Armed Assault - ArmA
Sl4y3rs review
I´m a Operation Flashpoint veteran, played the game single-, multiplayer and even designed maps and missions for a OF community.
So, of course I bought the sequell too.
First I installed it on my, I will call it, average system (AMD64 3200+ océd, 2048MB RAM, Geforce 7800GS 256 MB APG) on sunday noon. Checked the settings and choosed normal settings for graphics. With those normal settings even AA and Shadows etc are disabled. Resolution 1024x768 on my 19" CRT.
Started the singleplayer intro missions about movement, shooting and so on. I recognized some crappy movements and very low FPS (25-30) while I was trying to run through a labyrinth and to cross an obstacle. But not unplayable. Well lets try the shooting range, M16 test sounds easy. "Hit a minimum of 20 targets, for each target you have 5 seconds to aim and shoot. Maximum ammo are 30 rounds!" Pf, was my first thought, I will hit at least 32 targets for sure. Not at all. The aiming is pretty though and shooting a little dot at the horizon is kinda wooot. Well, at last I hit 26 targets and got a rank1 sniper evaluation. I didnt bother to practice other weapons. I was out for some virtual blood!!!
Started a singleplayer mission (not the campaign). In this mission you are alone and have to destroy a enemy konvoi, sounds easy. Started in the middle of nowhere, I drove my civilian truck to the marked position, parked it there, put some explosives on the road and proned in a little forest. "Why the fuck are my eyes acheing?" Hm, well, there goes the konvoi, oh theres a bmp also, well, charged the explosives and the trucks are gone. Aimed for the BMP, pulled the trigger, missed. Moved proned to get a better shoot. "Damn, this is unplayable, only 15 fps" Heard a boom, oh, damn the BMP hit me behind the trees. F*ck!!!
Hm, like I said unplayable and I didnt mind to set my resolution back to 800x600, neither to low settings.
Installed it on my monster machine yesterday. AMD64 4000+ océd, 4096MB RAMs, Dual GF8800GTX 768MB PCI-E. Settings, everthing maxed, everything!!! Resolution 1960 x 1280 on a 21" LCD. Here I go again.
Played the movement and shootings trainings again. Hell yes, FPS around 50-70 while moving through the labyrinth and crossing the obstacle. But hey, only 70FPS with this highend machine? Well
The shooting range was fun, hit 30 of 30 targets with 30 rounds , tried the machinegun M249, tried the pistol, tried the grenade launcher, and even the sniperrifle. Succeded everywhere with good results.
Played the squadleader training and was pretty suprised by the new command stuff. Hell, there are tons of options, but I think after some rounds you can use them pretty good. Wheres the commo-rose
Tanktraining, yeah! Tanks rule! Driving and shooting is fun, commanding is weird. Choppers, I like choppers. I dont like em in ArmA! I´ve tried to fly them with even mouse and joystick. The flyingmodel is realistic and easy to handle, but if it cames to hovering, what the hell, why is this piece of shit spinning in circles all the time?! Didnt mind to try it again, will check later maybe.
Lets go for some campaign rounds. Nice intro. The scene switches to a humvee convoi, Im sitting on the codriver seat watching the landscape, listening to the teams radio and read some dialogs. Order from HQ to move to a city to check some violence. Heard, done. Still intro. But where the hell are those KI comardes driving?! Nevermind. At last we arrived at the city. All was calm. The Humvees parked outside and the soldiers got out. Playingtime!!! Squad moved to a building. "Damn it, 35 FPS?!?" Explosions, Humvees are gone! Proned, take a breath, scooped the M4. Nothing. Tons of radio comments, new order from squadleader. Ducked move to a near building. Radio was like "Damn one is down, damn two is down, oh no three is down!" Huh? What? Spotted an enemy, aimed, shoot, yes got him. Another one, again aimed, shoot, he´s down. Yes.
But why the f*ck only 30FPS, I have the üb3rhighend GPUs.
Oh hell, T72 incoming. Get the hell outta here. Runned to a building, heard a single blast, Im down F*ck it. Tried again. Same result. F*ck f*ck f*ck f*ck! Checked the options again, decrease sight, some textures (remember I have 8800GTX SLI) and AA, AF.
Ok, this is playable, killed five enemies, was able to hide myself when the T72 came in and survived. Mission complete. Next mission, was a sabotage night mission. Good old Operation Flashpoint feeling Got it in first attemp, killed 11 enemies without any scratch This was fun.
I´ve even tried mutliplayer later. Some coop missions. Yes, funny.
All in all, the game is good. Not acarde style like BF2 or BF2142 and much more intense and realistic.
Patched it yesterday before I went to bed. Dunno whats changed, will check it later this noon.
BUT: a shitty FPS of 30-40 in high settings with a highend rig is a no go!
EDIT/Update:
seems like the patch fixed the graphics issues. I´ve set everything back to max again, designed a map with 243 units (infantry, helos, tanks etc etc.) and play a preview with 70-85 FPS!
