Guns; guns and vehicles: that’s what’s going on in Arma right now. According to the new trailer at least. It’s a long line of men with guns posing in front of helicopters, tanks, and subs. Having spent a little time with Arma 2 I can’t say that it relates to my experience. That was a long string of deaths interspersed with walking “out of the way” of my squad and acting as a “bullet sponge”.
If war were simply posing in front of vehicles and looking fabulous then conflicts would be a whole lot less reprehensible. Unfortunately, between each shot in the trailer there were 14 hours of violent battles, all in aid of clearing enough space on the battlefield to safely set up a camera crew. Hopefully Bohemia will release a making of video for the trailer showing the true costs of war.
I’ve still not had a chance to play the latest iteration of Arma, though its hardcore military simulation is undeniably attractive – even if just as a means to remind myself how ill-fitted my academic’s physique is to warfare. But Steve’s had a go and was impressed by all the updates Bohemia are bringing to the game, while also pointing out that until it’s been fleshed out further with new content that new players should hold off.
The beta was released late last month, adding a huge amount of new content, so, if you’re one of the folk Steve was advising to hold off, you may want to pony up some money and buy a copy from Steam.