ARMA II: Operation Arrowhead

I honestly can't properly review the game, as I haven't played most of it. Few, if any, of ARMA's fans care about the campaign. I've played some the base ARMA II's, and it sucks. The reason you play ARMA is for the multiplayer.

I played with a clan for the better part of a year, and it remains one of the best experiences I've had in gaming. Every clan I saw required Operation Arrowhead, so that's why I'm reviewing it here and not on the base game. If you got the time, try it out. It's roleplaying on another level.

Most clans carry out weekly missions. You and 20+ other people set out on a goal of taking down an outpost, defending a town, or whatever. Anything you can imagine you can make a mission of it. You get to know your squad real well. You care about getting them through the match alive. If you die in most clans, that's it for the day. Death is final and if it happens, normally you log off for the week. It means the stakes can't be higher. If you fuck up, then you might have just wasted hours of planning and preparing. And if you fuck up and get someone else killed, then you gotta deal with the shame of wasting hours of their time (which is way way worse).

Most clans have migrated to ARMA III. I always had major frame issues with III. I also like the vibe of II more. If you can find a clan, give it a shot.

another arma game, and they all more or less play the same. this is the expansion for arma 2 that adds 'operation arrowhead' campaign. and as usual, some of the levels can be completely fucking broken. for example, the very first level, i had to play for basically 2 hours because you walk to a certain point that it tells you, then nothing happened. i sat around trying to figure out what to do for 2 hours. i had to restart the level and just play it again because the script was broken or something. just shockingly bad.

now i love the core mechanics of arma, the immersion and weight of the movement, the gun mechanics, the ballistics are all top tier. unfortunately the developers always seem to have a really tough time with mission scripting and just generally making a decent campaign. fighting the enemy armies on foot is pretty intense and satisfying, but I honestly hate ANY vehicle combat, especially helicoptor missions or UAV bullshit. its so janky, clunky, and frustrating that it really knocks the score down. when the game is on foot in between cover and destroyed cities / terrain is when it feels the best.

there are tank only missions, and i hate them. just can't wait for them to be over. i hate the controls, and it just turns into a savescumfest trying to get through it without being 1shot.

theres 7 missions, and like 4 of them are in vehicles. thats the main problem. i much prefer boots on ground combat, and its missing here.

6/10