Hi folks,
Would those of you who own Arma2 post your review of the game? Any recommendations (not necessarily regarding hardware) for those of us who are planning on purchasing it? Any thoughts on CiA's potential direction regarding Arma2 (mod- and addon-wise; assuming a Linux server is released)? Other thoughts on the game?
The game runs pretty nice on my computer with not too high settings. I'll skip the usual congregation praise (the game is 10 years newer than OFP) and give my impression on other things.
BIS have remapped almost all keys so it take a while to get used to them, several keys have multiple functions too....
Some new features like lean, climb over fences, swim and so on, updated weapon crates too. With the CAA1 mod you can play Arma missions on Arma islands. The Gull is gone (sometimes it gets a bit crowded in the air). Ammobug and wallbug (among others) still exists so you never miss that good ol OFP feeling
I have not played much in SP mode (In SP/ MP with AI's you got a shitload of useless radio chatter), only online and this game demands teamplay, AI's are pretty smart compared with default BIS.
The editor is what you expect I guess, almost CC of OFP editor.
As for AA2 at CiA I guess some issues must be clarified before adding tons of addons, like server/ server-side requirements. But I hope a AA2 server is up and running shortly after BIS release Linux libs.
My wish regarding addons/ mods is that we wait until a proper "total conversion mod" (mods like FDF and WGL) is released, not just load GBs of units and weapons. It's also a matter of playable missions...
If you are looking for a good rig that will run arma 2 well get something like mine (see relevant "arma 2 dream pc" thread). It runs the game smooth on very high settings. Only in the big southern city I lowered the settings a bit.
As for the game itself I could say its graphics are absoulutely amazing. The campaign is much better than the Arma 1 one but unless something amazing happens in the missions to come, cwc and resistance are still better.
The AI better. Their path finding was improved, and I still havn't noticed AI doing really stupid things, like they did in arma 1. However, they STILL havn't fixed the annoying ability of the AI to hit you in the first AK burst from 200 meters.
Its got a built in strategic command mechanism, for building bases, units and defences.I don't really like this aspect of the game but it seems like it attracts a lot of players.
I believe that Arma 2 is definately the direction we want to strive towards. I too think that it will be smart to wait for a release of a big addons pack and until then (pending a linux server bersion) play vanila arma 2. It has a lot of content as it is now, and until we explore it all we can handle without any mods.
So OFP2 is no match for ArmaII?
I have not played OFP2 (yet, if ever), but reviews I have read on other forums say it's a typically (multi)console game, and lack a lot of features AA2 have. Gfx seems pretty up to date (too up to date for my taste) but as I said, I have not tried it. AA2 have, as I say, some tops and some downs, but fully playable in my opinion. The really BIG question is how it will perform on Linux dedi server, what hardware is needed, what bandwidth and so on.
Arma 2 is a military simulator, and OFP2 is a simulator of Arma 2, ie, simulator of a simulator, thus being only indirectly connected to reality.