Which is your favourite ArmA game?

[vran. 13]

Having played all major ArmA titles (OFP with it's expansions/ArmA CWA, ArmA 1, ArmA 2 & Arrowhead, ArmA 3), which of them was/is your favourite?

For me, my fave is (surprise surprise ;) ) OFP aka now called ArmA Cold War Assault. This game defined the military tactical battlefield shooter in my eyes and despite some pretty dated graphics and odd bugs remains my favourite in the series. The missions and campaign were great, superb and tense atmosphere and believable scenarios. Even the characters had a personality to them (Kozlovsky, Guba, Troska, so on). But there was much more to the game as the in-game mission editor and a thrieving modding/addons making scene provided more than enough value and continued existence. I was more of a SP player in the past times but eventually I also started playing MP (rather late which I regret a little) and messing with mods. Despite some technical obstacles, OFP/CWA remains a true classic game that still is being played thanks to solid gameplay mechanics and tons of community created content for it.

OFP's successor in spirit (let's not stain the good name of the game with the awful Dragon Rising shall we? :p ), ArmA Armed Assault, left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, the graphics were greatly improved and the game also had modernized gameplay mechanics which are still in use today (3D iron sights, leaning, swimming and so on), but it felt quite sterile and without any character when compared to OFP. It felt more like a very advanced modification of OFP for modern times. Not that there would be something inherently wrong with that concept, it's just that it didn't feel very absorbing. At this point I also believe the community changed a little because ArmA was marketed strictly to 'hard core realism' enthusiats rather than the more universal appeal of OFP (which was also played by '3D shooter' fans).

ArmA II improved upon Armed Assault in various ways and felt like a more 'complete' game. But I personally didn't like it that much. The interface was odd to me, the control mapping likewise and the game had hideous graphics with all the blooming and blurring going on. It also felt really drab with odd graphical glitches. I also didn't like the shaking camera and generally the game felt like someone was trying too hard to make it 'super realistic' (which it wasn't really). The single player campaign was a mixed bag. Better than Armed Assault's one but still not quite up to OFP standards. The MP part also left me unimpressed. As a mainly co-op player, the co-op missions in A2 all felt like a big chore. Like playing a CTI/Warfare mission in co-operative style. I wasn't part of any clan so I didn't get to experience the smaller, more focused co-ops in this game. The Arrowhead expansion added more new stuff to the game and was okay but nothing that I would be overtly interested or excited for (felt like a glorified A2 mod :p ). The campaign showed some improvements though, and was short but enjoyable.

ArmA 3 took the series into another setting with a more futuristic feel to it. This didn't resonate with many players of the series but I personally think it was a good thing that BI shaked things up a bit and not just rehash the same thing over again. The gigantic mediterranean Altis is also impressive, one of the best modeled terrains I have seen. The movement mechanics and control were improved from A2 and the game feels more 'natural' to me. One of the issues with the game was a lack of content at release period, but with continued support BI provided more content to the game (in the form of commercial DLC but better than nothing :p ). As a long time player of the series, I continue to be impressed with the advancements to the core engine and A3 was not a different story. Things like the ability to dive, picture in picture and improved physics are all nice to behold. While some things would still need improvement, I believe BI is a company with a Vision which accompanies the creation and development of their games. This Vision may not be in tune with everyone but it most certainly means that they attempt to incorporate ambitious and progressive elements into their game. So there is no surprise that the new chosen terrain, Tanoa, already looks very promising. This continued support and a healthy addon/modding scene means that A3 is a very worthwhile game for fans of the series that takes it into new directions. The single player campaign is also pretty good and I would say A3 is already my fave ArmA since OFP/CWA.

So if I had to make a quick list I would say:

1. ArmA: Cold War Assault (Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis + Red Hammer + Resistance)

2. ArmA 3 (+ DLCs)

3. ArmA 2 (+ Operation Arrowhead)

4. ArmA: Armed Assault

What about you, which is your fave and why?

I'm posting this here because most of us are here because of the ArmA games but if this belongs more into the gaming subforum then the thread can be moved there.

[ProfTournesol 956]

ArmA : CWA by far. I have it installed together with ArmA2 and ArmA3, but thanks to its mods i'm playing it much more than the last two games.

