I purchased this (for PC) via download, and the seriousness to which the game is taken is impressive. The lingo, the radio chatter among the players is realistic, the scenarios are realistic, the techonolgy and how a particular mission is carried out, are realistic. The graphics are ok, that's not what sets it apart. What sets it apart is the multi-player community, at least my brief introduction to it. I will go out on a limb and say this is by far the most realistic simulation of a military exercise (sanctioned by a non-military entity), I have ever seen. Kudos.
Before the thread fades into oblivion, I found a video representative of the simulation aspect to the game. The learning curve is steep just to master the amount of drop down screens and keystroke variations. Initial training is advised for noobs, and I am a new to the game. Here's an example of MOUT training or military operations in urban terrain. It's a sim, essentially a button pushing game...it will not make a soldier out of anyone anymore than an off the shelf PC flight simulator will make a person capable of flying an actual aircraft. What this game isn't, is a run n' gun button masher multi-player replete with adolescent trash talk; with virtually no attempts at tactical simulation. This game's (ArmA III) strong suit is indeed an emphasis on tactical realism. The folks that play it, desire to simulate a military exercise as accurately as possible while simultaneously having some fun. Without further ado. [video=youtube;1JoaoNFBAL0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JoaoNFBAL0[/video]
The interface is the primary reason that I had a hard time getting into the games. I bought but haven't played Arma 3 yet but I did try Arma 2 awhile back and its interface was severely lacking in some key areas. It had unnecessary commands that could have been either contextualized or simply gotten rid of. I radial system ala Far Cry, Fallout New Vegas (the Companion Wheel) and Crysis but obviously with more options would have been much better than having to remember not only which function keys called up which menu but then have to remember the submenus as well. It was just an obnoxious and unnecessarily complicated setup. I have not had a chance to play Arma 3 yet though as I said so hopefully when I do get around to it I will find that they have improved it from Arma 2.
I think I'd get bored with it in a hurry if I could only ever shoot at targets and control the 'good guys' in the game. Make it like Counter Strike + the emphasis on realism and tactics, though, and that could be a blast. And maybe CS already does this now? I've only ever played the original CS.
The great thing about this game is the amount of customization that happens and the dedication many players use to create a realistic experience. When I first got the game I joined a server and just sort of watched people. There was a squad of guys waiting by a terminal counting down the minutes until their pilot (another player) arrived to take them to assault this town or something. Then the pilot arrived and the helicopter was too small or something so they called a SeaHawk or something that was flying nearby to come and get them. They briefed the pilot on what they needed him to do and set off. It was pretty cool. The game confused me so I sort of stopped playing it. I managed to run around the huge map for about 30 mins trying to find people only to find a platoon prepping for a crazy assault on a town and I accidentally ran past them all into the town and gave away the position which prompted the enemy to counter attack them lol. I got a few expletives from my team out of that one...haven't played it since. I saw a video of some guys who made an Apache helo for it I might check that out to see how well they did.
