> Operation Flashpoint/Armed Assault (Arma)--A brilliant series of military simulators, a slight rebranding of which (VBS2) is used to train actual soldiers. The games do a brilliant job of depicting realistic engagement distances, weapons fire, combined arms, the overwhelming superiority of American air power, and how much you will never ever ever want to be an infantryman. Seriously, my biggest impression playing the game was "Man, I hope to hell I never have to wield a rifle for my country, because that life is short." It's not particularly gory, but the impression of just how fragile people are in modern engagements is hard to shake. It's pretty solid.
Funny, my takeaway was "Man, I hope to hell I never have to pilot a helicopter, because the ground is a lot closer than you think."
OFP/ARMA are up there with Rainbow 6/the first Ghost Recon in terms of realism, although they all have very different focus. The SWAT games should get a mention as well.
> One of the interesting messages of CoD (and a message implicit and much better argued by example in Arma) is that you cannot challenge America and win. Nope. Can't be done--look at the overwhelming force.
Haven't played ARMA, but it's not really what I took away from the original OFP. I read it more as a "let's have ourselves Red Storm Rising on a much smaller scale". The big difference as well with the CoD games (at least the recent versions) is that the OFP storyline is not heavily morality-based. Ok, the opposition is not made of nice people, but they're not "evil terrorists who want to blow up the free world and have the wrong religion".
Funny, my takeaway was "Man, I hope to hell I never have to pilot a helicopter, because the ground is a lot closer than you think."
OFP/ARMA are up there with Rainbow 6/the first Ghost Recon in terms of realism, although they all have very different focus. The SWAT games should get a mention as well.
> One of the interesting messages of CoD (and a message implicit and much better argued by example in Arma) is that you cannot challenge America and win. Nope. Can't be done--look at the overwhelming force.
Haven't played ARMA, but it's not really what I took away from the original OFP. I read it more as a "let's have ourselves Red Storm Rising on a much smaller scale". The big difference as well with the CoD games (at least the recent versions) is that the OFP storyline is not heavily morality-based. Ok, the opposition is not made of nice people, but they're not "evil terrorists who want to blow up the free world and have the wrong religion".