[vilas 474]

first OFP , now Arma2 ,

A3 has better engine but... it needs a loooooooooooot of time to import from A2 addons, opposite to A1 > A2 conversion which was fast

A2 is for me proper succesor of OFP but mostly i like OFP islands from CWR,

OFP is curved very very strongly inside of me although it is now so poor graphicaly but it had feel, CWR also has feel (missions, islands) so thats why A2

i do not like A3 environment (mediteranian instead of cold war central europe which was OFP)

OFP was close to me cause locations looked like our homeland, churches, dirty blocks, dirty buildings, blocks of flats , Trabant, tractor, Nogova,

[Rydygier 1304]

Simply - latest. Each subsequent so far means improvements over previous on things, that matter to me the most, that is engine and scripting capabilities, then graphics etc. Since Arma 3 I didn't returned to Arma 2 even once and uninstalled it eventually. A2 was nice though - moody Chernarus, lots of content (secondary thing for me though)... Frankly I do not care about the rest. Tried OFP demo at the beginning, then Arma 1, but wasn't impressed back then and gave up quickly.

[sudayev 27]

Arma CWA (OFP) and Arma 2. CWA is still alive. Addons, mods, missions come out, maybe not that frequently like it was 10 years ago but still. Speaking of community - many dedicated players are still around to play good coops. CWA Looks pretty dated, but I don't give a damn. What I love about this tile is simplified gameplay, rich community content database with many thematic mods. Favourite all time mods: Jungle Fever, FDF WW2, Tonal Redux, WW4.

Then goes Arma 2 with "grade A" mods such as CWR or DayZ. I've never explored the world of addons for A2 to the same great extent like in case of CWA. I just focused on a few mods and addons. That's all. CWR really hits the spot catching the spirit of Cold War and old OFP.

Arma I - simply omitted this title and stayed with OFP. Didn't like. Buggy, clunky with banana republic setting. Meh from the beginning.

Arma 3. Nice new engine, very flexible, but haven't played really and doubt if I will. Don't like the setting, but maybe I'd go for it if A3 had woodland / cold war / eastern europe setting like CWA or A2 has.

I'm a huge big fan of BI games, but I noticed that with each title I invest less and less time. As gaming enthusiast - moved on to other titles which is - gamers Élan vital and not to mention games becoming more and absorbing these days. No longer have thaaat much time to play Arma 40 hours a week... Arma - exclusively. Balance is needed these days ;)

[mistyronin 1181]

Story-wise probably OFP & OFP:R.

Setting: Arma 2

On everything else: Arma 3

[Sniperwolf572 758]

OFP = A3 > A2 > [insert very large gap here] > A1

OFP is first because of nostalgia, the initial hook, After Montignac, the best campaign characters by far, countless nights blocking the telephone to download a 30 meg patch and my first squad experience which is alive to this day

A3 shares the first place because to me represents a shift in the game being more openly developed, the dev team being so much more interactive. Props to the ones responsible for this. It's also a decent shift in polish.

A2 is second because of Chernarus, the best overall terrain the series has ever had and the overall setting.

A1 is last with a large gap. Even tho it was the largest tech gap between two titles in the series and the foundation for the future titles. The feel and presentation were really subpar. Also QG was the worst expansion pack ever.

[Beagle 684]

ArmA II the original. For me this was the pinacle of the series...ArmA II OA and now ArmA III began to screw up the gameplay more and more. More tiny features and Steamlined movement dont make the better Batlefield Simulator. Especialyl ArmA II is a big step back regarding the overall "feel" in the series.

I can remeber that the first 2 years f ArmA II were a blast in Multiplayer.

CTI in ArmA II was so enjoyable, and Benny's Warfar made it even better.

BECTI today in ArmA III is lame compared to that.

ArmA III currently remindes me a lot of the unloved child "Armed Assault" that was quickly abandoned when ArmA II coam out.

Now ArmA II OA and ArmA III sit next to each other on my desktop and currently I find myself klicking the ArmA II shortcut more and more often and ArmA III less and less simply because technically ArmA III might be better but the game that is ArmA II is simply much better.

