Game Review: ARMA II
Bohemia Interactive returns to its roots with ARMA II, a fantastic first person shooter that really deserves the title combat simulator with all the perks and problems of real combat.
Ratings:
Graphics & Audio: 22/25,
Gameplay: 22/25,
Creativity 20/25,
Fun 18/25
Total: 82/100
Take all those games you’ve played like Call of Duty or Battlefield and throw in a huge 225 kilometer playing field with an enemy intelligence that rivals anything out there in FPS games and you have ARMA II, almost. One minute you can be marching your band of four soldiers through a dense forest looking for an enemy camp and the next you have soldiers sniping you from cover in ambush.
After wiping these guys out, or exchanging gun fire for minutes to no avail as they keep their heads down as well as you, a truck pulls up behind you to dispense troops to your rear in a flanking maneuver worthy of a seasoned veteran. ARMA II does so many things so well it’s easy to forgive the small mistakes and lag that occurs due to the game not being as refined or polished as it could be.
This is the type of game that will go on being polished for years as it is just too big to get it right the first time, not only size in gigabytes but in sheer size of playing area. You start out the campaign in ARMA II as a leader of a four man squad with orders like find a transmitter or neutralize an enemy camp which seems easy enough.
Your team will be easy to control for the most part but like any game or even real life people they will take some of their orders too literally or with a liberal dose of personal initiative. You have a myriad way of getting near your objective but in the first several missions a helicopter is your main vehicle that will be on call throughout the game.
Once on scene, which had better be far enough away they did not see your landing, you head to your objective much as you imagine Vietnam or World War II veterans did, slow dashes between cover. If you make the mistake of wandering toward an objective, much of the time you’re safe but that one time some wandering patrol or just plain lost group of soldiers will end your mission prematurely.
ARMA throws so much at you that you don’t see coming it really makes for a great war game but also it recreates war in so many ways. If you’ve ever heard sayings like searching for an enemy that isn’t there you would be talking about this game in many ways.
ARMA II uses both realistic ballistics and visuals along with some great graphics to make the game not only realistic but difficult in so many ways. Take that open landscape of 225 square kilometers including all kinds of small to medium villages and towns, dense forest and hilly terrain.
Walk your troops to the edge of an open grassy area surrounded by trees and you know somewhere on the other side is your objective but to get there requires some decisions. Do you risk crossing the field as you will be wide open to attack or do you take the time to go around through the trees and tire your troops.
Yes, we even have stamina and injuries to contend with like panting and trying to steady your soldier after a run from building to building just to get to the action. Stamina and injuries play a significant role here as well as everything else from weather and time of day to tactics and visibility.
Using your commands is usually pretty easy and your troops will follow them pretty well but there is the occasional mistake that happens just like in real life. Pointing to a spot sends a troop around an obstacle when you wanted him to go the shortest route or a trooper will have to be told twice to do something like take cover which usually ends up with a dead teammate.
That also happens quite quickly to you when you make bad decisions or think the fighting is at an end and stand up to survey the damage only to be struck down by a sniper. Thank heavens for the save and autosave that lets you revert to a previous time but don’t make the mistake thinking things will play out the same way.
When you change your tactics so does the enemy which makes for a very dynamic game so reverting does not always mean you will know what will be happening just because it happened in the past. ARMA II is a very dynamic and loosely scripted game where random events such as a plane being shot down can suddenly change your whole mission or troop movements of the enemy can make a cakewalk suddenly turn into a firefight.
Throughout the campaign you will find things happening that are beyond explanation of a computer game that creates a great shooter and a well crafted combat simulator. ARMA II is not without its problems with AI and other things like the command controls where you may have to go through a few menus to get your troops to do what you want when in real life barking orders would accomplish the same goal.
The real tough thing to anticipate is the enemy AI and it’s somewhat sketchy behavior at times like one mission had troops hugging the ground and cover making things tough for me to get through a town. I turned a corner after fighting my way down several streets and two troops are standing in the open like they are at home talking to each other over the backyard fence.
This happens enough that it is noticeable but in a variety of different ways so that you are never sure what is going on and if things are really safe to proceed in the open. The AI is good but these occasional glitches make for a nerve racking time because you really never can prepare for the next situation.
ARMA II has some very good campaigns but the one thing that makes this game a bit difficult to play and enjoy is the sheer size of the battlefield. It’s more like a country with a few skirmish areas than a battlefield as the 225 square kilometers is really a lot of land and having action in small spots makes getting to the next encounter sometimes a long hike.
You can always call in your chopper but hiking can also lead to encounters and fun in the woods so there is a lot of variety to the game that makes for new and unique gameplay. The campaign will not be a standard “it will take so many hours to play through” affair as it is quite dynamic and fluid with plenty of side missions and events that occur randomly to make your day that much longer.
ARMA II has the single player campaign taking place in a fictional Russian countryside called Chernarus that includes a coastline, several towns and plenty of rough hilly terrain. You also get a single player romp through missions and a multiplayer mode for fun against or with others that works as well as the campaign.
The game can be fun in multiplayer but you also get all the headaches of such an open battle area that getting to the fight can be half the problem. Coop play has you fighting in a large map and you start with objectives that are close by but with each objective accomplished the fight gets further away.
You can easily spend half the game of a multiplayer coop just spawning at base camp and trekking, driving or flying to the frontlines only to find you got hit and have to start all over again. Of course they have made some things easier like a truck that repairs and spawns soldiers but if this gets hit by the enemy, it usually does, then spawning at base camp and getting a new truck is the routine.
The player versus player is more of a fight to the death or capture the flag in an enclosed area bordered by cones on the sides and barriers in front and rear where each team spawns and resupplies. When you jump into a game either coop or PVP you start with basic weapons and can change gear at ammo piles choosing anything your rank allows.
When you do better in any individual game you rank up as well as just spending time in the game, I wandered around in one game and ranked up by doing absolutely nothing. Once you reach higher ranks more weapons and vehicles open up for you which is the way things are in real life.
In ARMA II you can’t just jump into a tank or VTOL and hop into the fray, you need rank and experience to get those new toys and hardware so they included this on a mission by mission basis. Ranks do not carry forward to the next mission in multiplayer so that is a disappointment but one that can be overcome with a little hard work.
ARMA II also includes a boot camp mode and an armory mode where you can learn how things are done from basic weapons and commands to how to build a base camp. In armory mode you can have fun playing with all those toys for practice so when the time comes for real action your ready and able.
The games graphics and audio are great but interspersed with all the well done textures, amazing effects and realistic views of war there are glitches and bugs. There would be on any map this size and you find them here and there but these do not detract from the game but accent the fact that there is so much to do and see.
The game is well made for the most part and well worth playing if you’re interested in realism and fast paced action interspersed with boring marches when your chopper gets shot down. ARMA II is a fantastic game even with its glitches and other problems and for those with the stomach and PC to handle the system requirements it can be a fun time.