ArmA II

 PC
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 639 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 427 out of 639
  2. Mixed: 103 out of 639
  3. Negative: 109 out of 639
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  1. FelixS.
    Jul 10, 2009
    10
    I love ArmA2. It's as close as you can get to a real war. I'm part of the Shack Tactical gaming group (we have a featured credit at the end!). Try reading our guide to ArmA, google TTP. The best thing about ArmA2 is that you play the way that keeps you alive, not any kind of "game dynamic." The scripting can be unpredictable, but the game maintains its replayability via its I love ArmA2. It's as close as you can get to a real war. I'm part of the Shack Tactical gaming group (we have a featured credit at the end!). Try reading our guide to ArmA, google TTP. The best thing about ArmA2 is that you play the way that keeps you alive, not any kind of "game dynamic." The scripting can be unpredictable, but the game maintains its replayability via its dynamic scripting. I've never played a game that has been so challenging, and yet fair.… Expand
  2. DannS
    Jul 27, 2009
    10
    Fantastic game, it's the new game after Operation Flashpoint, i have been waiting for. Its a super game.
  3. KarlL
    Jul 4, 2009
    9
    Its a great game despite horrible voice acting and the millions and millions of bugs. I hope with Arma 3 BI Studios decides to address some of the problems that have been present ever since Operation Flashpoint. I love this game, But the lack of effort to do any kind of polish is very disappointing.
  4. mikah.
    Aug 6, 2009
    9
    Once you get comfortable with this game, you'll find endless gaming hours. It is the only game with such atmosphere and tools to create new scenarios beyond imagination. Find yourself a proper clan and you'll have something that other games just don't offer. You'll need to have right attitude tho, this aint for those that dont know how to think. I'm impressed the Once you get comfortable with this game, you'll find endless gaming hours. It is the only game with such atmosphere and tools to create new scenarios beyond imagination. Find yourself a proper clan and you'll have something that other games just don't offer. You'll need to have right attitude tho, this aint for those that dont know how to think. I'm impressed the deepnes of this title. Awesome, adult stuff.… Expand
  5. armag
    Aug 7, 2009
    9
    Well to make this short this IS a good game! if you like any simulation your gonna love this one too BUT the problem is with the bugs and i think they are gonna get fixed by patches and one extremely ridiculos thing i want to add you can controll a bunny or rooster and from cows to chickens! so if you have time you are gonna like this game.
  6. HerbalInfluence
    Sep 1, 2009
    10
    Completely fascinating and uncomparable to others! The openess of the "world" is unique in two ways: It's big and full and the course of action is open like in real life. It's dangerous like in real life. Done hours and days of it now. The bugs have been erased and bugs are not a shame to this kind of game: A world that is so open cannot be foreseen, not even by the developers Completely fascinating and uncomparable to others! The openess of the "world" is unique in two ways: It's big and full and the course of action is open like in real life. It's dangerous like in real life. Done hours and days of it now. The bugs have been erased and bugs are not a shame to this kind of game: A world that is so open cannot be foreseen, not even by the developers themselves. Be aware that OFP2 Dragon Rising is NOT from Bohemia Interactive, the people who did Operation Flashpoint. Yes, I am fan. Not for nothing. Having had lots of hours of exciting combats since Operation Flashpoint from 2001 on! Only point that cannot be no minus, looking close: you need good hardware! You may game it with the minimum but you will get so excited soon to see all of it's great graphics - you would blame be for not saying so.… Expand
  7. JonoA
    Oct 18, 2009
    8
    The game is great but the campaign can be a little demanding. If you have a powerful computer then this game won't have as many bugs as the low end for some reason. I bought a new computer, not specifically for this game but it runs it pretty much flawless. This game is kind of like crysis it isn't forgiving in the graphics department.
  8. vass
    Oct 23, 2009
    9
    The game is awesome. A little buggy on release but that's normal with such a huge open world game like this and BIS will keep patching unlike other companies. The editor is so good I'm having too much fun with it.
  9. WalterS.
    Oct 25, 2009
    8
    Some of the most advanced military simulations available to date. The realism is great, but the game does suffer from an unpolished interface and some usability issues.
  10. Fin
    Oct 25, 2009
    9
    Note: All of the following is based on the game patched to the current version, 1.04. More of good is never bad. Arma2 continues the Operation Flashpoint heritage, and does it quite a lot better than its predecessor Arma1. The engine has finally received some long wanted functionality updates, and along the way they've also ramped the graphics up on notch. Whereas the singleplayer Note: All of the following is based on the game patched to the current version, 1.04. More of good is never bad. Arma2 continues the Operation Flashpoint heritage, and does it quite a lot better than its predecessor Arma1. The engine has finally received some long wanted functionality updates, and along the way they've also ramped the graphics up on notch. Whereas the singleplayer campaign of Arma1 was a disappointment to many fans of the original OFP, Arma2 does things a lot better. Especially the first few missions are excellent and give the player a big deja-vu from OFP, which in this case is only a good thing. After the midpoint the campaign turns to a whole other kind of gameplay, utilizing the Warfare gamemode, and doesn't quite live up to the starting missions, but it's still ok and well done. A good started for the bread and butter of these games, which is multiplayer. Multiplayer has always been the strong point of the OFP-series, and Arma2 is no exception. BIS has always only delivered the framework and some missions to get started with, and the rest has been up to the community. Once again this concept works. The in game mission editor allows one the create simple missions in literally in 5 minutes, and with enough skills and time you can come up with practically anything you can imagine. The community has already produced several new multiplayer gamemodes (cops vs. robbers, catch the murderer, etc) , while others have made hundreds of missions for the more "traditional" modes of coop, team vs. team, CTI (capture the island) and deathmatch. Multiplayer worked pretty well even out of the box, and with patches it provides you and even more solid experience. Dedicated servers are naturally included. What makes this game unique among the genre is the relationship with the devs and the community. The devs provided the platform (the game itself) and have kept patching it, released the development tools and most importantly pay attention the what the players say. Many of the devs post in the official forums, and they actively follow a bug-tracker set up by the community and keep squashing the reported bugs. The community rewards them with more content (new units and objects, new islands, new missions, etc) which prolong the life of the game, which in turn means more income to the devs. This is a thing one most not overlook with Arma2, especially in the light of what's going on with the recently released "rival" Dragon Rising.… Expand
  11. ChaseL.
    Jun 26, 2009
    10
    This game is ruthless. You die if you make a wrong move. You'll get frustrated from reloading levels endlessly. But I can't get enough of it. There's nothing like the experience you'll get from this game. You might be in a jet firing a missile at a tank or dog fighting at 30,000. Or a sniper taking aim at an enemy commander a kilometer away, or a special forces soldier This game is ruthless. You die if you make a wrong move. You'll get frustrated from reloading levels endlessly. But I can't get enough of it. There's nothing like the experience you'll get from this game. You might be in a jet firing a missile at a tank or dog fighting at 30,000. Or a sniper taking aim at an enemy commander a kilometer away, or a special forces soldier infiltrating and enemy base to sabotage an enemy asset. Or you could just be a basic infantry man in an all out assault. You could be shot in the legs and have to crawl to safety with blurred vision and not knowing if your going in the right direction. What I'm getting at though is that there are endless possibilities for this game. Some won't like the harsh reality of it but hardcore players will find the game of their dreams here. The first Arma was a disaster. It wasn't worth the price until the community made great mods for it and it was patched by BIS. But the first game of this type by BIS was operation flashpoint, which took many hearts and ruined people lives from playing it to much. It was different from any other game at the time. Open environments, extreme realism and harsh consequences. This game is mostly a war simulator but you could make hunting missions and farming games with the limitless editor the game has. The simulation is top notch on foot but vehicles and air vehicles aren't as realistic. Tanks do need more than one person to operate fully but they just aren't realistic as a tank sim or plane sim. I am going to be playing this game for years to come and everyone should at least try the demo. Some will get hooked and others won't be able to stand the harshness but at least try and savor this masterpiece.… Expand
  12. Lizard
    Jun 27, 2009
    9
    It's still got a few annoying bugs otherwise this game would deserve a 10, I've been waiting a long time for a game like this to come along, one that treats PC gamers as a unique gaming demographic, a game with depth and sophistication that really makes full use of the PC's capabilities. I was getting rather sick of being fed an unending supply of dumbed down console ports It's still got a few annoying bugs otherwise this game would deserve a 10, I've been waiting a long time for a game like this to come along, one that treats PC gamers as a unique gaming demographic, a game with depth and sophistication that really makes full use of the PC's capabilities. I was getting rather sick of being fed an unending supply of dumbed down console ports and was starting to lose faith in the future of PC gaming, ArmA 2 is the perfect antidote to that . The scope of this game is breathtaking and the attention to detail is second to none, military sims don't come any more real than this. Performance on the whole is pretty good on my less than up to date rig with most graphics settings on normal or high . If you were a fan of Operation Flashpoint you'll love this, it's one for the more serious PC gamer, it's nice to know that we haven't been completely abandoned in this age of cross platform development and mass market appeal.… Expand
  13. CameronY.
    Jun 29, 2009
    10
    The Game is Brilliant. Its very realistic which may not take peoples fancy , forexample you can't just run in and shoot like in call of duty for. Instead you need to work your way in with a group of Friends or randoms and work together in taking over the citys. Also this game will not get boring thats so much you can do. One day u might want to taxi people on helicopters to the The Game is Brilliant. Its very realistic which may not take peoples fancy , forexample you can't just run in and shoot like in call of duty for. Instead you need to work your way in with a group of Friends or randoms and work together in taking over the citys. Also this game will not get boring thats so much you can do. One day u might want to taxi people on helicopters to the battle. Anoher you may want to be a sniper or a up front short ranged solider etc . the list goes on for miles seeing as theres planes vehicles. Also there are things added ontop which make the game so awesome, like seeing a Ammo Van get airlifted by a helicopter to the battle. Or one of my experiences was shooting the pilot of an emermy helicopter on the gorund with a ranged rifle and watching the heli dive bomb into some trees. Yes you may get people saying there are bugs etc , thats all mostly in the singleplayer campaign. To get real enjoyment you can only go multiplayer. Lastly there so much to do and learn so many controls , weapons etc , you can never get bored. Its a right laugh. 10 out of 10 for me.… Expand
  14. ChrisH.
    Jun 30, 2009
    8
    Fresh out the blocks I was a little disappointed, but the patches seem to be coming out thick and fast from the developers so hopefully I will soon be able to sit down and give the game the time it needs. All the patches have so far recommended that you sacrifice your game saves so I am glad I did not get too far into it.
  15. DuncanF.
    Jul 1, 2009
    10
    This game is everything I hoped it would be. With teamwork and a good online community, nothing will parallel to the authentic experience you can get with upwards of 120 people fighting competitively in 60 vs 60 warfare. www.cfarma2.com. Not to say that there aren't a few rough edges in the game, mostly the single player AI, but BI is working fast to fix these and within a couple This game is everything I hoped it would be. With teamwork and a good online community, nothing will parallel to the authentic experience you can get with upwards of 120 people fighting competitively in 60 vs 60 warfare. www.cfarma2.com. Not to say that there aren't a few rough edges in the game, mostly the single player AI, but BI is working fast to fix these and within a couple weeks of release they had already released 2 patches fixing alot of the AI issues.… Expand
  16. MartyC
    Jul 6, 2009
    9
