Must-own title!
By any measure, an AMAZING game that is a "must-own" title.
To me, its greatest strength lies in its mission editor. Some of you might think, "Shouldn't its main strength be the missions and campaigns and online features ALREADY made for it by the developers?" Yes, these ARE already well done, but the game's mission editor is so easy to use, that it sucks you in to one's younger days, when one played with their military action figures in one's backyard sandbox. It's a LOT of fun to use, and much more rewarding than accidentally losing an action figure's tiny gun in the dirt!
There are two mods for AI that elevate the game to a whole new level: Group Link 4 Special FX Edition and Zeus AI. They're easy to install, and EXTREMELY easy to use in the editor - and the results!
In less than an hour's time, I've created one mission that I can play endlessly, because the AI get distributed dynamically throughout the urban environment, and they put on an amazing fight. They'll occupy and patrol one building for a while, before they'll leave it to patrol another. The tension is incredible, as the AI will even outflank you using the terrain as concealment, and then start blasting your flanks from the cover of a structure. The tension's so heavy that my heartbeat picks up as I'm approaching the likely engagement range of the city.
But even if you don't design your mission to be "super-dynamic," it will still be far more dynamic than any Call of Duty game out there, because the AI's decisions are NOT scripted! One can literally memorize every spawn point and trigger in the Call of Duty series, and in my opinion, becomes very boring very quickly.
The online community has created 1,000's of amazing mods. Each new island is a wonder to explore and behold (Lingor is one of my favorites!).
Those players who are addicted to the Counter Strike and Call of Duty type of play styles are going to have to radically change their attitude and approach to military gaming for this game. It can be much slower paced due to the stakes that are involved, after all, you have just ONE life to live! This game is much more about using your BRAIN than just finger-twitching. Seriously, the CS and CoD style is arcade-like when compared to what one needs to be successful in ArmA II.
That said, TRY this title at all costs. There's a learning curve involved, so don't give up right away, as the very satisfying reward will come after one learns the hard necessities that this title simulates.
One of The Best games I have ever owned!
4 gamers found this review helpful