Customer Reviews

ArmA: Combat Operations

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Others have tried, but there's only one game series that delivers the level of realism, freedom and vast terrain needed for combined military operations. The OFP/ArmA series has only disappointed the weak and immature. It has elevated the standards all other military simulations should follow. Bohemia Interactive has once again blown my helmet off. Take it from me, save your money and stop buying games that leave you feeling cheated. This is the ONLY combat game you'll need for a LONG time.

7-year OFP Pilot/Tactician

I'm probably one of the few who have played VBS1. I haven't played OFP since the Demo. Compared to VBS1, the graphics are a lot nicer but it still seems to be a resource hog. VBS1 always had issues with clipping and ARMS, while better still has some problems. Most of Opfor and Bluefor are just carry over with increased textures and some minor changed. I don't really understand why BIS/BIA decided to release a Czch and German version months ahead of time. (Basically making them beta the game.) Problem is many players from the UK, AU and US bought those versions. There are differences between them and BI is still working on a Patch to get all these version on the same page, so to speak.

So, how is it really? It's OK. The AI seems to still be able to see further out then you. Drive a vehicle and you're just a target for a tank or BMP if you get anywhere near it. The grass on the map is cool but if you're using to dropping prone, you will quickly find out that you can't see anything. So you're forced to get back up and drop a knee. Being able to drive or fly is nice and they seem to have fixed the issue of going inverted and getting stuck upside down. The AI gets really annoying yelling out robotic commands and sightings. "Enemy...2'oclock...at...500 meters."

Some other things to consider. You need a decent computer to play this. My original system was a Athlon XP +3200 with a AGP 7800GS OC and it lagged even with 2gb memory. Now, I'm running an E6600 with a 8800GTS 320 and it seems to run smoothly. One of the problems is that the game runs post-processing and you can't turn it off. Still the game runs a test on your system and will probably say you don't fit the recommended unless you have a 3.5ghz system. 3.0ghz is the minimum.

Would I recommend this game? Short answer, no. There are no tools, like another has mentioned. So you're stuck with what BIS gives you. No importing textures and models as of yet. This is similar to what made everyone mad at UBI Soft when they brought out Raven Shield. What really made the game was its ability to be customized. So until tools come out and the community jumps onboard, I'd wait. As a single player game, it's a bit boring. But get some friends together and it will make the game even though it doesn't look as cool as R6 Vegas, GRAW or even BF2

As an old player from the original Operation Flashpoint game that was ArmA's precessor (also made by BIS), I was very skeptical of this new game that was sold as OFP2. They could not call it Operation Flashpoint 2 because Codemasters holds the right to that title and not the makers of Operation Flashpoint. However being a HUGE fan of OFP and a dedicated mod team member (Lost Brothers Mod), I actually bought a new computer for the sole purpose of playing this game. The downside of this game is that it requires a VERY powerful computer system to run it well. For those of you still teetering along with 1.7ghz PC's and trying to stuff more RAM and video cards into it, you may not be able to run this game. I had to buy a AMD64 Atholon X2 (Dual Core) PC and soup it up a bit with extra memory (an other 512megs for a total of 1 gig of RAM) and a Nvidia Gforce 7300 GT video card (not too expensive) to play the demo with decent frame rates. I HIGHLY recommend that you download the demo first of ArmA before you buy it. It will give you some understanding of how the full game is like. However the full game in its latest update has many new things. From BIS's past history with OFP, they will release new updates things for it every few months. Plus, once the Mod Tools are released for ArmA, you will have literally THOUSANDS of mods made for ArmA ranging from WWII mods to modern or sci-fi mods and everything in between.
OFP still has a few strong points that ArmA does not have, (easier flight system for helicopters and planes, and a more versatile mission editor). However, ArmA isn't too bad and has vastly superior graphics. It also has in-game joining capability in Multi-Player mode and fairly good net support. So all in all, if you want something slightly less arcade-like then BF2 and with much larger maps, then ArmA is your baby. The maps are HUGE and highly realistic. Google ArmA screenshots and you will think you are looking at photographs of real places on some of them. It really does look that good. In fact even on low resolution it still looks very nice. So all in all I highly recommend it if you have a fairly good gaming computer. If not, check out its predecessor, Operation Flashpoint (Game of the Year Edition) and enjoy years worth of thousands of mods made for it.

I was a big fan OFP and this is basically the same thing with updated graphics and maps. The editor is cool to create your own battle packs also there are a ton of mods out already.

This is the only realistic fighting sim there is so don't look elsware.