    Good simulator of war. Some bugs, but 1.02 is good playable game with huge potential and great editor tool. GO ON.
  17. GeraldoA
    Jul 6, 2009
    9
    Tell me my friends, a game that does not have bugs? Bugs can be fixed, have some patience. This game is beautiful, has an editor, immersive and the community is great.
  18. AnonymousMC
    Jul 9, 2009
    10
    Very good game for hardcore Military Sim players. It is unfortunate that the publisher wanted the game out before it was finished though. I personally don't find it to be complicated what so ever, but yet I typically play Mil Sims. This is definitely not the game for Battlefield 2 players though.
  19. TheIlluitionist
    Jul 9, 2009
    9
    Real Good follow uo to Operatin Flashpoint and Armed Assault 1. Awesome graphics. But it has issues with laggy mouse and stuttering. Hopefully this will be fixed with patches. Hold off buying this game till taht happens or even better email Bohemia Interactive and tell them of your decision not to buy the game till they patch and fix the bugs.
  20. JoshK
    Jul 9, 2009
    10
    This is a awesome game. If you played and loved the first this is for you. Definitely not for run and gunner's this game takes patience as every time you play you have to go in like its real life.
  21. GhostSheetsXx*
    Aug 6, 2009
    8
    After completing the single player campaign and tinkering with the Armory and Editor modes for a few hours I thought I was finished with Arma 2. I'm not sure why I hadn't considered playing online, but it's something I overlooked each time I fired up the game. Perhaps I thought I woulld be too inexperienced in a world of dedicated, hardcore Arma 2 enthusiasts. And upon After completing the single player campaign and tinkering with the Armory and Editor modes for a few hours I thought I was finished with Arma 2. I'm not sure why I hadn't considered playing online, but it's something I overlooked each time I fired up the game. Perhaps I thought I woulld be too inexperienced in a world of dedicated, hardcore Arma 2 enthusiasts. And upon joining a MP game for the first time, I was.... There were a million things happening around me in the first 64 player server I joined. Engineers repairing APC's. Harriers and F35's taxiing down the run way to make a bombing run on a nearby overun city. I heard chatter over the radio of my team's Humvey convoy approaching the city from a flank position. And while all this was happening , I just stood at base, in the very position I spawned, and spun around and around taking in everything that was happening. This was an entire world I just stepped into. To avoid kick, I decided to move around a bit. I saw a pilot fire up a BlackHawk chopper and my team started to load up. I hoppped in back and we flew to a safe landing zone about a half mile east of our target city. I buddied up with my teams sniper, and we slowly and methodically picked off insurgants and moved our way into the city. Meanwhile choppers are buzzing over our head, the realistic sound of afterburning jet engines are roaring by, AA fire tracers are spraying violently through the air and on the horizon I can see a paratroop drop of about 15 soldiers slowly floating down. It was our secondary fire team surrounding the enemy. I knew then, that I would be playing this game all summer. And I have been. I consider myself inbetween and average and somewhat hardcore gamer, but I never thought I could get into Arma 2. I thought the community was too exclusive, and the game to difficult to learn. But I'm learning it. And it's the most fun I've had on my computer in a looong time. Thanks.… Expand
  22. jbroost
    Sep 6, 2009
    9
    it's not perfect, but pretty close. i run the gambet of
    strtagy war games from medieval to necular. iv'e got a whole shelf dedicated to conquering the world, i like good graphics and reality for the time. i like a game that offers a fair challange. ARMA 2 offers all that. im not sure how fictional arma2 in Chernarus will prove to be. remember Bosnia? i didn't give ARMA a    it's not perfect, but pretty close. i run the gambet of
    strtagy war games from medieval to necular. iv'e got a whole shelf dedicated to conquering the world, i like good graphics and reality for the time. i like a game that offers a fair challange. ARMA 2 offers all that. im not sure how fictional arma2 in Chernarus will prove to be. remember Bosnia? i didn't give ARMA a 10 because there ain't no 10s. but, like i said it's close. you may edit this for spelling but not for content, then print it ,post it, or whatever. thanks Jb    … Expand
  23. mikec
    Oct 8, 2009
    5
    Running i7@4ghz w/ 2 - gtx 260's and 6 gig ddr3 ram. i get frame rates that dip down to 20ish. playing flashpoint2 at the moment and getting 60fps MAXED out. arma2 could have been GREAT. but it wasn't. it lacks the polish that great games have. VOICES are completely ridiculous. For this reason alone i would stop playing the game, but there are other reasons... AI see's Running i7@4ghz w/ 2 - gtx 260's and 6 gig ddr3 ram. i get frame rates that dip down to 20ish. playing flashpoint2 at the moment and getting 60fps MAXED out. arma2 could have been GREAT. but it wasn't. it lacks the polish that great games have. VOICES are completely ridiculous. For this reason alone i would stop playing the game, but there are other reasons... AI see's through everything and knows ur there a mile away... campaign is so bugged out that missions have to be played multiple times to finish. i played multiplayer for a bit and it didn't seem bad, but could use a bit of structure. with the proper patches and NEW VOICEOVER this game could be the greatest game EVER, but unfortunately it falls so far from perfect. pickup flashpoint 2, it may not be uber-stupidly-realistic, but its fun!!… Expand
  24. JackS
    Jul 15, 2009
    6
    The graphics look quite nice sometimes, but this game is just such a mess! I like that it is quite a hardcore game. If you get shot by just ONE bullet, you fall to the ground bleeding. You then either die, need to reload a save game, or have to hope a squad mate can get to you and revive you. The AI is so terribly poor though, this is unlikely in offline play, and in offline play, usually The graphics look quite nice sometimes, but this game is just such a mess! I like that it is quite a hardcore game. If you get shot by just ONE bullet, you fall to the ground bleeding. You then either die, need to reload a save game, or have to hope a squad mate can get to you and revive you. The AI is so terribly poor though, this is unlikely in offline play, and in offline play, usually they don't even allow this option so you just die and then have to watch the rest of the battle without being able to play. If you thought CounterStrike was boring after you died, you aint seen nothing yet.. My main gripe though is that the campaign is just unplayable. I usually don't really care about bugs, but these bugs mean that you can't even play the game. You can't complete the missions... The controls are also really poor. I am a big flight sim fan so I'm no stranger to every key on the keyboard doing something, but this game is a joke. They clearly just have terrible designers because they use the same key for multiple things and there are different keys to do things that should be very simple. The terrible interface makes it really slow and ponderous to give very simple orders too. Your squad goes running towards an enemy, and you can't just tell them to "stop". You have to scroll through a bunch of menus to do that. The performance is also really terrible. I have a quad core which I have overclocked to 3.5ghz, and I have a GTX285. Most of the time I'm lucky to get over 25fps. It has a few quicker moments, but at times my frame rate goes to single digits. The villages are just so poorly made that the textures on all the buildings fail to load, and then they pop in far too late which looks ugly, and then the frame rate plummets. It's better if I lower all the settings to low and turn off all the effects but the game looks quite bad then and doing that on a high end PC is just terrible. Worst of all though, is the multiplayer. I have a 20mbit cable connection which is very fast... but most of the servers have terrible pings. The servers are hosted by average people not by the company, so they are really laggy. It really ruins the experience. Also you will be mid game and one time I was the only one to survive. I continued on the mission by myself and was doing well, but because the server host had to just watch, he decided to just shut his server down... I also find that people will ban you from their server if you are doing well. One time I was capping people really quite well in deathmatch and my score finally got higher than the server host. Suddenly I had been disconnected. I came back and I asked him why and he just permanently banned me without even saying anything. People will also ban you if your ping goes above 100, so if I try to play on a foreign server, I just get instantly banned. It's really a poor experience. The game has a lot of potential but I would save your money for something else. There are big games coming soon that will compete with this and do a far better job. At the very least, wait a few months and see if they can patch a lot of the problems. They already did two patches but it fixed very little and broke new things.… Expand
  25. RandallH
    Aug 8, 2009
    6
    I have only played the demo, but it seems to be an unfinished game. While i will admit it does have some hope, the game right now just has too many bugs. Also i had a hard time learning the controles, i changed a good number of them, and still had a hard time doing simple things like crawling, running aiming, and such. I will might reconsider getting the game once i see some updates/fixes I have only played the demo, but it seems to be an unfinished game. While i will admit it does have some hope, the game right now just has too many bugs. Also i had a hard time learning the controles, i changed a good number of them, and still had a hard time doing simple things like crawling, running aiming, and such. I will might reconsider getting the game once i see some updates/fixes come out.… Expand
  26. BaronM
    Jul 28, 2009
    5
    The game has a lot of fun parts to it, but there is just to much you can do. To much buttons to press, and to many bugs in the game. They just added to much. The game is to large as well. and the maps are way to big I am rarely in infantry combat because all people want to do is go in jeeps and tanks and planes and coppters. Also the voices of the side characters sound like 10 year olds. The game has a lot of fun parts to it, but there is just to much you can do. To much buttons to press, and to many bugs in the game. They just added to much. The game is to large as well. and the maps are way to big I am rarely in infantry combat because all people want to do is go in jeeps and tanks and planes and coppters. Also the voices of the side characters sound like 10 year olds. Why did you also use the in game battle com voice that BF2 uses. It sounds like they recorded one word seperately and added it together. I don't know which is worst arma 2 or AA3.… Expand
  27. [anonymous]
    Dec 25, 2009
    5
    The game was too graphically intense and shaders/objects did not load very quickly. My PC exceeded the recommended specs by two or three times. Game play was no different than ArmA 1.
  28. Illuminous
    Aug 29, 2011
    6
    I've been a great fan of Bohemia's simulatiors since they released Operation Flashpoint, but ArmA II just doesn't live up to it's predecessor. The graphics are great, almost to much for my PC to handle from time to time, and some missions gives you alot of open space to travel, but I've experienced just to many bugs within the game to continue, especially with the Co-oP campaing wereI've been a great fan of Bohemia's simulatiors since they released Operation Flashpoint, but ArmA II just doesn't live up to it's predecessor. The graphics are great, almost to much for my PC to handle from time to time, and some missions gives you alot of open space to travel, but I've experienced just to many bugs within the game to continue, especially with the Co-oP campaing were saving didn't work or missions were totally bugged. Hopefully ArmA III will put it all right, but this time I'll hold onto my money and not preorder it.… Expand
  29. Reaper1990
    May 29, 2012
    9
    Simulator which makes everything in large scale, no tiny maps, no small numbers of bots/people.
    Huge possibilities, editor, nice graphics and so on...
  30. Hudson633
    Aug 15, 2012
    7
    Mildly enjoyable, but annoyingly it's quite user-unfriendly and infested with awkward features and little bugs. I imagine what an older game could have been in the same genre, and this grew up from that genre and sprouted hideous defects. I'm being harsh because it really annoys me when a developer ruins a product by leaving it rough around the edges, but this is honesty and not spite. AtMildly enjoyable, but annoyingly it's quite user-unfriendly and infested with awkward features and little bugs. I imagine what an older game could have been in the same genre, and this grew up from that genre and sprouted hideous defects. I'm being harsh because it really annoys me when a developer ruins a product by leaving it rough around the edges, but this is honesty and not spite. At least I'm having fun on the popular DayZ mod with it, so all is forgiven.… Expand
  31. yameli
    Jul 13, 2013
    10
    El mejor juego de guerra que puede haber.Lo tiene todo.ya no solo este juego sino toda saga y todos sus dlcs.Al principio cuesta pero luego le coges el truco y si formas grandes amigos teneis buen equipo.Recomendable 100%
  32. Opi
    Dec 2, 2012
    5
    First off I think most reviews on games are stupid, be it a major reviewer or ordinary people on Metacritic. People love to rate games in extremes, it's always the lowest or highest numbers. And most on this site rate and follow up with "stupid, dumb, overrated" but rarely go into brief detail on why they rated the game so.

