Arma 3 first impressions

[infection 1]

So, what's your first impression of arma 3?

[couponbook 10]

give me a copy. i will tell you impressions.

[waxman 5]

give me a copy. i will tell you impressions.

https://store.bistudio.com/

[svensson 1]

Didn't get a steam key in the mail but contacted support hope they'll fix it for me: )

[iceman77 18]

Didn't get a steam key in the mail but contacted support hope they'll fix it for me: )

Well, I'd find something else to play in the mean time. Waiting for steam support is like waiting for a snail to cross the Mojave desert. Also, they conveniently have no support line so you can speak with a human being... :rolleyes:

[danny96 80]

It's great, awesome graphics, very good optimalisation. But couldn't find a customisation editor yet. I mean this thing:

[Major_brause 10]

Hey guys gonna test it as soon i get off work. How is the performance of the game regarding framerates?

[lightspeed_aust 681]

my first impressions is it seems a lot more fluid, have to get used to all the different run and stance modes.

island is nice to look at and hard to spot opfor so should be a good challenge.

only doing a quick test tonite but so far - seems positive.

one issue - (which i thought had been fixed) where you go prone on a slope or a rock and it then forces you to stand back up.

---------- Post added at 01:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:40 AM ----------

framerates are as good as Arma 2.

[NeMeSiS 11]

It runs unreasonably well, I really enjoy the fluidity of the new animations, at middle distance things kinda look crappy.

[cossack8559 10]

9 minutes left for my download, shall have some feedback once i play an hour or ten.

[Jake877x 10]

Im playin it pretty much maxxed out. Auto detected everything at max. i5-3570k and gtx 670, 8 gigs ddr3 ram. Havin a great time.

[cannonouscrash 12]

This game is fucking awesome, having so much fun with just 4 of us. So many bugs, hopefully bis will get some bug reporting system in place.

[froggyluv 2136]

Been messin around with small AI infantry town fights for about an hour and so far 1st impression:

~ AI don't seem worse than Arma 2 but somewhat different as if maybe still in a transitory place. My squad AI were doing a decent job of keeping cover while advancing streets toward the enemy. The enemy sometimes did seem a tad slow to return fire and a few times I could kind of "see" them trying to decide which side of the street they should go for cover but overall they did use cover pretty well and I also saw them drop to knee when taking fire behind a wall. Nothing mindblowingly new here but not bad either and probably pretty good after a few tweaks. Also to note -I was playing on Normal.

~Ragdolls. Yes they're awesome but would I be a total hypocrite if i didn't say I kinda wish animations AND ragdolls were possible? Yet, they are still awesome :)

~Have those tiny white grainy texture specs that I once thought was AMD-only special on my 680 if ANY AA is turned on. Im sure it'll work itself out but a bit of a bummer.

~Sounds. Gunfire has nicer punch than before and tires squeak :)

~Grenades have a PhysX-y bounce but are easier to control.

~New sights are freakin great as well as ability to shift between CQB and scope -tho my attempt to re-configure the 'Adjust' key won't save and returns to default for some reason.

~Stances: Unbelievably awesome and very smooth -as is the whole infantry movement mechanic so far. Moving indoors is a breeze tho the rifle still doesn't auto-lower when reaching a wall :\

~Underwater: Took my infantry team for a PhysX induced APC ramp dive into the ocean. We all survived and swam back to sure without losing weapons or stupid AI complaining. The sea itself was just sublime -much more than I thought I'd care for. Ill be going back for sure.

~Radio: MUCH smoother, new voices, pleasant and more infomative: "Infantry Mobile 75m SW" Direct.Works.

~Windows: You can shoot them out individually with glass busting out -finally!!! :)

Overall I love the feel of this new installment and IMHO -it feels new, not just some rehash. The towns (ive only been in one) roll with authenticity and vibrancy (as much as one can expect) and the terrain details are going to be a joy for CQB -especially PvP! thats enough for now -back to gaming!

[fabl10 10]

Me and my friend tried the Alpha today for the first time.

The results:

If above doesn't work:

Edited March 5, 2013 by fabl10

[liquidpinky 11]

Nice review Froggy, just wish Steam would get it's ass into gear and finish downloading now.

That white pixel thing can be a combination of hardware AA and FXAA or SMAA, possibly with a little atoc thrown in. I get it in ToH a lot until I mess around with those settings and wipe it out..

[froggyluv 2136]

Correction: Its actually the ATOC setting -not the AA that cause the dots. And their purple, not white :p

[tupolov 520]

Awesome stuff! Congrats BIS on a great start to A3.

