ARMA2 Operation Arrowhead question

[+Stary 2,427]

Anyone got it?

 

Impressions?

How's the campaign, units, missions, framerates compared to A2 etc?

[JediMaster 451]

I have it, but have only 10 mins or so in it so far. From what I can tell, they've added some graphical effects like a haze or some other kind of shaders and it has lowered the framerates a bit.

Haven't played the campaign, so I can't say about that, but the units seem to be the ones from Arma 1 updated to arma 2 levels on first impression. Can't say about the missions yet either, again, just 10 mins!

[+Stary 2,427]

thanks JM!

 

I'm worried about lowered framerates, on my system on high settings I barely reach 26-27 in A2 benchmarks. And I never liked sudden foliage lod shifting on lower settings.

[JediMaster 451]

Historically every BIS product has slow framerates on release and gets faster with patches, there usually being one "wow" patch that causes a significant increase like 6-12 months after. I've no doubt this will follow that pattern.

 

Calling it Arma2 and also standalone expansion leads you to think it's just Arma2 with different terrain and units, and while it is, it's also more. It's not as big a jump over Arma2 as that was over Arma1, but while Arma2 is now on 1.07, OA is 1.52, so you can see there's some big changes under the surface.

[+Stary 2,427]

that's right, ARMA2 out of the box used to kill my card, when I came back to it few months later, patched one finally became playable. But BIS titles were allways resources demanding

[+Dave 2,322]

So is this worth getting?

[JediMaster 451]

Depends on what you're looking for. If you played/enjoyed OFP 1 or Arma 1/2, a definite YES. I leave out OFP 2 as that is more like GRAW than OFP/Arma.

The thermal sights are excellent. If it's a couple guys sitting in a stationary vehicle, they're bright and the vehicle is black. If the thing starts moving, you'll see the engine area glow as well as the crew, but the rest is dark. After it's been going awhile, the whole thing will show up bright.

All in all, it's an incremental improvement on the series, but it IS an improvement. Only the framerates are worse, and after a patch or two I'm sure they'll have those going better.

[+Dave 2,322]

I got OFP2 and I like it alot. I didnt like the first ARMA at all. So I am hoping this ARMA 2 is an improvement then. I guess I will pick up a copy. How is the MP? Is it dedicated servers?

[+Gocad 26]

To be honest, ARMA 2 feels to me like OFP with a massive graphics update. I never got ARMA 1 and I was a bit worried when I decided to take the plunge and get ARMA 2 that people complained about the controls in ARMA 2...only to realize that they're pretty much the same as in the original OFP.

 

I still think the AI needs some serious pathfinding lessons, it seems to work a lot worse then it does in OFP...but that could be due to terrain in ARMA 2.

[JediMaster 451]

The experience depends a lot on the mission designers/scripting. So far the campaign in OA is the best since the original OFP's (well, and its Resistance addon), but I'm still early in it.

The campaign in Arma1 was pretty lame, the Queen's Gambit addon campaigns being quite a bit better. Arma2's campaign was a little meandering, hurt by scripting issues/broken triggers that I understand may have been fixed in the 1.07 patch, but I've yet to try to finish it since I got stuck just past half way several months back.

 

MP is dedicated or local servers, whichever you'd prefer.

 

There is nothing like MP combined ops in Arma...inserting via UH-60s or CH-47s, watching AH-1s or AH-64s taking out tanks threatening you on the ground while YOU take out Shilkas and MANPADs threatening the helos, an A-10 making an occasional missile and/or strafing pass, then having your armor come over the ridge and start blasting away at the enemy infantry is just the ultimate thrill.

[+Stary 2,427]

I had little A1 MP experience, was sweet, even if my then system was running it at minimal.

[+X RAY 83]

Installed win7 ultimate 32 and tried it...

All maxed out on very high and gained a very decent framerate.

But i really don't know a thing

on the monitor rez slot I've got 1280-1024 (My 19 Lcd max rez)

below on 3d slot I've got 125% 1680 by default

 

Do i must set it on 100% like the monitor???

 

Some friends says yes,but I want an explanation if it's possible!

[JediMaster 451]

Personally I don't know what the point is of setting it higher other than perhaps it might work like a form of FSAA. By setting the 3D res lower than your actual res you'll get better peformance without downscaling your actual resolution (which most LCDs don't like and get blurry).

Anyway, I have mine matched because it seems setting it higher lowers performance for no noticeable benefit.

[viperBAT32 2]

bought Arma2:CO a few months ago...worried my "ANCIENT" system wouldn't run it....to my surprise, it ran just fine on high settings!

 

must say...this is what i have been waiting for....A GOOD MISSION EDITOR!....even though the learning curve is very steep, i've found that i can create some pretty interesting situations.

 

with the help of some addons from some VERY good sites(Just like the SF:2 series here at CA! ;)) i've managed to coble together a bunch of entertaining (although unfinished,unpolished scraps of battles that lack the moxy of experts) scenarios that leave me hungry for "what can i create next?" feelings!

 

maybe not a must buy......But, a GOOD BUY in my opinion! 2 thumbs up!

 

 

[Vampyre 24]

I will concur with the MP experience. I have played OFP, ARMA and ARMAII for several years now (started in 2005 I think) and it just keeps getting better. I originally got it because of a buddy in our old Old Ghost Recon clan recommended it. ARMAII is the best yet and I always have a blast playing it. My brother still does the clan thing and shoots with a group of limeys on a regular basis. I will usually play my brothers scenerios and have a great time. If he is not on I'll go to a MP server to do some shooting and try to complete some objectives. I really enjoy flying transport helo's such as the MH-6, UH-60 or the Merlin HC3. Not to toot my own horn but I can really get that Little Bird into some tight spaces both in transit and into a confined LZ as it has a very precise handling with my Saitek X52. The great thing about the game is that if you are bored doing one thing in the game, you can switch to something else, like the LAV-25 ar just grabbing an M-4 SOPMOD to plink bad guys and have fun doing that instead... and then there are the mods. Great game!

Edited April 2, 2011 by Vampyre

[TeTeT 0]

I agree that it is an entertaining game. I picked up the 'combined operations' bundle after Christmas and first played through the single player campaigns. Now I practice for a PvP event and mostly play Gossamer's Warfare mission online. As you said, due to being able to play multiple roles, it's not that repetitive. That being said, I really like the VSS and Metis equipped Russian special ops role best.