    This concept for this game is great. There are not too many    First off I think most reviews on games are stupid, be it a major reviewer or ordinary people on Metacritic. People love to rate games in extremes, it's always the lowest or highest numbers. And most on this site rate and follow up with "stupid, dumb, overrated" but rarely go into brief detail on why they rated the game so.

    This concept for this game is great. There are not too many simulators. Graphics look decent on everything (and I mean everything AA max etc.) but suffers from poor optimization. I get lag sometimes even when I lower AA and shadows. My rig is very powerful (i5 2500K 4.7, 7970 OC'd 1115/1500) but still suffers from lag. This game utilizes the CPU more than the GPU which I don't understand why some devs choose this route for their games, you'd think the GPU is much more efficient at running a game than a CPU. The AI, ohhhh, the AI. What AI? The AI is horrible, just horrible. Try commanding a tank and a convoy of Abrahms and Bradleys and you will have patches of hair gone from pulling it out. They run into building even though if they had moved 10 ft to the right they would of avoided it, but nooo, that would be too easy. You have to manually drive the vehicle until you are at the point you need to be or fire from and then switch to the gunner and shoot. Controls. Oh man. I understand completely that a simulator is very complex and is bound to have more actions than your run of the mill FPS like COD or BF but I really think if they would of spent a little more time on this they could of come up with a system that is alot more user friendly and simpler than what they have now. You are much better off spending half an hour or an hour configuring the controls so they are tolerable.

    In a nutshell the game has it's good and it's bad. It is very frustrating at times and very enjoyable and satisfying in others. This game is a slow paced SIMULATOR. If you are looking for a fast or semi face paced game like COD or BF then this is not for you. Even if you like simulators this game is frustrating as hell. Think of it like Americas Army with polished graphics and a billion more controls. You'd be well advised to download their demo on Steam before purchasing this game. There is one thing I forgot to mention about this game. There is a great modding community with some kickass mods out there. Such as Day Z. I read alot about Day Z which is the reason why I bought this game.    … Expand
  33. CallOfDuty
    Jan 3, 2013
    5
    I can say ARMA 2 is not that bad,i like its modding community,it's a beautiful game with beautiful maps (and the community maps),extremely huge map. it's not that terrible but i have to admit there are many bugs,i lagged,took me 3 hours to done a single objective,guess what? the game had glitch and i have to reset the mission again!
  34. Limey
    Jun 6, 2013
    10
    Whilst ArmA 2 was diverse and thrilling as a realistic, precise experience, it has a downfall with both bugs and a lack of smoothness, but ArmA 3 has removed all flaws with a perfected engine, rendering ArmA3 into a perfection of the loved formula to ArmA 2 without changing too much which was appreciated. It has not only improved the ArmA2 engine in smoothness, it has created a standardWhilst ArmA 2 was diverse and thrilling as a realistic, precise experience, it has a downfall with both bugs and a lack of smoothness, but ArmA 3 has removed all flaws with a perfected engine, rendering ArmA3 into a perfection of the loved formula to ArmA 2 without changing too much which was appreciated. It has not only improved the ArmA2 engine in smoothness, it has created a standard for polish with the explosive dynamics of the franchise formerly thought of as impossible due to complexities inherent to the chaotic, vast nature.… Expand
  35. darthvictor
    Jan 1, 2014
    10
    If u like games arcade games with knifes more deadly than anti material rifles, go play another game. But if u are like me and like realism, this game will be good.
  36. JamesGHarris
    Nov 8, 2013
    10
    This game has by far the best physics of any game ever made, they are only topped by reality. Also the game runs absolutely perfectly, I can run this well on my potato. Everything about this game is perfect, this is the greatest game ever made, ever.
  37. Arthurios
    May 13, 2014
    8
    Very well made, everything is on the highest level but gameplay and game itself is just too hard for me, even on recruit level. This is what you get from war simulator.
  38. WalterF.
    Nov 4, 2009
    7
    First of all the, if you are looking for a game with good graphics and you have a good computer, this is great. The graphics were stunning (ignore the people who say "I have an awesome computer but i have to run them on low," I ran them on the Ultra High graphics settings with a fast computer), the visuals blew me away like an RPG-7. It was so amazingly realistic and beautiful to see a First of all the, if you are looking for a game with good graphics and you have a good computer, this is great. The graphics were stunning (ignore the people who say "I have an awesome computer but i have to run them on low," I ran them on the Ultra High graphics settings with a fast computer), the visuals blew me away like an RPG-7. It was so amazingly realistic and beautiful to see a 225km free roaming landscape (thats right, a few levels are free roam across a gargantuan amount of land). Flying overhead in a helicopter and looking at the forest below is so amazing with these graphics its a great advancement in gaming. Anyway, a downer would have to be the voice acting. It seems to me like the got the people (or robots) to say each word used in the game scripts at different times. What I mean by this is that you will end up saying each word in a different tone of voice if you say each word separately rather than in one big sentence. This forms a horrible sounding sentence. Another negative is your field of view. If there are enemies about a few kilometers away, they will look like a tiny,tiny,microscopic speck to you. Then that speck screams "BOOM HEADSHOT!!" and you fall to the ground incapacitated. This would be fine by me since it is a tactical fps but they make it just far too hard to shoot at somebody a few kilometers away. Your red dot sight simply covers the speck and the area around it making you miss. I thought a great thing about ArmA 2 was the mission editor. It allows you to build up your own missions with objectives, placing any aimbotting npc you want onto the map. This is including vehicles and warfare buildings such as bunkers. This leads on to another great thing about ArmA 2. The insanely large quantity of vehicles and weapons. There are over 100 vehicles and 70 weapons in this game. I thought this was great. It gives the feeling of a tactical fps but with added in awesomeness. Whats better than to take a break from the tactical warfare of it all and maybe fly a jet across the whole country or maybe stay in the battle and transport some troops by helicopter. For gods sake they even added in boats! There were a lot of bugs to be honest that was a shame. Also, the instructions were awful. In the first level it hands you a pair of binoculars that somehow is a laser designator meaning it places coordinates for planes to bomb. Does it think of telling you how to set coordinates? No. The AI in this game was a bit retarded. I noticed how it said "advanced AI". My ass its advanced. Giving the order to your squad to get in the car is like telling them to set up a rocket to fly across our solar system. You end up smashing the monitor in and going GET IN THE ******* CAR *****!!!!!! And at that stage they all collapse incapacitated. Anyway i think I've typed enough here but aside those downers i think its a game worth getting if your into Tactical FPS games.… Expand
  39. E
    Dec 12, 2009
    8
    If your trying to decide between this and OPFII, well there's one thing you must ask yourself. Do you want the original OPF with improved graphics/weapons ect. or do you want another letdown Ghost Recon 2 (ie OFPII, not even a damn mission editor what a waste) . ArmA II is great at what it is and what it does. It is not simple go go xbox bs. There are bugs, but they will be worked If your trying to decide between this and OPFII, well there's one thing you must ask yourself. Do you want the original OPF with improved graphics/weapons ect. or do you want another letdown Ghost Recon 2 (ie OFPII, not even a damn mission editor what a waste) . ArmA II is great at what it is and what it does. It is not simple go go xbox bs. There are bugs, but they will be worked out. Nuff said. xbox=OFPII. pc=ArmA II. I own both and this is my verdict.… Expand
  40. TomT.
    Oct 25, 2009
    9
    Worthy sequel to the original Operation Flashpoint with much more content. Very difficult game, also very rewarding. Hard enough to keep away the console generation. Its got some bugs but easy to over look them for the beauty underneath. Love it!
  41. ItamarB.
    Oct 9, 2009
    9
    I would have give a 10 if not for the numerous bugs (a man standing in front of you is heard over the radio?!?!?! with 3 diffrent voices :D ) but beside this, the game is one of the best i ever played. too bad bohemia didn't finish it on time.
  42. ChuckL.
    Jun 26, 2009
    10
    ArmA 2 Amazed Me. i was just bursted away from screen when I set the graphics all very high. It looked incredibly realistic. Nature was very live. Everything was very detailed. Shaders were superb. I think ArmA 2 will be living longer than any other game. I believe in this game, And I know it will get Highest Ratings after patching and brushing game up. I spend 95% of my time at computer ArmA 2 Amazed Me. i was just bursted away from screen when I set the graphics all very high. It looked incredibly realistic. Nature was very live. Everything was very detailed. Shaders were superb. I think ArmA 2 will be living longer than any other game. I believe in this game, And I know it will get Highest Ratings after patching and brushing game up. I spend 95% of my time at computer by playing this amazing tactical shooter. It throws back Crysis by 1 billion miles away from me. When I played ArmA 2. I forgot my previous games. I was so impressed. Keep it up, Bohemia comrades!… Expand
  43. JohnK.
    Jul 17, 2009
    10
    Yes there are a couple bugs, but no show stoppers that should keep you from experiencing one of the most immersive pieces of software ever created. In terms of outdoor graphics Arma 2 is only surpassed by Crysis, and even then, it presents a much more realistic color palette and much larger area of action. There truly is the opportunity for realism here not to be found anywhere else in gaming.
  44. JaniceLaurence
    Jul 22, 2009
    9
    I absolutely love this game. Get beyond the usual bugs, it is utterly brilliant. I could not go back to Arma. I just play on my own server with friends. We just keep getting better, and more used to the game. Just keep playing, you get used to the bugs, and adapt to the AI being incredibly elite.
    All in all a great game. Did I say, I love this game?
  45. LoganM.
    Jul 5, 2009
    9
    A solid shooter with realistic elements to boast. Made more for the hardcore realistic shooter fan ArmA 2 picks up right were the first one left off. Adding new combat elements, a stronger AI system, and brand new grahpic elements ArmA 2 is a sequel that does its predecessor justice.
  46. BigDaddy
    Jul 7, 2009
    9
    I bought and love this game! The sheer size of the terrain and amount of possibilities in gameplay are vast. The only reason I gave it a 9 and not a 10 are the few graphical glitches and AI glitches I have encountered in game play. If you want a life like war FPS there is none better.
  47. MrGil
    Jul 7, 2009
    9
    Despite bugs and issues with the campaign this game is incredible due to it's vast features and complexity. Bohemia Interactive's army simulation series are unparalleled!
  48. GuyMetal
    Jul 8, 2009
    9
    Tired of no brain run and gun tactics? This can make you realise there is more to it. Best War simulator out there.
  49. DeepFar
    Aug 15, 2009
    8
    GOOD: First of all, this game is a Simulating game rather than an original FPS game. You can't compared it with COD just like you can't compared Blazing Angle with IL2 sieries. What I want say is there are totally different aim between this game and other FPS game. That is "REALITY". Not only in the graphics way, but also in the system, control, stragety and AI(MOST SUCCESSFUL GOOD: First of all, this game is a Simulating game rather than an original FPS game. You can't compared it with COD just like you can't compared Blazing Angle with IL2 sieries. What I want say is there are totally different aim between this game and other FPS game. That is "REALITY". Not only in the graphics way, but also in the system, control, stragety and AI(MOST SUCCESSFUL PART I THINK!) . There is no doubt that the one who can master this game must (and need to) have a certain background of modern battle and military knowledge. Beca BAD: Serious number of bugs make even a guy like me (A serious fan of OFP&ARMA ) very very very disappoint. For god's sake the 3rd update pack have just released and the campaign mission finally seems possible to finish. As a game designer, I can see the team is bravely trying to make a lot of challenge in the mission part.Most of concept is totally new, but sadly say some of them is boring (AND TOO MUCH BUGGY).… Expand
  50. AlexV
    Aug 23, 2009
    9
    Really unusual game which is more akin to a full military simulator. Personally I like the realism and actually found myself scared under fire for the first time in ages. There is a lot of luck present like being hit by a stray bullet or being spotted, but again I like the feeling that that is how it would actually be.
  51. JariL
    Sep 21, 2009
    9
    This game are very nice but need some updates after 1.04 Anyway game are simulator game so dont cry if you dont have skills to fly or do something else (im not skilled pilot). Realistic are realistic not arcade **** what BF games was so learn to fly not whine. Best war game what never seen, I can recommend this for all FPS gamers who want more actions than aim and shoot.
  52. SinedO
    Sep 23, 2009
    9
    Patched version of this Rocks.. and as an older player seeking something that pushes the limits of technology.. this is it! play the demo and see ...no feel for yourself, yes theres a learning curve on the command controls, but the joy of bringing down a 7000 Game dollar Apache helicopter with a base defense 300 game dollar gun is lovely.
  53. SanoK
    Nov 28, 2009
    9
    This game has a lot of bugs but that is because some gamers were bitching about release date. "Oh it will never come out" and when the game is released it is full of bugs and than the same people whine about the bugs. SARCASTIC. Game developer Marek S. should lock up in a cave with his team and relase the game as total surprise. I think he pays more attention to public than to developing This game has a lot of bugs but that is because some gamers were bitching about release date. "Oh it will never come out" and when the game is released it is full of bugs and than the same people whine about the bugs. SARCASTIC. Game developer Marek S. should lock up in a cave with his team and relase the game as total surprise. I think he pays more attention to public than to developing functional game.… Expand
  54. MartinH
    Oct 17, 2009
    10
    A great game, I just got to the mission where anything got open ended and it has been stellar with the1.04 patch. But the score is also for the developer going for it. I don't play games for fun, rather for challenge and for expiriencing situations that I cannot in real life. I also come from an eastern european country so I find the battlefield highly authentic, it really reminds me A great game, I just got to the mission where anything got open ended and it has been stellar with the1.04 patch. But the score is also for the developer going for it. I don't play games for fun, rather for challenge and for expiriencing situations that I cannot in real life. I also come from an eastern european country so I find the battlefield highly authentic, it really reminds me for my childhood. And getting shot, well that is part of war, I actually am excited as I get to try a different approach. And of course there is some luck but with a lot of training, patience and advancing very slowly you can really expirience one the best simulators out there.… Expand
  55. AndresCL
    Oct 24, 2009
    10
    This game is not for arcade FPS gamers. If you love CoD4 running and shooting kind of stuff, you may not like this game. Yet if you like a 255km2 map, a large number of vehicles from tractors to fighter jets and any kind of rifle/rocket launcher you can imagine, all of them with realistic ballistic then you will love this game. But its not just its "out-of-the-box" content what makes this This game is not for arcade FPS gamers. If you love CoD4 running and shooting kind of stuff, you may not like this game. Yet if you like a 255km2 map, a large number of vehicles from tractors to fighter jets and any kind of rifle/rocket launcher you can imagine, all of them with realistic ballistic then you will love this game. But its not just its "out-of-the-box" content what makes this game so good. Its mainly its capability to mod it to the point you can add thousand of more weapons, maps, units, new functions with no problems at all. This is definitely a good buy… Expand
  56. JBR.
    Oct 31, 2009
    8
    Kudos -good game. However, as it progresses the order commands change. What used to work might not work now ie..Dogs of War. Some places it gets a little old..lots of repeats. Other than that it seems to work fine. We need more campaigns..go..do it. Again Kudos. Thanks Jb
  57. mrjglocrcti
    Jun 26, 2009
    10
    ARMA 2
    Where to begin whit this one? You might have all kind of expectation of this game if you yet hadn't played it so let me uncover the reality of this one. The Personal Computers has had over the years hundreds of pseudo and semi simulation about the warfare and thousands of FPS shooter but none of them have really tried to put it all together. It sure isn't easy to give    ARMA 2
    Where to begin whit this one? You might have all kind of expectation of this game if you yet hadn't played it so let me uncover the reality of this one. The Personal Computers has had over the years hundreds of pseudo and semi simulation about the warfare and thousands of FPS shooter but none of them have really tried to put it all together. It sure isn't easy to give rightful number ratio due subjective view of fan boyish but some objective view point will be needed.