Sadly enough, I didn't like the demo and originally decided not to get the game. The in vehicle graphics leave a lot to be desired. I have maxed out the graphics and all other settings and it is easier to tolerate. Based upon all the hype I heard, against my previous judgment, I purchased it at a highly discounted price THANK GOD. I listened to all the fluff from friends who told e if I loved Operation Flash Point, which I did, that the full version of the game is much better. The movement of the troops is quite bothersome and does not resemble actual movement unless you are talking about a bowel movement (at least when they are walking crouched). The pasted facial expressions are so in line with the predecessor. I had a lot of high hopes for this game since I loved the previous releases but I can't really see much improvement over the previous except controls are more user friendly when it comes to joystick support. It strikes me as a prettier remake of the first with a different story line. Even though I loved the first and I like the promise of new equipment, the flashback factor made me decide not to play it any further. For someone new to the Genre this may keep them satiated but to a seasoned FPS player, there are better titles out. The Battlefield Series has more realistic movement as does Call of Duty 4. I chose to go back to that realm in lieu of continuing to try to like this title.

What made me write this review was the fact that most of the updates I red here are largely out of date. Since it's shaky release and several patches the game is much smoother and many problems have been fixed. The modding community is now very active and there are literally hundreds of addons to try, with many more on the way. If you were a fan of the orginial operation flashpoint, or the orginial Ghost Recon you will love this game.
The only disappointment is the single player campign. But this game really shines when you play cooperative multiplayer with close like-minded freinds who enjoy the kind of realism ArmA offers.

Game is more like real combat than any other game lately. Making it drawn out on occasions and very had to get through certain levels.
That being said, that is what also makes the game good at times too.

OK. This is the best mil sim game out there right now. When you have the Australian DF and USMC backing it up as adopters of the military version, namely VBS1/VBS2, it should raise any gamer's eyebrow. The civillian version is this North American release 1.06. There's three areas to be reviewed; the game engine, the missions, and the modding community's contribution.

ArmA: Combat Operations is a modern battlefield sim. that uses a huge map.
Old die hard fans of OFP will pick up all the familiar controls like a duck to water. You can basically fire, drive, fly anything in the game. This time around, there's true vegetation compared to the TRON like hills of OFP, and improved lighting, sound occlusion and doppler delay, and weapon accuracy/wind drift/range drop off. The only diff is that a M-136 AT can be reloaded, and not disposable. Russian RPG-7V's are reloadable. You will hear a lot of gamers complain why is my M4 not firing like a laser anymore?
Lol. Welcome to the world of 150m accuracy, kid.

At the height of OFP, which was heavily supported by the modding community, you could drive a T-95, fly a Commanche, control a modern AA battery network, and even had aerial drones and access to Challenger/Leopard A6/Merkava MBT's. In this latest release by Bohemia Interactive Software, you have a limited set of infantry wpns and vehicles compared to what was available as provided by the modding community, but it is a robust set of equipment nevertheless. Reviews like some of the ones above are from players not used to the mil sim, modern battlefield environments provided in ArmA. They're used to fighting in a confined map, blocked off alleyways, linear CH maps where sniping is a joke when you can read the name tags on the target. After you play ArmA, you'll feel like that you were fighting in a fish bowl in the other games compared to the possibilities here.

Which leads us to the 2nd area for review. The missions. The first review above is referring to a map called "Evolution", where you start out as rank: Private, and after completing objectives, and scoring "kills", you gain rank in mission, and get access to better wpns and vehicles. This is a new format of map that has only partial comparisons to what is available in other games. This is not the only mission format to the game. Co-op missions with multiple objectives, Death matches, Capture the Flag, and the Command and Conquor like format of RTS/CTI are also available.

We now come to the third and most signifigant area for review: modders.
"Evolution" is the latest in mission formats that has taken this game to a new plateau, and on most nights, you will find over 50% of public servers running this mission. One of the primary reasons is that it stops team and asset killing almost completely. "Evolution" is but a star in the sea of modding community contributions. Most OFP players expect the full inventory of missions, equipment, scripts, will be ported over to the ArmA environment. I read somewhere that in other games, you pretty much fight like in an arena, nose leading like environment, which simplified, amounts to something like being handed a gun in a telephone booth and told to start fighting. In ArmA, you have your objective, equipment, and you choose how, when and where to achieve victory over your objective. Guess the first reviewer prefers telephone booths.

I should have known that anything with Atari,looks like Atari. Graphics looked like a typical arcade game,
just terrible. And the story line,terrible. You get what you pay for. I guess when you play the best like Call of Duty series,you get spoiled. But,I am sorry it was just terrrible. Graphics,loop type music bad..........

The thing I enjoy most is this game is harder to master than other first person shooters. It use's some real world tatics and thinking to successfully complete the missions It's not just a run and gun game.