Edited July 2, 2015 by Beagle

[eggbeast 3673]

well i was lured to Arma from COD which i used to map and mod 10 years ago. Enjoyed a lot of Evo on Sahrani with a solid co-op squad who all moved from COD:UO with me.

the graphics always looked a little cartoony, but flying in a littlebird under the powerlines at pre-dawn to avoid shilkas with your team mounted, was always a blast that no game had ever provided before in MP. i'll always be fond of it.

A2 had a lot of problems for people moving up to the new engine, and the expansion and then move to steam were so badly handled that the game was uninstallable for a lot of people, or lagged very bad until someone had painstakingly edited all their settings for them. and even then some people had problems - it seems - simple because of the model of their GPU card. and as for bringing out ACR-lite as a standalone patch that no-one installed except server hosts and mod makers like us, which caused huge problems for player MP compatibility... well it was called an MP compatibility patch lol.

BUT, over time BIS fixed a lot of issues, and we learned how to install it and configure it properly, and the mod content (PRACS, unsung, Icebreakr, hcpookie, RHS, roberthammer, Gnat, etc) was especially good quality, realistic warfighting materiel.

the OA expansion content for BAF and takistan map was amazing, and the added content from ACR also good. PMC was a bit pointless imho.

we have recently been releasing sequential updates to rangemaster mod, and it's a blast with a ton of new kit to enjoy, made by a load of great contributors, and brought together as a consistent pack for the game.

AI are fine, graphics a little dated but hey it's a powerful war-sim on giant islands with a ton of cool kit, so who cares? the feel now is better than ever.

A3 to many of us is an emaciated futuristic turkey that requires way too much effort to mod to bring in realistic modern or retro warfighting for a small bonus of being able to swim and the nice lighting. pointless really. the content is seriously offputting unless you loved BF2, the user interface is too futuristic and needs completely modding to play modern or retro scenarios, the endless script, classname and engine upgrades made modding and mission-making a massive chore (a labour of love for the guys who have poured months and years into that), and the inventory system is so messed up and poorly thought-out that i will not play it as-is.

so yeah A2OA is still the best for us.

throughout the series I never played any of the campaigns, as these relied on AI, who were always likely to abandon you, or drive into a tree etc.

we now play A2OA with vietnam and UK vs Tyrian every thursday with a 22 man team in co-op. and it's a blast!

interesting thread, to see who feels what about which game.

[chrisb 196]

Not coming at it from a campaign point of view.

But for sheer delight in the editor and making our own games, A2/OA/all dlc's. Mainly because of the great content, the majority of which is player made. The huge gaming worlds that can be made and the total joy of the game. Its better than Arma (1), although that was good. I didn't play around much with OFP.

But yes, I still play A2 with expansion and added dlc's, no real time for A3. The best mods are for A2 anyway, so will be playing it for many years to come.

I do play A3 occasionally, its nice to get into a lightweight shooter every now and then... ;)

[Lenyoga 326]

It's almost a tie between OFP/CWA and ArmA II for me, but OFP wins due to replayability, best campaign design and overall feel.

ArmA II has the superior engine and graphics, but the most interesting aspect is by far the community made content - while the official campaign often felt like a chore, community missions, campaigns and addons were great. Especially CWR2 and the WWII mod were doing an amazing job.

OFP/CWA is so engrained in my mind, the campaigns just feel like the right thing. And modding for that game is just fun.

I've only little experience with ArmA - I completed the campaign once and it felt like there were either weird bugs or things missing, it was a strange transitional piece.

ArmA 3 ... I'd like to, but my mothership won't run it and there's a very distinct lack of money which has become a second nature of mine, so I won't be able to afford that any time soon.

[srbknight 925]

Arma 2 is the best +3.500h with that game i like the various mods on it and Arma 3 is little bit disappointing but it's good with add-ons !