    The story of development of ArmA2 begin in 1998 when BIS founders got idea to realize the vast open world with infantry and vehicle elements of other games into one single game. It was short miracle that OFP got so many things right whit so few resources they got back in days and they went making game enough open it to fully every single armchair enthusiastic make their own modification to it which is still one of the franchises most notable element to separate it other products.

    Community grow up to numbers challenge any other ones especially the amount of content made to it, you still might to find almost every single gun and military vehicle of some army of the world in addons or mods that is some kind of record in any games yet. Some of the community members took their ambitions to sell code to real world armies that which will later to became serving all anglospeaking countries military training simulator as VBS, the fact which really again make this product more feel like counterpart more suited version to gamers needs and demand.

    After separation whit original publisher they got need to keep flow of fund which was called ArmA to keep them able to stay on business which taught fortunately a lot lessons to coding team harsh reality of difficulties to ensure game able to work every machine correctly. So how the latest version of ArmA II release has now come of from all this work over the years?

    The game obviously in this size of the caliber will be vastly complex. The amazing ambition to push development of the genre has it troubles. When there hardly is any other game of this class its easy to forgive a lot of undone features, coding bugs & elements due there aren't any better product to choice against it.

    It would not be fair to too much concentrate to things which obviously lack of work which are easy to put to table. The development team weren't over 100 what it come to BIS coders which means a lot of trivial/simulation features are not coded what a pity!

    -Expectations and premises of game
    Ultimate Military Simulation is quite a immersing and blatant claim to game so how it can come up?

    -Physics the thing what have take grand step over last years .It is still basically the same Poseidon engine from decades ago and some part of isn't got updated. There isn't any ragdoll calculations to human bodies and therefore dead soldiers will stick to animations which might sometimes looks very unnatural. Vehicles and other objects have their share of problems when collision model doesn't work correctly. Damage model is simplified in the vehicles there hitpoint of some part that will determine when .

    There isn't yet possibility to correctly calculate the destruction of world in this size due limitation of current technology and CPU/GPU power. New GFX cards and collaboration work of manufacturers drivers and programs push certainly something new but is not yet enough easy to implement and therefore such features like DX10 new possibilities aren't used. So no digging inside ground make potholes or trenches and no . The building have more destruction zones and part can coded to fall apart before the whole block will demolish down to earth. Next instalment might then come whit full support to destructive environment.

    -Player movement have been tweaked and make it more appealing regular and casual players in general. It certainly feel less clumsy this time around thought there in time come moment you wish that it would have even more improved in specific situations what confront at times. You can climb over small walls and fences and lean over corners. There isn't shamely that much of options to different height positions especially when shooting behind walls or holes you neither can have a variety of speed on running or other animation.

    -AI they have they own ability to work in teams and individually. Player teams can fight on they own and like to keep their asses alive so they wont just look stupidly over their shoulders under fire. In longer rangesunscripted AI can keep their positions without searching any cover or too much bothering get killed what really isn't intuitive. In CQB they doesn't shoot back immediately in all the moment and can be found stuck of some objects. They currently still sometimes keep walking through objects without affect of real force preventing it.

    It is important have a lot of variety and randomness on their behavior some should be fearless machines and some life fearing campers. In A2 they not have that much of difference between units ranks or nations but generally all behave more or less similar way.
    AI have nasty habit to be known player position without directly seeing them. Sometimes it is rightful from information of other teams or hearing but spotting player when you are far away them on night can still cause bit nerve racking on some.

    AI is able on their own search their best calculated route from A to B and leaning over corners and keeping distance to other team members. The teamwork where MG support fire during movement under combat is well done team leader give commands and hand marks.
    Grass and vegetation have different view block meaning AI can see through grass but not trees or bushes can which make it unfair to player to shooting back invisible target. The inconsistency of their reaction and play thought is unacceptable stage so far.

    -Missions and Campaign are well more got work over them this time. I would go to much of speak of them but quickly reviewing that they have the feel and continuity on them. The plot of marine force invasion is seen but seems work well. Civilian life during mission is great feature over other games empty population. There is a lot different way to approach of objectives meaning you have much choice how and when to do something. Story have its twists and stand up to its peers. Warning word, many missions scripts are broken causing mission not trigger some important objectives and preventing advancing on campaign which should be possible skip using "endmission" command cheat.

    -Weapons are well presented to game theme there is NATO s and marines M4 family most prominent but others are still in. Russians have too a lot AKs. There is pistols, missiles, and such but the few concerns is that lack of customization part such of scopes change during gameplay aren't in, hand grenades throwing isn't that well done there isn't way put them correct places you would like them to go. No hand combat in general. Artillery modules is fine upgrade thought doesn't have easy implementation to custom missions.

    Reloading during moving is new feature. Lack of animation to see correctly reload magazines and hand in gun might disappoint some. Shooting feel as it should sharp and accurate when mount and prone although there isn't way to stabilize them against objects. Recoil is done right player hands move whit gun not rest is affected. No stacking of ammo or those are in game. Ballistic, penetration and few muzzle parameters are all what you could expect. The lack of variety of muzzle fire effects doesn't look too fine.

    -Sounds in general are gorgeous there is great variety to noises in ambiance and when it comes to firefight the intensity of all the sounds are spectacular.
    Radio commands have their problems there is kind of not yet finished system of giving away information about enemies locations and need further work to more specifically give player to know where to look.

    Voices of actor aren't the most top heap but do it work. Guns sound varies over some does sound like IRL counterpart and some not there is difference between where they are shot and making more feeling .
    Vehicles does sound right and can give away they types even when not visible to player. There is Doppler effect and speed of sounds in game so explosion in 2 miles will take over 10 s to hear.

    -Cars doesn't stay on road that easily that you could do IRL due lacking of further development of controlling methods and mechanics that mean that drunken driving in bikes and unarmored vehicles will have lethal consequences in high speed. Destruction models need more stages and individual parts of vehicles should be possible to separated apart each other. Tires loses their air and can be removed and the glass be shoot off entirely.

    Penetration values of different ammunition isn't yet that well implemented and will cause many situation where IRL counterpart doesn't work in game . The passengers still might all get fully killed when the damage of vehicle is full up. There isn't way to passengers shoot out of vehicle without scripting and no free movement when moving is possible.
    AI have hard time to keep their speed on road and will slow down in some situation in moment least needed. There aren't animation out of open doors or in and transition remain same as in predecessor.

