Rock, Paper, Shotgun

AH-64 Apache gunship, M2A3 Bradley IFV, MH-6 Little Bird… I confess I know as much about these things as I do about the mating habits of giant grasshoppers, but many people are greatly enamoured of them. The tanks and aircraft I mean, not the rutting insects. Such enthusiasts will be duly pleased by this really very pretty trailer for Operation Arrowhead, the upcoming standalone expansion for ARMA 2. Interesting that it’s standalone, given ARMA’s audience is something of a fixed one and thus surely most potential purchasers of this will own ARMA 2 anyway, but I guess it’s a sensible way to try and reach beyond its niche.
Read the rest of this entry »

Bohemia have announced some new, free DLC for Arma II. It’s a new campaign in which you play as the pilot of an attack helicopter, after the events of Arma II.

The “Eagle Wing“ mini-campaign expands upon one of the seven unique endings of the original ARMA 2 over two extensive new levels; It’s the year 2012, the war in Chernarus has overgrown into a conflict between the USA and the Russian Federation. The player finds themselves caught in the middle of an escalating conflict. As a pilot of the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, the player’s task seems easy – to get behind enemy lines and attack. However the situation is about to change rapidly…

The campaign will come as a new patch, v1.05, due at the end of this month. The patch will introduce some diplomacy options for the strategic “warfare” mode, making a ludicrously ambitious game even more so.
Read the rest of this entry »

This is intriguing. We just received a link to a new site, AAN World News, which seems to blend actual headlines with news from the world of Arma II. Today it’s sporting the Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize stuff alongside headlines about the US invading Arma II’s fictional “green sea” nation of Chernarussia. Presumably this is a prelude to actually revealing some stuff about previously confirmed expansion Operation Arrowhead? Or is it the work of a crazed Arma II fan?

Military mega-shooter Arma II has some mod tools out for those people who want to turn it into celestial strip-chess, and you can get hold of them here. Rather more interesting news for the general gaming public, however, is the announcement of an expansion back, Operation Arrowhead. The standalone expansion pack will apparently be shown at GamesCom, and takes place when “a new flashpoint in the Green Sea region heats up and coalition forces led by the US Army are sent to Takistan to quickly restore peace and prevent further civilian casualties.” So plenty more of the same, it seems. We’ll bring you some more details on that when we get hold of them, or you can keep an eye on this thread on the official forums.

In the great Operation Flashpoint 2 Vs. ArmA II debate, I’ll tell you which side I come down on. I’m on [the opposite side to you]. I can’t believe you think the other game is the better one! What about all the inevitable problems with AI?! It’s so unrealistic in your game that you can run so far/reload so quickly, and it’s just ludicrous that you [something about damage]. What ARE you thinking? In case there’s anyone who’s yet to pick a side (because it is AGAINST THE LAW to want to enjoy both), there’s a new trailer showing off OpFlash 2’s spooky night time paranoia, and a military tactics montage from ArmA II. The latter is of course already released, and you can read Jim’s review here. OpFlash 2 is due in September-ish.

Read the rest of this entry »

Arma II is out in Europe and on Steam. It is the single most ambitious war game ever to grace a games machine. It is full of bugs. Does that mean you shouldn’t play it? Here’s wot I think.

Read the rest of this entry »

Update: Mirrors and some troubleshooting tips in this thread.

The demo of soldiering giganto-sim Arma II, which contains a surprisingly large chunk of the full game – including a limited version of the extremely versatile scenario editor – is now available. Get it here.

The demo comes to just under 3gb, but it’s an essential download for those of you who want to check out compatibility and performance issues before buying. And anyone else vaguely interested in the game, obviously. I’ve been caning the full thing for the best part of two weeks, and I’ve kept delaying the RPS review because, well, I just keep finding more stuff to do in it. I’ll stop tinkering and post full impressions early next week. Launch trailer and full demo content details below.
Read the rest of this entry »

I’m going to be taking a fairly serious amount of time to do a review of this, but I wanted to lob some preliminary impressions up here in the meantime. Blimey, BIS really have got that warzone feel nailed down. This is one of the most atmospheric games I’ve ever played, despite exhibiting a veritable alphabet of atmosphere-breaking elements. The most obvious of these being UNKNOWN. MAN. FAR.
Read the rest of this entry »

Blimey. when Jim twittered “These two videos are about the most impressive videogame spectacle you’ll see this month”. He’s not entirely stupid that man. Tim Edwards of PCG found them, and they show some of the sheer scale of the bloody thing. The first video’s the biggest aerial dogfight I’ve ever seen in my life. The second is a 1000 AI battle. ArmA2 is really looking like nothing else. Just look at these…
Read the rest of this entry »

Alec and Jim have both had the pleasure of some time with Arma II recently, and so we sat down to discuss our impressions of the formidable-looking soldier game. We even allow ourselves to get a bit giddy before the cynicism sets in. Could Bohemia’s soldier game really be as incredible as it seems? Four-player co-op in a sandbox world appears impressive enough, but with everything else that’s going on… well, what could it mean?
Read the rest of this entry »