[infection 1]

~Underwater: Took my infantry team for a PhysX induced APC ramp dive into the ocean. We all survived and swam back to sure without losing weapons or stupid AI complaining. The sea itself was just sublime -much more than I thought I'd care for. Ill be going back for sure.

Yeah I've been loving arma 3 so far however I'd really like to see some nice improvements to the diving, like obscured vision like from NVG's etc cus to me it didn't quite have the diving feel but I hope it'll get there!

[Iroquois Pliskin 0]

Very quick impression: In the game at long last, the first thing that pleasantly strikes the player is the introduction and welcome from the dev team, explaining what ArmA III is and what it hopes to achieve. I like that they said, that it's an infantry game first & foremost. :)

The interface in the main menu & options is very sharp and clean - serves its purpose great. I'm still at Mission Briefing, but I can already see that they've done wonders with the Map & its texture buffering problems <-- Perhaps I spoke too soon, will check in-game. ;)

Edited March 5, 2013 by Iroquois Pliskin

[PsychoPigeon 10]

Much more responsive, weapon handling feels much more tactical. Just want more vehicles and decent missions!

[Iroquois Pliskin 0]

Much more responsive, weapon handling feels much more tactical. Just want more vehicles and decent missions!

Defo.

Biggest change I've spotted to date: negative mouse acceleration is gone! Mouse accel setting works beautifully now, can do precise small increment movements, as well as larger turns with no lag. :)

[aop 1]

Pros:

Graphics are nice.

The gameplay is more responsive.

New stance system.

New weight based inventory.

Weapon accessories.

Cons:

Not much to test really.

Performance is abysmal in more complex missions (the helicopter showcase for example), in the biggest town of the island and in multiplayer missions with more than 10 players.

Can't fix the abysmal performance with graphics settings, going from high to low nets only couple a fps, seems like CPU bottleneck (Core i5-2500K@4.3GHz, 8GB RAM, GTX570 (getting GTX680 soon)).

[CombatComm 10]

The good:

-Love some of the details in the animations I've seen. The little detail in the check inventory animation is great!

-Recoil feels good and strong with the camera shudder adding to the affect. Very fun to shoot!

-Texture quality is top notch on characters.

- Clouds look great!

-Controls have deffinately entered the 21st century.

- Runs amazingly! GTX 680 I7 2700K

- Voice acting is a welcome improvement.

The bad (bugs-I know its alpha):

-Has anyone here ever carried even a light rifle with one hand, your wrist quirked like the animation shows? Your wrist would be cramped in seconds! It looks ridiculous. No one teaches any military on this earth to hold a rifle like that. They look like gorillas! Not to mention when the whole squad is walking around IN THE SAME animation it kills immersion. Please change the animation so that they are holding rifles correctly. Everything else looks good animation wise.

- Side arm dosent show when holstered.

- Disappointed at the lack of TOH FM. By far the most anticipated new feature and since it was CONFIRMED to take it out seems all wrong. Would love to see rudder pedal animations added. Simple little things that seem like a no brainer.

-Terrain map resolution is pretty pathetic. Arma 2.5

- Weapons, distance sounds.....bleh

[vivoune 1]

-HDR works like its supposed to, that's nice.

-The various stances are really nice and easy to use (though a stance status would be nice as you sometime forget what stance/increment/lean you're in)

-i5 3570k gtx670 16gb, auto detect put everything on Ultra and 4km view at 1920x1080, a shy but rather steady 30fps. I think the coming Nvidia beta drivers should help a lot as tweaking from Ultra to low for most settings doesn't change the fps count a lot.

-The fine work they did on lights, sounds and Radio chatter make up for a really immersive experience.

-UI still needs some work obviously but it's much better and practical than Arma 2 already.

-Combat feeling is more responsive, tactical and intense thanks to the smoother various moves (stances increments, tactical advance etc) though it does take some use to.

-AI seem to spot you and enemies from quite far and quite easily while you might have trouble even when there's a big red triangle marking it oO

-AI is quite aggressive but still needs a lot of work considering the very bad judgement/choices it takes on a regular basis

-Custom MP missions are popping up fast, Escape Prison/Island seems popular..

I've only played for a couple of hours but so far it's been a real delight, so much potential!

[Fragmagnet 3]

The cracks from bullets flying by aren't as imposing as they were in Arma 2. They need to be brought back into the front of the sound mix instead of seeming to be in the background.