[vilas 474]

i wonder how much hours i spent,

many people here "mainly" play Arma, they also play other games,

since OFP came to me in 2002 (after Resistance) i almost not played anything more, i maybe played few titles (Max Payne , RTCW, AvP before OFP, than after OFP ... maybe SoF3 , probably AvP 3, Black Mirror , Secret Files (adventure games with my woman))

so for me OFP, Arma is "maybe one of most important thing in life" lol, souds weird but thats how it is ,

woman changes, jobs changes, OFP, Arma remains,

i cannot even imagine my life without Arma :D but also i do not even feel any curiosity about other games, simply i am not even interested what happens beyond Armaversum :D i spent 1 hour watching Witcher3 gameplay on Youtube and... i had to take a ride on Nogova :D

Arma made me happy because of modding and giving fun to others,

OFP is such sentiment that hard to explain to people who do not know what it means to roam endlessly on Malden, Kolguev, Nogova, Everon :D

i still remember first missions i play, it was Polish edition and some bonus missions added to CD, those missions are not from campaign, i do not even remember who made them,

they were in nightime - crawl to set charges below SU25 in base, other satchel below T80 , it was Kolguev probably,

when disc was broken i bought another edition but there were no those missions

for me Arma is essential to play with mods, mods are making this all go round, mods are main sense of Arma and OFP, because "this never ends" when there is still new mission, new vehicles, new units etc. and clans play in mulitplayer on and on and on,

and most easy to mod is for me A2, thats why i like it

i wish A3 modding was similar (using old selections without need to change 1000 models which can take 2 years )

Edited July 3, 2015 by vilas

[srbknight 925]

for me Arma is essential to play with mods, mods are making this all go round, mods are main sense of Arma and OFP, because "this never ends" when there is still new mission, new vehicles, new units etc. and clans play in mulitplayer on and on and on,

and most easy to mod is for me A2, thats why i like it

i wish A3 modding was similar (using old selections without need to change 1000 models which can take 2 years )

so true other games can't awake impressions in myself only arma is have that something what i like in games !

[vilas 474]

i loved OFP because it was first such mod-able game in which i could have my country cars,

than GTA was later similar, but only cars , without islands (maps)

without such mission editor,

i fell in love with OFP when i saw tractor and Trabant and those houses which look dirty, damaged,

all games were focusing either on ONLY corridor shooting or ONLY Ferrari cars or ONLY sci-fi,

noowhere there was such open map, mission editor,

i started moding and touched OFP because friend of mine asked me (knowing my skills in AutoCad) can i do for him local bus to game he plays,

he shown me OFP and said "can you add there our bus?"

i was suprised i can add anything to game at all on such easy way,

modding RTCW (i replaced German uniforms with sportswear) and modding Aliens vs Predator (replacing textures and movies to porn one) was hard

OFP was so easy to mod,

and Nogova looked like our towns , we felt home in Nogova

[srbknight 925]

i loved OFP because it was first such mod-able game in which i could have my country cars,

than GTA was later similar, but only cars , without islands (maps)

without such mission editor,

i fell in love with OFP when i saw tractor and Trabant and those houses which look dirty, damaged,

all games were focusing either on ONLY corridor shooting or ONLY Ferrari cars or ONLY sci-fi,

noowhere there was such open map, mission editor,

i started moding and touched OFP because friend of mine asked me (knowing my skills in AutoCad) can i do for him local bus to game he plays,

he shown me OFP and said "can you add there our bus?"

i was suprised i can add anything to game at all on such easy way,

modding RTCW (i replaced German uniforms with sportswear) and modding Aliens vs Predator (replacing textures and movies to porn one) was hard

OFP was so easy to mod,

and Nogova looked like our towns , we felt home in Nogova

also big lover of GTA i have every your addon for arma 2 and it's very beautiful collection ! Also i have some problems with my self but every time some new mod being released i have to download it i have with arma 2 + all expansions + addons 144gb

Arma 3 is little bit less 82gb with whole game !

[Janez 508]

As I see it, each iteration has it's own pros and cons. Somehow I spent WAY less time in Arma 3 then any before though. There is so much improvements yet some things like excessive weapon sway drive me nuts. Combined with plenty of other factors I feel like whole shooting mechanics became somewhat annoying, rather then realistic. But I digress, that is a topic for some other thread.

I will more or less patiently :D wait for various Community Upgrade Projects to be completed, throw in few other mods and really start playing and enjoying the full experience. Until then, who knows what other updates, upgrades and fixes we might see from BI.

[srbknight 925]

i don't know with you guys but when i play A3 i had problems after 2 hours with my eyes have some pain and game is too bright for me !

