.49 I think it was a bargain. Definitely one of the most innovative and large scale military games there is. Be prepared for a bit of a learning curve (there are a number of training missions to help with that), some frustratingly realistic "bullets from out of nowhere", and some occasionally tedious traveling or sneaking around.

This game is pretty fun, if you know how to stay alive and not get shot. If you get shot, its very likely you will die. If you're not dead, then you are injured. And if you are injured, you can't shoot accurately.

I played Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis, which I think was the first military war game created where you are free to roam the island and drive whatever vehicles you can get yourself into. This is what I like about these 2 games: The ability to do multiple stuff to complete your mission. Not only that, you get to control your squad as well.

I played ARMA on my friend's computer and his is quite different. In the cut scenes, it has playback video with reporter talking and walking about. With ARMA Gold, you have a soldier talking in the background with a still picture (maybe its because ARMA Gold includes 2 expansion set to it).

To succeed in this game requires thinking and strategy. If you shoot your gun at the enemy, the enemy will eventually find you. Sometimes, they will be right behind you. So shoot and then move to a new position, while at the same time, watching your back. "Saving your game is your best friend in this game"

In several decades of board and computer gaming, ArmA is one of the two or three best sims I've ever played. The AI has some flaws, and the graphics are good but not great. But the mission editor is astoundingly powerful, the gameplay is realistic and immersive, the multiplayer community is large, and the mods are numerous and high quality.

If you liked the original Ghost Recon, this sim is for you; in fact ArmA exceeds Ghost Recon in almost every category. This sim is not perfect, but it's very good, and very addictive once you get over the initial learning hump.

I really liked this game. It is a bit more simulation than most games, so it requires patience and planning at times. My only frustration was with my AI squad. Often they were much to difficult to keep alive and I'd end up finishing the objective alone. But that one issue asside, I really enjoyed the game and would highly recommend it to those who want a game that takes patience and planning as opposed to rush in shooting.

I had to stop myself from continued play as I was in the middle of another game. I got hooked almost immediately. And I know some write ups I saw didn't like this game at all. Others said it was elementary, to shorten their complaints. I found it fun, exciting and if you play it right, potentially addictive as you "just have to finish this scene/scenario" and I'll shut it down. HA! Next thing you know you're through about three more scenarios on your way to a whole new battle area, battle plan in order to keep it going.

The game arrived well packaged for protection and very timely; about the right time I expected if not just a bit sooner.

I was very pleased with the game and the entire purchase experience.

Overall an outdated game. Not as fun as the Battlefield series dating back to 1942. Overall I prefer Battlefield 1942 much funner and

longer lasting then ARMA.

Very clunky feels and movement doesn't feel all the smooth. Slow placed gameplay, online servers also seem slow and little players.

ARMA II / 2 is out with extra addons. ARMA 2 is free to play the online version if you visit

the companies website, the single player and extra maps/missions are extra $.

If you are looking for a great game with a TON of replay value then look no further. This game is THE most realistic military simulator out there. It has a great mod community with tons of new weapons,maps,characters,missions, and add on packs to extend your play. You can even create your own missions! it took me a couple days to create an almost exact replica of "all ghillied up" from call of duty 4! there is a decent online following still. mostly military vets, and enthusiasts. Trust me if you are having doubts about this game, just think: if you want a military/flight sim/vehicle sim, then look no further than this gem of a game. Loads of fun no matter what you are doing, and you can always play something fun no matter whether you play alone or co-op with friends!

Yes Note the word "Simulator" in my review title. This game might not be very fun for the average gamer looking for fast action and intense shooting. This simulator is like the complete opposite of that. So why am I giving it 4 Stars then?

Well I have played games like what I just descried before, But I like to have "realism" in my virtual battles. I Love to take the time while im under fire to sit and analyze my situation and how I will be able to get out of it. This is what you will be doing in this Simulator. You cannot just jump out and start lighting up everyone you see. Try that and you will die quickly in this. "Think before you Do" Remember that saying in the world of ArmA.

The Reason why this game missed the fifth star from me is because you will experience a lack of fluid like movement feel. Movement in this seems to be a bit Stiff. Check out some videos of this online and you might see what im talking about.

In all, If your looking for a realistic military game. You should give this a try. You might not be disappointed

If you have the patients to play it, its more intense than COD.. The same way World of Warcraft is for Noobs, but Oblivion or Morrowind is for people who want a real experence...