Arma

About

Arma is a single player and multiplayer open world shooter game. It was developed by Bohemia Interactive and was released on July 13, 2011. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"ARMA: Gold Edition" is a first-person tactical military shooter that includes the base game "ARMA: Armed Assault" and the expansion pack "ARMA: Queen's Gambit." With a vast array of weapons, vehicles, and large-scale military conflicts, players can experience realism and simulation in a massive 400 square kilometer battlezone. The game also features leadership and commanding options, allowing players to lead their squad through intense battles in a realistic military setting.

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73%

Audience ScoreBased on 605 reviews

story39 positive mentions

stability15 negative mentions

The game offers a nostalgic experience with improved graphics and gameplay mechanics compared to its predecessor, Operation Flashpoint.
The mission editor allows for extensive creativity, enabling players to create their own scenarios and missions.
Despite its age, the game still provides a solid military simulation experience with challenging gameplay.

The controls are clunky and can be overwhelming, making it difficult for new players to adapt.
The AI is often unresponsive or behaves erratically, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.
Multiplayer is essentially dead due to the shutdown of Gamespy, limiting the game's replayability.

story
217 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
76%
6%
The game's story is often described as generic and uninspired, with many players noting that the missions lack a cohesive narrative and fail to engage emotionally. While some missions offer variety and replayability, the overall campaign is criticized for its poor design, frustrating bugs, and a lack of meaningful character development. Despite these shortcomings, the mission editor and the ability to create custom scenarios provide a degree of enjoyment and extend the game's longevity.
- “The campaign also has a rather unique tree structure that I've always loved, with a combination of mandatory missions as a US Army Stryker brigade and choices of optional secondary missions along the way that are typically much harder, but provide lots of variety in gameplay, unit selection, and have effects on the main missions.”
- “Compelling and immersive campaigns, a still vibrant and unique multiplayer, and limitless potential with a mission editor, this is the defining title in Bohemia Interactive's much-loved franchise and is well worth the purchase and the gameplay.”
- “Great gameplay, the story and plot are kind of shallow from my perspective, but I'm sure anyone looking for a war game with early 2000's gear and weapons will find this to suit them greatly.”
- “The story here is generic, the missions are bland and uninspired.”
- “I found the story pretty bland and boring, but then again the story is not the reason for playing this game.”
- “Unlike other parts of the franchise, in the first Arma, the story and characters are almost non-existent, and it's sad.”
graphics
94 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
63%
14%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the improvements over its predecessor, while others criticize them as outdated and lacking polish. Many noted that while the visuals may evoke nostalgia, they do not meet modern standards, often describing them as bland or glitchy. Overall, the graphics are seen as a secondary concern to the gameplay experience, which remains engaging for fans of military simulations.
- “The graphics are much improved from the original Cold War Assault/Operation Flashpoint, and I enjoyed both campaigns.”
- “The graphics have aged well in my eyes; there are cool mods out there if you're interested in modding.”
- “Even though this game is old, on high graphics it still looks beautiful.”
- “The graphics are prehistoric, the AI is legally blind, and I'm pretty sure one mission was just a JPEG of a field.”
- “Its graphics, animations, and overall presentation may not hold up to the standards set by more recent entries in the Arma series like Arma 2 and Arma 3.”
- “The game is not bad, but it lacks a lot in the graphics department; do not get me wrong, it looks fine, but it seems glitchy and over-demanding for a game this old.”
gameplay
63 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
52%
13%
The gameplay of Arma: Gold Edition is a mixed bag, praised for its realistic military simulation and immersive mechanics, but criticized for clunky controls, poor mission design, and overwhelming keybinds. While some players appreciate the depth and variety offered by the sandbox elements and the new engine, many find the overall experience marred by outdated graphics and frustrating gameplay issues. Overall, it retains nostalgic value for fans of the series, but newer installments like Arma 2 and 3 are recommended for a more refined experience.
- “Arma Gold is a solid military shooter if you’re into realistic, tactical gameplay.”
- “The game's realistic weapon mechanics and large-scale military scenarios offer a unique and immersive military simulation experience that can be appreciated even today.”
- “Great gameplay both in singleplayer and multiplayer and a lot of mission possibilities with all the available mods and addons for this game.”
- “There is barely any missions available, the keybinds are all over the place, you can't even edit some keybinds. Though I do like some of the ideas and mechanics behind the game, like how you can move the weapon a bit in place before you actually turn your body, these game mechanics are vastly overshadowed by the classic Arma mess.”
- “The clunky mechanics really hurt this game, and its campaign isn't anything worth playing through, especially with mediocre gameplay.”
- “The controls are clumsy no matter how they're configured, the AI is far from intelligent, the voice acting is annoying, and the gameplay is just overall sorely lacking.”
stability
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
88%