    -Tanks they are easy to control as a driver but as a commander you ll get unresponsive AI crew making your life harder. No implemented laser range finder or more complicated tech to shooting but should do general what player would expect them to do giving armor against infantry treat. AI tanks without player control aren't capable to maneuver using real life tactics meaning tanks keep wouldn't expose to enemy their sides or back or using right ammunition to different treat. Enough amount of variety and firepower, suspension also bounces over small rocks and blocks over ground. Tank enthusiastics will stay on Steel Beast Pro.

    -Choppers are user-friendly in general flight physics certainly isn't match to DCS BS but still much better than other ones non specific simulator have. Have firepower to keep tank crew on aware their mortality. Joystick user will have more space to multi amount of support. The most annoying is particularly the auto trust which either is full or non there should be in air vehicles implement more sophisticated way trust have elevation between ratios.
    -Airplanes does have more controllable turning rate against A1 and generally are more useful the size of map is that small that there isn't realistically too many uses over CAS support and such. Shooting is simple pressing key when aimed. Bomb dropping isn't that hard either in some planes dive bombing if not assisted with laser targeting from other ones. Pilot have vision to keep track of world but spotting of targets is almost entirely to left to radar which will show enemies from allies. Would like to get more slower older types and transport to Russian side. Lack of counter measures yet will not get any hurray reaction to LOMAC and such fans. -Chernarus and Utes are done from real world data and make the believable there is enough variety over landscape thought addons to desert climate will soon complete other needs. Buildings, forest & ambiance looks very eastern European. It maybe doesn't have biggest cities and towns but give enough variety of country and urban. -GFX is wonderful to this type of game. Huge vast world filled of life is important element to get player immersion being in real breathing world. The engine can push a lot shaders, polygons on screen and still stay playable in current generation computers. The vegetation of game is one of landmark of company and definitely the best one of any games released. Units and peoples have now much more polygons on them but still lack of variety of animations and extra behaviors make them somehow lifeless in some situation if left without any further control. Faces hasn't got that much mimics than some other can allow and will bit make close confrontation of interaction whit NPC characters not that much -Multiplayer is again one half of the whole game, there is massive amount of player controllable things get done. Mission designer can do what ever situation on fly and there is abundance of different game types in general compared to any other games on market. In small mission in general well doing server game doesn't lag which is the most important things. However when you increase the amount of scripts and units on mission the calculation will in some point have its bottle necks. The maximum amount player spot is determined more about the server. CTI will be certainly be the most prominent mp mod due massive landmass and towns and will get all friend of it play this games surely. You can see too some specific type of minor things like RPG of socialization of some nerds who enjoy spending whole day looking after each other in Chernarusville type missions. Game seems thought all the openness able to prevent hacking and cheating so far using different techniques. There certainly isn't ranking up officially or something other prices to evaluate gameplay but it will promote more team work and VOIP works fine. Cooperation against massive AI companies should be base setting there also will be whole campaign able to be playable by any amount of players. -Modification is always been there from beginning if the editor doesn't make something mission editor wish then some extra scripting out of game surely will make it work. The mods will easily be ported over A1 and there is ability on moment when officially game got tools or released be so much new content that for years to come there is always something new to come out. Game engine almost allow any WW2 modification made much more better than any full priced game could ever deliver. New maps new SP,MP missions, and so much more. Community over forums and worldwide is making sure that this game will not be anytime soon to be forgotten. The developers should more focus of community cooperation getting talented people work for modules/addons/game engine changes which will later implemented officially and in bug fixing have more working relationship to have official tools and website to bug reports and voting of features. To produce more end-user marketing more contest of multigaming, website have all the people there to show the progress and quality control. Ability adjust new technological products making sure the game will be as well able to fully utilise all power any system will let them and more customize the game to different audiences such the simulation freaks of vehicles get their own options have everything as close of reality as possible and arcade/RPG/adventure who doesn't care that aspect would have options to close such of options off. Distinguishing everything to making them able customize their own gameplay as they want it to be "you dint necessarily shouldn't be forced to restrained to on pre-made animation, which play on everyone exactly same". PROs + +feature-rich war game sandbox +ambition to working livable work is right there +for 50$ product excellent purchasing value +graphical design is very great considering how much it have to work to drawing long view distances and same time to keep the micro details +focus on so many game types is making it playable to many people +multiplayer people will have great time fun what ever is gametype from DM/CTI to RPG or RTS +Mission editor is enough easy to beginners yet complicated to more complex mission making +more fluid gameplay and controllable characters +There is more gametypes out of box than in general such of SP campaign/single missions/tutorials/skirmishes/editing/simple Armory/encyclopedia,MP +Open non-linear campaign is still not yet overdone in gaming and surely have so many interesting moments +Step ahead from A1 in sense of optimized engine to able pull +An Animals and massive amount of plants/trees/landscape objects make authentic atmosphere +the AI have it strengths , in some way is new evolution of FPS genre and they make you on hard setting afraid of your life any moment. +future of community developing extra content things will certainly keep interest many years, +there is so much of potential for further development which will mean that the life curve will be much longer than in any other games +BIS will deliver patches and even new content for long time to come +The real successor to 2001 OFP is certainly got the feeling in general as it should have CONS- -Need much more quality control which means more employees to code and test game before release version to get better ratings and peoples reception -customization to different gameplay aren't supported out of box -restricting animation still in making some quick gameplay impossible -lack emphasis to deeper hardcore simulation of warfare all the tech advantage in past 50 year have missed example FLIRS,laser meter,electrical computing etc -not modification tools yet out meaning the content will be follow much later period of games life when they will be released -inconsistency in scripts working due complex nonlinear design -bugs are very trivial ones and can be annoy a lot of the people different ways -people doesn't have enough much time to learn and find many things in game and will never understand them and therefore ignoring some of the very important things that rise the game overall value -game engine is in the pieces which means some things have got much more focus than other ones and game isn't so called "balanced" which actually is good thing -AI has many moment of freezing,super ability to spot anybody without notable reason , working different situation such of driving of vehicles and not able to work independently without mission designer assign -will again be bashed by so many other peoples who prefer CQB in tunnels and not appreciated of the so many more of content over minor ones Overall it is a big stack of masterpiece which will set limits & standarts to come and no PC gamer should in any case miss it! P.S I ve read & study english just one year now so that's why whole grammar is what is it (started in summer 2008).    … Expand
  58. SeppoK
    Jun 26, 2009
    10
    Pinnacle of the FPS/War Simulation genre, true masterpiece that will not be matched in several years of mainstream games! After all the bugs have been get rid of and the game is more optimized it will be perfect!
  59. DavidC
    Jun 26, 2009
    10
    Amazing! I always thought realism didn't fit well in games... but this just proved me wrong. It's so realistic and the gameplay is intense. I can tell I'm going to be playing this game for years to come.
  60. EdwardM
    Jun 27, 2009
    10
    There is something amazing about this game, something of titanic structure, endlessly complex and devilishly unpredictable wealth. I don't think I could recommend this to any but the most fanatical of strategic, hardcore squad-based shooting simulator lover. It's deep, enigmatic engine will keep you up all night unraveling the secrets of order, discipline and key mapping, all There is something amazing about this game, something of titanic structure, endlessly complex and devilishly unpredictable wealth. I don't think I could recommend this to any but the most fanatical of strategic, hardcore squad-based shooting simulator lover. It's deep, enigmatic engine will keep you up all night unraveling the secrets of order, discipline and key mapping, all just to be shot down in no heroic fashion. Again and Again. Better than the real thing. If that is any comparison.… Expand
  61. Matthew
    Jun 29, 2009
    9
    Wow, where do we start - massive game, massive scale, massive weapon range, massive mod community.. This is a vast rich and deep military simulator.. If you are a Counter Strike player or a Battlefield player this may not suit you.. Different pace, different scale. Itsa not about your sklls with a mouse but rather using terrain, team work and tactics. Only issues are some bugs/performance Wow, where do we start - massive game, massive scale, massive weapon range, massive mod community.. This is a vast rich and deep military simulator.. If you are a Counter Strike player or a Battlefield player this may not suit you.. Different pace, different scale. Itsa not about your sklls with a mouse but rather using terrain, team work and tactics. Only issues are some bugs/performance but BIS do pump out the patches.… Expand
  62. Th3Pr0f
    Jul 12, 2009
    10
    Best Military Simulation period. One thing that I find very disappointing is people calling the game Armed Assault 2 which is completely wrong. The name is ArmA2 like Bohemia has announced before that Armed Assault 2 is a false title. Armed Assault was a subtitle for the first Arma in Europe. When Bohemia found out that Arma was incorrectly referred to as Armed Assault they changed the Best Military Simulation period. One thing that I find very disappointing is people calling the game Armed Assault 2 which is completely wrong. The name is ArmA2 like Bohemia has announced before that Armed Assault 2 is a false title. Armed Assault was a subtitle for the first Arma in Europe. When Bohemia found out that Arma was incorrectly referred to as Armed Assault they changed the title to Combat Operations for north America to avoid any misunderstandings. ArmA is a Latin term and has nothing to do with Armed Assault.… Expand
  63. SamR
    Jul 16, 2009
    8
    Arma2 is awesome. Sure, the game is complex at first, and yes, it has its bugs, but when it doesn't, I love the tactics and teamwork you have to deploy to truly take advantage of this game. The graphics are also pretty damn good, and there's no other FPS you can play where you have 250 sq km in one map! The epic feel to the game only adds to it.
  64. lolwut
    Aug 18, 2009
    8
    (this review takes place after all the wonderful updates) This title IS undoubtedly good, but Singleplayer was COMPLETLY ruined my freindly AI. For one, though they could see enemies through mountians (which did help) but they absolutley would not take cover EVER, and if ONE teammate dies, its gameover.. I cannot relate to you how IMPOSSIBLE this made the campaign. I mean, sure I could (this review takes place after all the wonderful updates) This title IS undoubtedly good, but Singleplayer was COMPLETLY ruined my freindly AI. For one, though they could see enemies through mountians (which did help) but they absolutley would not take cover EVER, and if ONE teammate dies, its gameover.. I cannot relate to you how IMPOSSIBLE this made the campaign. I mean, sure I could take the enemies on myself (Though enemy AI truly does still cheat after all these updates)- but my teammates could not refrain in any way from getting themselves shot and a nasty gameover screen. even when I told them to hang back and go prone, if they saw an enemy, they would automatically stad up and get thier heads blown off... lol. Anyway, I just had to get my anger over friendly AI out. Now for the good stuff. It is an uber realistic, accurate military combat sim, which basically packs basically every feature imaginable as well as a flight sims and driving sims. Though fustrating, it is always fun in the end and VERY rewarding. (except for a few very buggy cutscences trown at the end of missions.) Multiplayer is a tactical blast, and not just your average BF2 coop but you MUST have ventrillo teamspeak or be in a clan, or you WILL be kicked. (I found this out myself after about 10 bans) People afriad of the TRIGGER bugs have no need to worry now as they have fixed those, therefore the remaining terrible bugs are mostly AI. Overall, Its a fun, interesting and excruciatingly fustrating title though in the end I could not bring myself to rate it lower than an 8. NOT reccmonded for most people.… Expand
  65. AnonymousMC
    Sep 27, 2009
    10
    this game is epic and shows you that you dont need dx 10 to have a great game the video is wonder full the mods are plenty the realism is so real u might get iraq syndrom :P i mean i love this game and arma 1
  66. ghos7bear
    Feb 14, 2012
    10
    There is something special about this game, it manages to be amazingly bad and amazingly awesome at the same time. There are bugs, glitches, problems, strange things, some stuff unoptimized and so but but still game is so good and addictive, it will kick your ass and chop your head off at the beginning of learning curve but will become extremely rewarding as soon as you will know what toThere is something special about this game, it manages to be amazingly bad and amazingly awesome at the same time. There are bugs, glitches, problems, strange things, some stuff unoptimized and so but but still game is so good and addictive, it will kick your ass and chop your head off at the beginning of learning curve but will become extremely rewarding as soon as you will know what to do and how to do it. There is always something new to discover in the game, something new to try. Amount of user-created missions is already enough to play the game until the end of times.… Expand
  67. HenryBukowski
    Sep 21, 2014
    5
    Arma 2 is an atmospheric and immersive - but ultimately unsuccessful - attempt to channel the soul of Operation Flashpoint. The game continues the tactic of taking fictional but plausible parts of the former soviet bloc, but unlike its spiritual predecessor, Arma 2 is modern and to-date; where Operation Flashpoint was in the spirit of the cold war, this game is more 'modern warfare'.Arma 2 is an atmospheric and immersive - but ultimately unsuccessful - attempt to channel the soul of Operation Flashpoint. The game continues the tactic of taking fictional but plausible parts of the former soviet bloc, but unlike its spiritual predecessor, Arma 2 is modern and to-date; where Operation Flashpoint was in the spirit of the cold war, this game is more 'modern warfare'.