---------- Post added at 17:21 ---------- Previous post was at 17:19 ----------

As I see it, each iteration has it's own pros and cons. Somehow I spent WAY less time in Arma 3 then any before though. There is so much improvements yet some things like excessive weapon sway drive me nuts. Combined with plenty of other factors I feel like whole shooting mechanics became somewhat annoying, rather then realistic. But I digress, that is a topic for some other thread.

I will more or less patiently :D wait for various Community Upgrade Projects to be completed, throw in few other mods and really start playing and enjoying the full experience. Until then, who knows what other updates, upgrades and fixes we might see from BI.

I don't know why but with CUP (community upgrade projects) i have a lot of trouble with A3 and other addons ?!?!

[Janez 508]

i don't know with you guys but when i play A3 i had problems after 2 hours with my eyes have some pain and game is too bright for me !

Yeah, that can be a problem, especially on lower settings. For example, on clear days, sun can make the sky completely white, which is very em... Battlefield 3 like. At least there you have

to shut it down :D. You can also try wider Field of View, around 90° maybe. That depends on size and resolution of you monitor, the distance between your head and the monitor and of course your personal preference. I use 90°-100° @ 1920x1200 on 24" monitor and ~80-90cm distance from monitor. Use google to find out how to adjust FoV in A3 if you don't know already.

I don't know why but with CUP (community upgrade projects) i have a lot of trouble with A3 and other addons ?!?!

I'm not sure what kind of problems you are talking about. One thing is that some of the projects still need a lot of work. Another thing is that risk of compatibility issues is always present. That is why it is wise to install and test one mod at the time. Especially with large or scripts heavy mods, addons or even missions. That way you can detect problems early or if you do some research of what exactly you are installing, you can avoid problems all together. Once you spot the issue go to proper thread and report the problem providing as much details as possible. "It doesn't work!" helps nobody :).

[srbknight 925]

Yeah, that can be a problem, especially on lower settings. For example, on clear days, sun can make the sky completely white, which is very em... Battlefield 3 like. At least there you have

to shut it down :D. You can also try wider Field of View, around 90° maybe. That depends on size and resolution of you monitor, the distance between your head and the monitor and of course your personal preference. I use 90°-100° @ 1920x1200 on 24" monitor and ~80-90cm distance from monitor. Use google to find out how to adjust FoV in A3 if you don't know already.

I'm not sure what kind of problems you are talking about. One thing is that some of the projects still need a lot of work. Another thing is that risk of compatibility issues is always present. That is why it is wise to install and test one mod at the time. Especially with large or scripts heavy mods, addons or even missions. That way you can detect problems early or if you do some research of what exactly you are installing, you can avoid problems all together. Once you spot the issue go to proper thread and report the problem providing as much details as possible. "It doesn't work!" helps nobody :).

I have my options on ultra and i was try to reduce the post process setting but it's not worth of it i had problems with my eyes and monitor is 22 inches ! 1680 x 1050 resolution in widescreen format

[slatts 1978]

This might sound surprising but for me I've fonder memories of Arma: Armed Assault. Not so much the game itself but for the people I met playing it (Who I still play with 6+ years on) it started my interest in modding and was my first MP experience outside of Battlefield 2.

[eggbeast 3673]

fond memories:

the lads in Sahrani (A1)

the lads in chernarus (A2)

the lads in takistan (Arrowhead)

the lads in fallujah (combined ops)

the lads in cherno (dayZ mod)

the lads in stratis (A3)

the lads in South East Asia (unsung arrowhead)

the lads in Cao Bang (uns/OA)

the lads in phu bai (uns/OA)

[eggbeast 3673]

the lads in Ia Drang Valley

the lads in Duala

R&R

the lads in Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat (rangemaster/OA)

[R0adki11 3945]

My favourite Arma game to date is OFP and OFP Resistance.

The story and game play was great and ahead of its time. It all began with me picking up the OFP demo in 2000/2001, which is 14 odd years ago :eek:

[roberthammer 582]

My favourite Arma game to date is OFP and OFP Resistance.

The story and game play was great and ahead of its time. It all began with me picking up the OFP demo in 2000/2001, which is 14 odd years ago :eek:

Same here - i played hell alot of OFP , that must been thousands hours or even more

also ArmA 1 wasn't bad , it had a great MP i have to say - unlike the A3 atm heh