I am a big Operation: Flashpoint fan, I consider myself a critical reviewer.

This game on release was unplayable, framerate and bugs bogged down the realistic gameplay.

After patches this game lost it's appeal due to bad experiences mixed with dated gameplay and dodgy controls.
A lack of animations for the simplist things such as hands on a steering wheel (the wheel moves but the hands are static) and no animation for entering cars etc.

Also I wasn't a fan of the "Vector based aiming", this isn't a bug mearly a personal preference.

The campaign is still rough around every edge and I still encountered bugs even with the latest patch, much like STALKER: SoC I waited until all patches had been released to review it.

This is a average game, sod the realistic gameplay if you can call it realistic. The fact is if someone just POPS into a car etc then it's instantly unrealistic.

And for the hardcore realism fans take note.

[*] Vehicle damage is… more »

I am a big Operation: Flashpoint fan, I consider myself a critical reviewer.

This game on release was unplayable, framerate and bugs bogged down the realistic gameplay.

After patches this game lost it's appeal due to bad experiences mixed with dated gameplay and dodgy controls.
A lack of animations for the simplist things such as hands on a steering wheel (the wheel moves but the hands are static) and no animation for entering cars etc.

Also I wasn't a fan of the "Vector based aiming", this isn't a bug mearly a personal preference.

The campaign is still rough around every edge and I still encountered bugs even with the latest patch, much like STALKER: SoC I waited until all patches had been released to review it.

This is a average game, sod the realistic gameplay if you can call it realistic. The fact is if someone just POPS into a car etc then it's instantly unrealistic.

And for the hardcore realism fans take note.

[*] Vehicle damage is bad (don't expect to take tank tracks off with a well aimed LAW
[*] Graphics are sub-par and are badly optimized (This is due to a poor game engine)
[*] Controls are suspect
[*] The island is unimaginitive
[*] The aircraft have very poor flight models
[*] Stealth is unprobable considering that due to enemy super hearing/sight also forest and woodland combat gives AI an advantage due to hearing and sight being over the top
[*] AI (Both Opfor and team) is quite rubbish showing signs of retardation in combat situations

I'll explain the AI now, in the mission editor I placed myself in a tank and placed 4 opfor soldiers without Anti-Tank weapons around me. They proceeded to lay down on the floor and turn on the spot.

Personally I still play OFP at times and fail to see the attraction to BIS's latest bulls up.

However, I do understand that people like this game although there are not as many players online anymore with few servers hitting the 30 player mark.

Overall this game does few things right but one of the things it does do very well is the mission editor which has been carried over from OFP pretty much.

I'll review Arma2 on it's release but judging from early German reviews it also has the same problems.

Firstly if you want to get the most out of this game, play on line, in one of the co-op servers. Nothing beats getting pinned down by a T72 and sending out a call for help and seeing team mates race to your rescue. Be under no illusion this is a difficult game, you will get killed a lot at the start, your have to move with care, running around means a re spawn for definite. The playing area is massive, you almost always need a team mate in a Helicopter to pick you up and take you too the combat zone as its often too far to drive in any reasonable time. The vehicle and weapon options are good, with more add ons being added all the time. In co-op you have to work your way up the ranks to access items including helicopters gunships and M1A1 abrams. If you like on-line team play this is the best I have found.

Alongside this you have the off-line game which takes some getting used too, you really need to do the training, maybe more than once.

Buy it, you wont be disappointed,… more »

Firstly if you want to get the most out of this game, play on line, in one of the co-op servers. Nothing beats getting pinned down by a T72 and sending out a call for help and seeing team mates race to your rescue. Be under no illusion this is a difficult game, you will get killed a lot at the start, your have to move with care, running around means a re spawn for definite. The playing area is massive, you almost always need a team mate in a Helicopter to pick you up and take you too the combat zone as its often too far to drive in any reasonable time. The vehicle and weapon options are good, with more add ons being added all the time. In co-op you have to work your way up the ranks to access items including helicopters gunships and M1A1 abrams. If you like on-line team play this is the best I have found.

Alongside this you have the off-line game which takes some getting used too, you really need to do the training, maybe more than once.

Buy it, you wont be disappointed, it does not get any more real than this

I really want to give this game 3 and a half stars, as i feels it better than 6/10 but not quite that 8/10.
Arma is without a dobut one of the most realistic games ive ever played, which is both good and bad. firstly its good for a number of reasons. The realistic damage is a good plus, nothing more i hate than online games where your oppnent can lace you with M16 mag, but not kill you, then you turn round and return fire and repeat step one and still not kill the bugger (COD4 im looking at you). In Arma, preety much two or three shots to chest will take you down, and there is other damage effects, such as if you take one round to the leg, you limp, take another, or a large bullet, and youll fall to ground and have to crawl about. Take a round to the arm and your aim will be very shaky, especially with heavier weapons such as an m249 or the M107.
Also, you cant just run around like a headless chicken, you have to plan almost everything you do maticuously, i played it online… more »

I really want to give this game 3 and a half stars, as i feels it better than 6/10 but not quite that 8/10.
Arma is without a dobut one of the most realistic games ive ever played, which is both good and bad. firstly its good for a number of reasons. The realistic damage is a good plus, nothing more i hate than online games where your oppnent can lace you with M16 mag, but not kill you, then you turn round and return fire and repeat step one and still not kill the bugger (COD4 im looking at you). In Arma, preety much two or three shots to chest will take you down, and there is other damage effects, such as if you take one round to the leg, you limp, take another, or a large bullet, and youll fall to ground and have to crawl about. Take a round to the arm and your aim will be very shaky, especially with heavier weapons such as an m249 or the M107.
Also, you cant just run around like a headless chicken, you have to plan almost everything you do maticuously, i played it online and spent 30 mins in a bush planning an attack on a compound with 3 other players.
There is also a limited ability to customise your character which i found a bit nice. You can choose from almost every skin colour and similar to create a similar likeness of yourself in game, even being able to change the pitch and stlye of your voice, ranging from GI joe to 50 cent.

Now there are also several elements that the game could improve on. For a start, there could be a little more of a tutorial to teach those of us who arnt real soldiers what everything means. I for one lost myself when on the first level, everyone i was with bailed out of a jeep and left me to fight off the attacking enemy, a relativly difficult job. Now they had told me to fall back, but the team leader kept calling me '7' my team member number, which was wasnt revealed to me until everyone was screaming '7 where are you!?!'.
Graphics leave something to be desired, but the game is huge, and its very well put together (ie the environment), and im sure the more powerful PCs out there can run it better than mine.
One thing i wasnt keen on was the selection of different weapons. Sure there were lots, but the game sufffers from what i call 'Classic Army syndrome'. For those of you who dont play airsoft, this basically means that although there are lots of them, most of the guns are just different varients of the M16/M4, and for the North/bad guys/communists, varients of the AK. Ok the real military doesnt kit its soldiers out with lots of different guns, but its a game, it would be nice to see some different real world weapons that you dont have to down load, a G3, an SA80 a FAMAS ect, would of been nice to have, just for a bit of variation. Sure there are some G36s scattered about but ive yet to find one.
One thing i will commend is the map editor, with this you can create any mission you want, from sniping generals to huge tank battles. IVe even made a level where your a civilian trying to make it to an American base before the commies ethnicly clense your village. Its not very PC, but then again neither is using a Humvee to run down legions of goons who ive spawned without ammo

This all said ARMA is good if you like military simulation games, if you like Operation Flashpoint, Ghost Recon or Battlefield games, id strongly recommend trying this game, if not, id avoid it, as youll never get out of the spawn point