    It's worth saying that if you don't have any experience with 'military simulation' type games, you are going to find the going tougher. They are a different beast to the likes of Call of Duty and Battlefield.
    Even for the Operation Flashpoint veteran, this game is very, very challenging, and therein lies one of its chief weaknesses.

    If you chose to buy and play this game I guarantee you will spend most of your time desperately trying to spot the enemy fair enough, in that this is part and parcel of warfare (I imagine!). However, whilst you struggle to spot any living creatures whatsoever, your fellow soldiers are robotic in their ability to spot and track enemy soldiers. The unfortunate result is that in many firefights, particular in the wilderness, you find yourself almost completely redundant. Whilst you have your face in a bush, your comrades kill all the enemy targets. In short, this realism would work if the other npc's really as human and fallible as you - but in fact they are not, and this makes the game markedly less fun as your character becomes unimportant. You will find yourself dying endlessly in a position where surely nobody could have spotted you. I even noticed an issue whereby when you spot certain enemies and radio in to HQ, this triggers your enemy spotting you (and killing you, usually)

    The story is involving, but loses its way; the world and background is complex and immersive, but arguably too complex for the length of the campaign (short). You lead your team for the duration of the campagin besides the first mission, and this gives important freedom, particularly with the huge and open world. However if you lose a team member the mission is failed, so you never have the flexibility you did in Flashpoint where you could lose your entire squad and still complete the mission.

    Unfortunately, this game which makes you feel tension and involvement, is crippled by bugs. These are particularly noticeable when you have a 'free to roam' mission. You might be interrupted by a 'mission completed' pop up which says something completely false about what you have done. E.g 'you have sucessfully destroyed the enermy convoy etc etc ..." No I didn't! Or dialogue could be triggered at the wrong moments leaving you bewildered. This is compounded by poor AI - somehow, worse than in Flashpoint which came out 10 years ago or more, and a poor user interface.

    Worth a play if you loved flashpoint half as much as me, but prepare to feel frustrated to the extreme.    … Expand
  68. Wadeyboy
    Mar 30, 2012
    5
    This could potentially have been a classic as it has many great ideas. However, it's one of the buggiest games I've ever played in over 30 years of computer gaming. However they had the nerve to release expansions for this game is shocking! They should have cleared up the AI issues and fixed their broken game first. Just one example (I could write a long, long list); When you try to call aThis could potentially have been a classic as it has many great ideas. However, it's one of the buggiest games I've ever played in over 30 years of computer gaming. However they had the nerve to release expansions for this game is shocking! They should have cleared up the AI issues and fixed their broken game first. Just one example (I could write a long, long list); When you try to call a helicopter to transport you to another location, you would think it could land in a large, empty car park without continually crashing into surrounding tress or buildings. Then when you do finally get it to land safely, your squad gets fatally injured when you order them to board it! The ambition of the game is admiral and there are loads of good ideas, but that is all negated by the bugs that make it unplayable. I bought this in a sale and I still feel ripped off! The worst case of a game released in a wholly unfinished state I've ever seen! Ironically, if you are looking for a realistic squad based shooter, I would advise going for Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising or Operation Flashpoint Red River. Ironically because this is done by the team that did the original Operation Flashpoint but couldn't keep the name of that franchise because of the change of publisher.… Expand
  69. DGDrocks7
    Jul 16, 2013
    9
    Video games will never totally emulate real life, but if there is a game that is closest to real life, it's ArmA II. This is the ultimate infantry war-simulator. I say infantry because the vehicles aren't really simulated like other vehicle simulators. In other words, ArmA doesn't simulate aircraft as much as combat flight simulators like DCS: A-10C. There is a free version of ArmA on theVideo games will never totally emulate real life, but if there is a game that is closest to real life, it's ArmA II. This is the ultimate infantry war-simulator. I say infantry because the vehicles aren't really simulated like other vehicle simulators. In other words, ArmA doesn't simulate aircraft as much as combat flight simulators like DCS: A-10C. There is a free version of ArmA on the website, which only has the editor and multiplayer. Give that a spin, and if you love it, get the full version. Be warned, you need a beast of a PC to play this game!… Expand
  70. gonorrheahd
    Jan 4, 2012
    10
    At first I was told by a friend that this game was supposed to be really awesome, I wasn't sure about it, being a military sim and all, but this game is the best investment in FPSing games that I've bought. The way your team and everyone you play with all fight together, this game isn't another **** COD this is a real mans game, if you want to go to the extreme of realism this is the game,At first I was told by a friend that this game was supposed to be really awesome, I wasn't sure about it, being a military sim and all, but this game is the best investment in FPSing games that I've bought. The way your team and everyone you play with all fight together, this game isn't another **** COD this is a real mans game, if you want to go to the extreme of realism this is the game, not cod or battlefield. It took me a while to get used to this game with all the advanced controls but after a while in BOOTCAMP which is part of the main campaign which people seem to miss and try to dive right into the game, I was able to fall in love with every aspect of this game. Every time I play you get the feeling of "being" or "living" in this army like experience and its the best feeling ever! And for the people that say you need a high end computer, what are you talking about, I maxed this game out easily.… Expand
  71. JymmyQuidd
    Nov 23, 2011
    8
    One of the best games i ever played, when i tried this game i was expecting another typical fps (run, shoot, reload, run, shoot, reload), but this... this is the most complete FPS game ever seen (bcause its not only a fps), the thing is it has some issues that made the game lose credibility, such as some bugs, the controls complexity, and the playability style. A lot of bugs are fixed withOne of the best games i ever played, when i tried this game i was expecting another typical fps (run, shoot, reload, run, shoot, reload), but this... this is the most complete FPS game ever seen (bcause its not only a fps), the thing is it has some issues that made the game lose credibility, such as some bugs, the controls complexity, and the playability style. A lot of bugs are fixed with the patches, personally i never had any issues while playing since the last ones; the control complexity is a part of the game, there are too many options and actions to make, maybe too complicated for the casual player or the classic fps player. The playability is a big factor, cz team playing is the pilar of this game, the thing is u can't fully enjoy this while playing Single player mission or campaigns, the IA is not capable of taking too complicated orders or actions, so the best thing is to play a multiplayer map to enjoy the team play (the domination maps out there are amazing), i had plenty of good moments while playing this on MP.
    Graphics are good, but don't expect the best graphic engine of the market. Finally, the best thing of this game is the modding comunity, there are plenty of mods to try and enjoy (like fallout 3), a lot of playability options can be changed, u can literally create a whole new environment.
    Anyway, if ur tired of classic run and shoot fps and ur looking for some realistic action, to use a big bunch of different weapons, drive tanks, jets, helos, cars, even mountainbikes xD, to command people in the field, and a lot more, just stop reading, shut up and buy this diamond!    … Expand
  72. Firebad
    Dec 25, 2011
    9
    Great game, loved the adventure. nothing more fun than taking your friends, piling in a Humvee, tank, helicopter, or any other vehicle, and blazing out into the unknown to kill every single enemy soldier. while the mechanics are a little rough around the edges, that shouldn't deter you from enjoying this massive, tactical, sandbox shooter.
  73. Mikefdk
    Jan 3, 2012
    10
    Little harder to just jump in then cod, but when you get use to it is awesome. I rate it 9.5/10 some bugs with the AI some times. If you are looking for a realistic shooter this is the best game to play.
  74. themoore117
    Jan 21, 2012
    10
    This game could've had soooo much more put into it, but unfortunately, it didn't. For me, it's the small things that make a game an enjoyable experience. Some things I noticed that annoyed me was the medic healing...you see something happening when you heal someone, but apparently all of the band-aids are invisible or something. Some other things is if you actually saw your men get in andThis game could've had soooo much more put into it, but unfortunately, it didn't. For me, it's the small things that make a game an enjoyable experience. Some things I noticed that annoyed me was the medic healing...you see something happening when you heal someone, but apparently all of the band-aids are invisible or something. Some other things is if you actually saw your men get in and out of tanks, boats, helo's, etc...it would be much better, but as most FPS games "insta-pop" you into Vehicles, it's not a big deal. Although these small flaws, along with the sometimes idiotic AI, poped at first to me, It was over shunned by the pure "awesomeness" that the editor holds. For the longest time, I was ignorant to about 95% of the editors features. After discovering them, making some kickass missions, and pretty much enjoying my self, I learned that this game was a definitive good buy. ARMA is, and will remain, the best combat simulator, and sandbox of all time.… Expand
  75. ns0l
    Apr 27, 2014
    5
    Realistic shooting. That's how I like my game., but it's the only good thing in the game. The gameplay doesn't feel right and I think the game in overall needs 2 more years of development.
  76. UndeadKiller123
    Jun 11, 2012
    8
    This game is great and everyone should at least try it once. The problems with the game consist of glitches where you can walk through walls and other sorts of weird bugs. Another fact is the game requires a pretty good graphics card to run at a 30+ consistent fps at all high settings. The game kind of feels undeveloped but that doesn't stop you from having a great time playing it. YouThis game is great and everyone should at least try it once. The problems with the game consist of glitches where you can walk through walls and other sorts of weird bugs. Another fact is the game requires a pretty good graphics card to run at a 30+ consistent fps at all high settings. The game kind of feels undeveloped but that doesn't stop you from having a great time playing it. You have to want to play a realistic simulator to enjoy the game since this isn't anywhere near a COD but it is normally enjoyable for all.… Expand
  77. Scottixboy
    Jul 24, 2012
    5
    Giving this game a 5 is fair, as this is a game with great potential, great realism; that's unfortunately let down by outdated graphics, physics, animations and detail in general. Textures are blurry and most of the time the game looks horrid, also to add injury to insult; this game requires a super-computer to run it.
    (IF I'M LUCKY) I can get a nice 54-60 FPS on low settings(For    Giving this game a 5 is fair, as this is a game with great potential, great realism; that's unfortunately let down by outdated graphics, physics, animations and detail in general. Textures are blurry and most of the time the game looks horrid, also to add injury to insult; this game requires a super-computer to run it.
    (IF I'M LUCKY) I can get a nice 54-60 FPS on low settings(For comparison purposes i run Crysis 2 on High-Maximum and it looks a TON better than arma 2; at 60 FPS)

    Object collisions are terrible, and the game is bug packed, This game is NOT worth even the £15 I paid for it, If the game costed £5, yes, it'd be worth it, but this is an outdated game which doesn't lack in content by any means-But does lack in modern technology-For example, Rag-doll technology in games was introduced with Half Life 2 in early 2004 along with detailed post processing effects and high resolution textures and has been used in A LOT of games since, Arma 2 is a 2009 game, and does not include any of these features. It also lacks steam achievements and friend integration in-fact, this game has NO built in friend system which is slightly flawed for a game that supposed to be an ultra realistic game that requires co-operation!