The game's stability has received mixed feedback, with many users noting significant bugs and glitches that impact gameplay, such as AI issues, mission triggers failing, and frustrating design choices. While some players appreciate the improvements in graphics and engine features, they often find the overall experience marred by these persistent issues. Despite the bugs, a portion of the community still enjoys the game, particularly for its fun factor and potential for modding.
- “Runs great on a NASA potato, works perfectly as a tea break between the OG (OFP/ACWA) and Arma 3.”
- “Runs great on my potato computer.”
- “This is just a horrible buggy mess.”
- “Also it's very buggy, I couldn't get past the first mission.”
- “Already in mission 2 all goes to crap, bumping into trees, buggy pathfinding, confusing night vision with weird brightness changes, confusing team voice communication... all is worse than in Arma 1.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The optimization of the game is a mixed bag; while some users note it as the most optimized in the series, many report significant lag and frame drops, particularly on mid-range hardware. The engine is criticized for poor AI implementation and overall performance issues, making it challenging to enjoy the game fully, especially in demanding scenarios like aerial combat. Despite these shortcomings, players appreciate the unique sandbox experience it offers.
- “In fact, this is the most optimized Arma game.”
- “Good for people with low to mid-performance PCs/laptops, and multiplayer servers are still available.”
- “It all starts with the optional tutorial, where depending on your performance (for instance in the shooting range), you can gain expert qualifications and go to sniper training.”
- “It's laggy and unoptimized.”
- “The AI is poorly implemented, and the problematic optimization results in frequent frame drop issues.”
- “Simply because there is nothing else like it available and for all its technical faults (of which it has too many to count) and being one of the most poorly optimized 3D engines I have ever played on - there is no other sandbox platform that does what it does.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The game offers significant replayability, particularly in its single-player mode, with missions that can be approached in various ways and a robust mission editor that enhances longevity. While multiplayer options are limited, the overall experience is enriched by the ability to replay missions, earning a high replay value rating of 9/10.
- “This is the best singleplayer in the series; the replay value is almost infinite. Not as old or clunky as Flashpoint, I think this is a good place to start if you want to learn more about mil sim.”
- “Replayable missions, passable graphics, realistic weapon and vehicle systems, and usable and configurable controls, all on a game that is DRM-free and features a mission editor, allowing for even more replayability.”
- “The missions have a bit of replay value as you can complete them in a variety of ways, but other than that the multiplayer is dead, so the singleplayer is the way to go with this one.”
- “But the real saving grace for the game is in the replayability of the missions.”
- “Replayable missions, passable graphics, 'realistic' weapon and vehicle systems, and usable and configurable controls, all on a game that is DRM-free and features a mission editor, allowing for even more replayability.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some praising the beautiful soundtrack while others find it generic and lacking emotional depth. Comparisons to previous titles highlight that, despite engine improvements, the overall quality of the music and content does not match that of its predecessor.
- “For those coming from OFP/Arma CWA, this is somewhat like the GTA 3D games Vice City and San Andreas, where San Andreas had a better engine allowing multiplayer and swimming, but Vice City had better music.”
- “The soundtrack is beautiful; so were the graphics.”
- “In relation to its predecessor, this has some engine improvements like join in progress multiplayer, the ability to swim, bullet penetration, better destruction, and better graphics, but is more buggy and resource intensive and the content (music, missions, campaign) isn't as good.”
- “The music is generic and the character voices seem emotionless.”
- “Eh.....the game would be better if it had this song in it https://www.youtube.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is often derived from its outdated graphics and awkward animations, which can lead to amusing moments, such as vehicles behaving unexpectedly and humorous interactions between characters. Players appreciate the comedic elements that arise during gameplay, particularly in scenarios involving vehicles and exaggerated character reactions.
- “I like this game because of the vehicles, and some funny moments with the tanks, when they drive limited and they are drifting in place.”
- “It was kind of hilarious because on one hand, the game is happily telling me how to fly, and on the other hand my co-pilot is screaming at me from the ground.”
- “I like the M113 and the funny USMC uniforms.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The atmosphere in the game is noted for its impressive realism and immersive scenarios, enhanced by various modifications that allow players to tailor their experiences. While some reviews mention the game's age and technical issues, the overall ambiance remains a standout feature, contributing to its unique appeal.
- “And don't forget about the large number of different modifications that can help create scenarios with your own enjoyable atmosphere.”
- “The first armed assault game, which came out in 2007, might be crude even compared to games of its time, but it had an amazing atmosphere and unprecedented realism back in the day.”
- “A buggy, frustrating remake of Operation Flashpoint with a modern atmosphere.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, particularly noting the lengthy and monotonous travel required to reach key locations, such as the arms merchant.
- “There's nothing more to add besides the driving in vehicles, which is tedious.”
- “It was tedious getting to the arms merchant.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
While the game has some bugs that detract from the overall experience, players who can overlook these issues still find it emotionally engaging and recommend it.