The Arma 3 Beta opens on the 25th of June and features a varied selection of brand new content according to what a little bird told us – including 10 vehicles, 7 weapons, 4 showcase missions (Combined Arms, Supports, Commanding & Night), 2 multiplayer scenarios and 4 challenges.
The only thing is that you have to pay for access to encourage you to buy earlier at a cheaper price. The regular Arma 3 Beta will be available for £29.99 / $44.99, while the Arma 3 Digital Deluxe Edition will be sold for £39.99 / $59.99. It seems pretty mean to make you pay for a beta, no? I guess you’ll know if you like this sort of thing though – it is the third installment after all.
Arma 3 is described as a “massive military sandbox” which very much makes me imagine some small children dressed up in little fatigues with tiny little camo caps on, playing with small Tonka-made tanks and enacting small sandy explosions by crashing fighter jets into rickety handmade air traffic control sandtowers.
Arma 3 is sadly not that; it is mostly very serious men making very serious war-based combat. It had an alpha phase! It is now having a beta from the 25th of June! It includes a new Challenges mode “enabling players to practice their weapons handling and movement across a selection of firing drills”. It also comes with the prerequisite modding support that we’re all used to, and a heavier focus on firepower and logistics.
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Some serious-looking mans there. Poloshirts are IN.
You can buy into the beta, or wait until the game is finished and then buy it at a higher price. You can purchase access to the Beta here on Steam, or atStore.bistudio.comand it provides access to the full game when it’s finished. Alternatively, if you are already in the alpha or are buying access to the alpha before the jump to get a cheaper deal, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll just get a sweet Steam download that will upgrade your game to the next versions.
The website also adds, “Those who would like to sponsor development further have the option to purchase the Arma 3 Supporter Edition (69.99 EUR/59.99 GBP/91.99 USD) from Store.bistudio.com.”
What I’m really curious about is this:
REAL VIRTUALITY 4.0
Navigate the battlefield with fluid new animations; feel the devastating power of combat with the upgraded sound engine, new ragdoll simulation and PhysX™ – supported vehicles.
“Real virtuality 4.0” sounds like that fake science that you get on beauty adverts.
“REAL VIRTUALITY 4.0 with Poly-Collagen Peptides… Formulated with our exclusive Poly-Collagen Peptides and BioPower Activating PhysX Complex, this anti-aliasing phenomenon helps reduce the look of deep texture wrinkles faster than ever before.”
You work those nourishing micro oils, Arma! More info on the beta is available here.