    But it's not all bad, the game can be a ton of fun with friends; Forget DayZ(as its crap) this game can be really fun just with mates doing some assassination missions or sweep missions and is really fun, and yet these flaws always let it down.

    IMO: it's obvious the engine was build in-house for this game, when there are plenty of engines open for use, they could have built this game on unreal or Cryengine and none of these problems would occour, also the poor optimisation would also be fixed and those 2 engines are VERY well refined

    Overall: A good game with A LOT of flaws and bad Development choices, In-fact i missed a lot out but there is too much to explain, basically, if you want an ultra realistic game, this isn't it, because it looks like a PS2 game gone wrong with physics about as realistic as GTA 3. People may disagree, but the next best thing is Red Orchestra 2, which does everything right that arma 2 does wrong.    … Expand
  78. Aeryx
    Apr 7, 2016
    7
    If you like realistic Military Sims, this is the best one out there for infantry action. It does a great job on many things, especially realism. But I am giving it a 7 because it does feel like a step back from Bohemia's last masterpiece, which is Operation Flashpoint. ARMA 2 fails to live up to that in many aspects, first is the AI for the single player campaign. The AI is just horrible,If you like realistic Military Sims, this is the best one out there for infantry action. It does a great job on many things, especially realism. But I am giving it a 7 because it does feel like a step back from Bohemia's last masterpiece, which is Operation Flashpoint. ARMA 2 fails to live up to that in many aspects, first is the AI for the single player campaign. The AI is just horrible, and fails at being as perceptive and common sense as the original. They'll often just look at enemies 10 meters away and wait for your instructions to open fire at it before doing anything, they navigate horribly and AI driving and navigation is also very buggy. The story of the main campaign is also 'meh' at best. Gone is the dark and desperate theme of the original where you are faced with overwhelming odds. You also only have 3 companions that result in mission fail if any of them die, which is bad design. The original game allowed for your entire squad to die and would still allow you to finish the mission; you'd just have to deal with the consequences of fighting alone in future missions. It also has so many scripted elements compared to OF. You can't pull of wins anymore in missions where you are 'scripted' to lose or not escape. OF allowed for some really strange wins and this is one of the lost charms. The strength of ARMA 2 is in its multiplayer and modability and DayZ. All great things that meant lots of hours of fun. Overall, if you liked Operation Flashpoint, you will come out disappointed in the story and campaign, but this is still a game worth buying if you are into realistic military multiplayer shooters.… Expand
  79. epitek
    Sep 5, 2012
    10
    Hands down the most interactive and self fulfilling game on the market to date. The hidden gem of FPS and military shooters. Really can't wait for ARMA III to be released.
  80. TheHumbleCritic
    Sep 25, 2012
    7
    Arma 2 is an outstanding war simulator, but that is really all it is. It's not very immersive and there is no depth. Go here capture this, go there secure that, in a sense, it's a little bit too realistic.
  81. aratos
    Feb 13, 2016
    4
    Unfortunately, I don't play multiplayer, so I have to review only this game's singleplayer.
    For me, it's NO, definetely.
    I'm sorry because I know a lot of people love this game for it's multiplayer features, but as a singleplayer for me it isn't worth a damn. Bad A.I., boring, slow, strange.. Often you can't understand what to do, or if you still can do it or if you have just failed it.    Unfortunately, I don't play multiplayer, so I have to review only this game's singleplayer.
    For me, it's NO, definetely.
    I'm sorry because I know a lot of people love this game for it's multiplayer features, but as a singleplayer for me it isn't worth a damn. Bad A.I., boring, slow, strange.. Often you can't understand what to do, or if you still can do it or if you have just failed it.
    Enormous map of nothing, of trees and empty hills.
    Tens of minutes spent in driving searching for the mission.. And then suddenly, you hear shots, then you stop and get to shelter, but your mate doesn't, then he dies and you have to start again.
    For me this game, as a singleplayer, it is a 4/10. With a great potential, ok, but a 4/10.

    PS: I can run last year's game with full graphic settings, and for this I have to set to minimum to get 30 FPS?? Kidding?    … Expand
  82. melli06
    Feb 8, 2013
    10
    This game is honestly great, although, its physics are completely terrible. You will just have to deal with it if you want to play what I would call one of the better games of this decade. The game is not actually that glitched out as some of these moronic articles claim it is; the controls once you use them for a while and make a few minor tweaks they begin to become a great format. it isThis game is honestly great, although, its physics are completely terrible. You will just have to deal with it if you want to play what I would call one of the better games of this decade. The game is not actually that glitched out as some of these moronic articles claim it is; the controls once you use them for a while and make a few minor tweaks they begin to become a great format. it is actually very strategical as well and with the best mission editor practically ever you can continue to lay down new scenarios constantly. I will say the campaign has the worst presentation so you will find it hard to get into I couldn't exactly even comment on the campaign because I haven't even finished it It also features a great modding system with plenty of mods I would actually recommend these mods/maps Sound of Anders Zeus AI and the map Panthera This game is quite amazing in what it delivers and for a cheap price on steam. I believe it was just lowered to 24$ not sure the Euro or pound translation, but in short get it… Expand
  83. Killer_X
    Mar 18, 2013
    7
    First let me start off by saying that Arma 2 is the best military sim I have ever played. It feels very authentic in its atmosphere. The graphics are really good if you have the computer to handle it. My review is based solely on the single player campaign. I keep hearing that the mission editor is where its at, but I havent touched it.
    I just recently finished up the Red Harvest    First let me start off by saying that Arma 2 is the best military sim I have ever played. It feels very authentic in its atmosphere. The graphics are really good if you have the computer to handle it. My review is based solely on the single player campaign. I keep hearing that the mission editor is where its at, but I havent touched it.
    I just recently finished up the Red Harvest campaign and although I hear people saying how boring the campaign was, I really enjoyed it when it worked properly. I must warn anyone picking up this game that It really tested my patience due to the insane number of bugs. This game imho is the buggiest I have ever played. You need to constantly manual save because Arma 2 misssions will break or crash and there are bugs that won't allow the missions to end so you will have to restart mission from beginning if you don't save. You will need a lot of patience to see the campaign through to the end. Also the keyboard commands can be intimidating and does feel sluggish. Also targeting enemies feels sluggish.
    When it works it truly one of the best combat sim experiences ever. I give it a 7 which does not seem to match this review, but had this game had all the bugs fixed and better use of interface this could easily be a 9 or 10.    … Expand
  84. Wumlsag
    Feb 18, 2013
    7
    This game is truly the ultimate military sim. However, it has some flaws that hold it back fundamentally and prevent it from being even better. First, the campaign is brutally boring, and I cannot bring myself to finish it. Second, controls require lots of practice and are often akward and strangely laid out for a shooter. Third and finally, this game, while great, is nothing like anyThis game is truly the ultimate military sim. However, it has some flaws that hold it back fundamentally and prevent it from being even better. First, the campaign is brutally boring, and I cannot bring myself to finish it. Second, controls require lots of practice and are often akward and strangely laid out for a shooter. Third and finally, this game, while great, is nothing like any other shooter you have ever played. This almost stopped me at first, and many less open-minded gamers will hate this game due to its difference. However, with practice and understanding, this game opens up to those willing to put in the time. The multiplayer is great, the editor mode has lots of potential to make your own playable and sharable levels, and the DayZ mod is always an excellent diversion from the game's usual themes.… Expand
  85. TriggzSP
    Mar 13, 2013
    10
    Even though the ArmA 3 ALPHA has been released, his game still holds its ground as possibly the best shooter/simulator out there. For 2006 these graphics were outstanding and the game play is always amazing. The devs did a good job making you feel stress, anxiety and fear while under fire and I cant wait to see what ArmA 3 has in store for us.
  86. IonXtreme
    May 25, 2013
    8
    Arma 2 has got to be one of the best FPS games I have played. It puts you like as if you were really at war with someone, and makes you feel like as if you are experiencing the harrowing effects of war already, without going out of your chair into a army. This is the "Saving Private Ryan" of all war FPS games.
  87. gstiker5
    Sep 1, 2013
    9
    a very realistic Sim not exaclty game but the way in which you co-ordinate with your team-mates and it feels like your'e in a war I rember I was playing with some friends and the voice chat is essential. He was sniping and I had a LMG and was sprinting across a field and then my friend said he had spotted someone and then i realised that I was getting shot at and then I told him to shoota very realistic Sim not exaclty game but the way in which you co-ordinate with your team-mates and it feels like your'e in a war I rember I was playing with some friends and the voice chat is essential. He was sniping and I had a LMG and was sprinting across a field and then my friend said he had spotted someone and then i realised that I was getting shot at and then I told him to shoot but he was actually a spotter and my steam friend shot him then later one of my other friends was in a tank under heavy fire and I was i a jet they called for support and I killed the enemies what other game lets you do that okay Battlefiled 3 comes close but the realism helps it If you have a PC buy it it really is that good… Expand
  88. WarriorPancake
    Oct 8, 2013
    7
    I have put many hours into this game, playing with friends and on public servers. Its really is a great simulator. I would never recommend this has a single player game. But as a fun community based game with loads of mod support excluding the DayZ mod. This game isn't really fun as a game. But the mods just make it a wondrous sandbox.
  89. JohnnieConcrete
    Jun 12, 2013
    10
    Arma 2 OA is a game that takes some getting used to, but once you do all other games of this kind pale in comparison 99% of DLC is user made and is free or you can make your own, Add the ACE mod with its bits n pieces and what a game. It still gets updated and new stuff is still being added.

    For some people this isn't a game its an obsession
  90. mcmanusaur
    Sep 7, 2013
    8
    ---Rating---
    Design: 4 /5 (ambitious scope unmatched by other "shooters", but poor SP campaign)
    Polish: 3 /5 (somewhat mediocre graphics, certain mechanics are slightly finicky) Value: 5 /5 (immense replay value, a playground of nearly unlimited potential) ---Review--- The execution leaves a bit to be desired, but I can't fault Bohemia for their ambition. Most of the included    ---Rating---
    Design: 4 /5 (ambitious scope unmatched by other "shooters", but poor SP campaign)
    Polish: 3 /5 (somewhat mediocre graphics, certain mechanics are slightly finicky)
    Value: 5 /5 (immense replay value, a playground of nearly unlimited potential)

    ---Review---
    The execution leaves a bit to be desired, but I can't fault Bohemia for their ambition. Most of the included campaign missions are rather poor to put it simply, and other issues include poor performance, a clunky interface and general lack of user-friendliness, inconsistent graphical quality, a prevalence of minor bugs and glitches, and mediocre AI. That said, ARMA II offers a unique experience unmatched by other games, as long as you drop any "lone wolf" tendencies and make the most of its industrious community.    … Expand
  91. nmdanny
    Sep 13, 2013
    5
    Good stuff:
    New island is gorgeous, new setting(NATO vs Iranians) is interesting and introduces new nice looking vehicles, weapons and units. Features such as attachments, PhysX and underwater exploration/combat are a new improvement since ArmA 2, plus improvement graphics and lightning.
    Bad stuff: Bad optimization and low FPS, horrible mid-range textures which totally undermine all of    Good stuff:
    New island is gorgeous, new setting(NATO vs Iranians) is interesting and introduces new nice looking vehicles, weapons and units. Features such as attachments, PhysX and underwater exploration/combat are a new improvement since ArmA 2, plus improvement graphics and lightning.
    Bad stuff:
    Bad optimization and low FPS, horrible mid-range textures which totally undermine all of the graphical progress, lack of content(no shotguns, not enough fixed-wing aircraft), laziness and oversights to vehicles(no interiors for armored vehicles, unrealistic armor, all vehicles share the same turrets, most vehicles of a side use the same hull), unrealistic mechanics. (tab locking, magical radar, vehicle cobmat in general), some highly wanted features not implemented (shooting from vehicles, weapon resting, an alternative to the action menu), no campaign on launch.    … Expand
  92. carnivorCactae
    Jun 11, 2014
    1
    After some backbreaking long minutes of walking and scouting the terrain we finally find our main targets. We lie down and take aim while we ignore our AI-Buddies who can't decide whether they want to crouch or stand up or lie prone. We aim want to shoot and …
    a) one of our AI-buddies kills all of them before we can place a shot
    b) the enemies blow themselves up c) we get killed from    After some backbreaking long minutes of walking and scouting the terrain we finally find our main targets. We lie down and take aim while we ignore our AI-Buddies who can't decide whether they want to crouch or stand up or lie prone. We aim want to shoot and …
    a) one of our AI-buddies kills all of them before we can place a shot
    b) the enemies blow themselves up
    c) we get killed from something
    d) the game crashes

    What WAS that?!
    Welcome to ARMA 2!
    This "game" tries to be a tactical simulation but forgets one important point: We sit in front of a Computer! We use some peripheral input-devices to command our alter-ego in a game with fake limitless "posibillities"! How hard can it be to program a User-friendly interface and not to mess up a simple command like "jump over a fence"?! Even "DELTA FORCE" and "GHOST RECON" managed an intuitive Control-theme!

    It bugs me out and makes me mad having to chew through this uncomfortable and plain unpleasant "game". Did I say "bugs"? Well. there are plenty of them! Game crashes randomly. Tanks blowing themselves up. Teammates vanishing into thin air. And worse: The AI: Random unrelated and horrible chatter, tought by one of the worst "voice-acting" I've ever heard in a videogame. It comes near absurdity when team-mates give you some status-updates that are plain wrong and standing in front of a sniper...! Oh, and don't forget the unability to heal teammates or doing anything else independently! The AI fails to find the right way so often, it looks like there is NO AI! Nearly no imersion!

    I can't understand what some purists describe as "imersion" and "thrilling experience"! What game did they play?! Bots and NPC's look like zombie-puppets. Blabbering some gibberish and unmotivated lazy "Oooohrah" followed by a briefing that could be organized by a senile granny-club. The game itself: Every ounce of "Immersion" is destroyed by the plain stupid bot-behavior and their robotic, bored and unprecise radiochatter.

    Thats one of the worst problems: Unprecise responses from your AI-"Buddies" and absolute dumb behavior. It ranges from "shooting a needle in the woods" to "missing an enemy 2 ft away"!
    The second some "imersion" sneaks up on you, the game stops and you have to watch one of the worst cut ingame-cinematics with some random and unmotivated chatter. No sense for camera-angles and transitions! After all unpleasant "Features" this Game has to offer, it feels sometimes like a relief when the game crashes randomly for no reason.
    This "game", this piece of broken software that feels more like a over-ambitous mod-project than a game worth 30 bucks!

    The one positive point that comes to my mind are the very huge maps! But what good are ludicrously large terrains when you have to walk multiple hours to spot just one objective?
    I am giving this "game" one point for trying.    … Expand
  93. Outerspace2014
    Nov 25, 2013
    10
    This game is just amazing! Much better then the first ArmA. This game reminds me much of the BF series except much more in depth and much more freedom to do things. The fact that this game has the DayZ mod as well is just making it even better. This game is a great and fun game that has improved greatly from the first game in it's series.
  94. darkdays36
    May 8, 2015
    3
    The potential of this game is great, let me start off with that. However, Bohemia Interactive messed this up badly. There are some small (and even quite funny) bugs in the game, such as a wounded guy looking like he just snapped his own neck. However, the majority are just intolerable. For example, right after completing the first part of helicopter training, I automatically fail. Also,The potential of this game is great, let me start off with that. However, Bohemia Interactive messed this up badly. There are some small (and even quite funny) bugs in the game, such as a wounded guy looking like he just snapped his own neck. However, the majority are just intolerable. For example, right after completing the first part of helicopter training, I automatically fail. Also, the controls are, well, ****. Not only are they overly complex, some are bugged. Driving as a commander of a tank is so near impossible, it took me nearly an hour to complete the vehicle training, as the gunner/driver WOULDN'T TURN AROUND. Also, the voice acting. Might as well have had Siri do it. It is extremely choppy, and the static makes it sound like a rusted, outdated robot is trying to talk to you. Finally, AI. The AI is just terrible. Not only do your allies just run around like chickens without their heads, they NEVER take cover. Oh wait, I almost forgot. The tutorials tell you NOTHING about the controls, save small snippets of information. You'll be constantly checking the control menu, and you'll have to learn about 75% of the controls your self. And there is no excuse for any of these problems. The game wasn't early access, it was just released unfinished (Daikatana, anyone?). You'd think Bohemia Interactive would fix the glitches at some point considering it is YEARS after the release, but no, they just won't. If this helps, I'm glad. If you enjoyed the game, well good for you! You've managed to enjoy what could have been the best military simulator.… Expand
  95. Ghostlymatter
    Nov 8, 2013
    8
    ArmA II is a very enjoyable FPS game. The three-dimensional graphics are average, the texture quality of the building models are low quality and the NPCs have a low quality texture around the facial area. The weapons models, meshes and textures are moderately accurate as well as the vehicles. The sound quality was below average, the weapons, when fired, sounded like small-generated soundArmA II is a very enjoyable FPS game. The three-dimensional graphics are average, the texture quality of the building models are low quality and the NPCs have a low quality texture around the facial area. The weapons models, meshes and textures are moderately accurate as well as the vehicles. The sound quality was below average, the weapons, when fired, sounded like small-generated sound bytes, and the vehicles sounded like subwoofer turned up to high. About half way through the game the NPCs voices change to a low quality, computer generated voice. The single player gameplay was a little below average, Bohemia Interactive could have done better with the on screen HUD. The waypoints on the map are a little difficult to locate and the player controls are a little wacky. The multiplayer experience only had one major problem, the servers lagged badly. ArmA II had average graphics, below average sounds quality and above average gameplay in both single player and multiplayer.… Expand
  96. DatGamingCritic
    Nov 17, 2013
    8
    ArmA II is very BAD! But i gave it a 8 because its brilliant. What i mean is that if there was not map editor or multiplayer it would get like a 2 but because of that it makes the game so much better. If they were not there i would have tried to do everything to get a refund. The mods and stuff are really cool to. There is DayZ that is really famous and also ACE mod! If your computer isArmA II is very BAD! But i gave it a 8 because its brilliant. What i mean is that if there was not map editor or multiplayer it would get like a 2 but because of that it makes the game so much better. If they were not there i would have tried to do everything to get a refund. The mods and stuff are really cool to. There is DayZ that is really famous and also ACE mod! If your computer is not very good or is a potato i don't recommend it. It is hard to run but if it does it is so much fun!

    Overall:
    -Fun Gameplay
    -You can make your own level
    -Hard to run
    Score: 84/100    … Expand
  97. heatwave
    Dec 1, 2013
    10
    So i got this game a couple months ago to play DayZ the mod. that is also somthing that is very fun as well. But anyway, arma is on a the very rare games that pulled off being a great military game, while also having a worth while story to go through. yes the game may be buggy every now and then, it is still great. Also it is worth noting you need a decent cpu to play. it will strain yourSo i got this game a couple months ago to play DayZ the mod. that is also somthing that is very fun as well. But anyway, arma is on a the very rare games that pulled off being a great military game, while also having a worth while story to go through. yes the game may be buggy every now and then, it is still great. Also it is worth noting you need a decent cpu to play. it will strain your cpu and your pc will get hot. but nothing too bad obviously. and for graphics cards if you dont have a decent card, you WILL have to turn down the graphics. but even on very low graphics settings you can still have decent looking graphics.… Expand
  98. xtrmsnpr
    Dec 27, 2013
    7
    the buggiest game you will ever play.Although it is so good.Sounds are nice,you know where the bullets are coming from.Game physics is not as good as expected,but game mechanics are correct and responding to everything you are doing.
    You just need a good team to cooperate with
  99. DarrenMc
    Oct 6, 2014
    6
    Great game marred by horrendous controls which kills the game for me.
    The open world is amazing and the graphics are great but it lacks the polish and the voice acting which is amateur. The controls are designed exclusively for the "hardcore" set who like to walk 1 step back before they walk 2 steps forward so alot of management involved for simple tasks.
    If you can get through    Great game marred by horrendous controls which kills the game for me.
    The open world is amazing and the graphics are great but it lacks the polish and the voice acting which is amateur. The controls are designed exclusively for the "hardcore" set who like to walk 1 step back before they walk 2 steps forward so alot of management involved for simple tasks.
    If you can get through that,then the game will open up for you but expect to be frustrated in the short term.    … Expand
  100. Wise_Gamgee
    Jun 25, 2014
    5
    Good Gameplay and very deep simulation. And i would definitely recommend it, BUT:
    The problems ruin the whole game:

    1. Controls are pretty complicated (could easily made simpler)
    2. BIGGEST PROBLEM: The one big problem that keeps me from playing is the random global ban i got from battle eye!
    3. Various Bugs and Glitches
    4. Multiplayer synchronizing is just bad
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Awards & Rankings

61
#61 Best PC Game of 2009
14
#14 Most Discussed PC Game of 2009
45
#45 Most Shared PC Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 38 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 38
  3. Negative: 0 out of 38
  1. Gamers.at
    72
    It's a shame the developers obviously didn't have enough time to finish ArmA II properly before they shipped it: There are many bugs in the game and the AI's actions mostly just don't make sense at all. One piece of advice: Get patch 1.01 – with it the game is at least moderate fun. Still, we hope that some further patches will follow and fix ArmA II's major flaws so that it will finally become the great game it could be – next time, however, we'd like to see the game finished by the time of its release!
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  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    70
    The vast and open world of ArmA II offers an incomparable army experience. You only need to accept its slow pace and batch of unpleasant bugs. Still ArmA is the only matchless war toy.
  3. GameStar
    66
    ARMA 2 doesn't seem to be a finished game. The AI is cheating, physics and controls are out of date and the game is full of annoying bugs. That the game manages to look great from time to time doesn't help much. Hopefully Bohemia Interactive will release some patches soon. The game still has a lot of potential.
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