ArmA 3 First Impressions

[ruhtraeel 1]

So I thought I would share my first impressions of this alpha, seeing as how I paid 33 bucks for it (I very rarely buy games that are over 30 dollars, the last one being Borderlands 2).

Pros:

-Amazing overall quantity of content. There is so much diversity in this game; even moreso than many "triple A" titles out there. Everything from game modes to weapon customization to vehicles to the map editor itself, anything that I could imagine in the portrayed setting is already there.

-User moddability. I was just playing on two vastly different servers, one with 300m+ engagements in a valley, and another in a dark and stormy night with NV goggles and very close quarters combat. This adds to the already vast amount of content out there.

-Great graphics. This really really helps the immersion for me. The realistic look really engages me into the setting, unlike the cinematic Hollywood looking games such as Battlefield 3 (although they have their place too)

-Certain sounds are very satisfying to hear, especially ambient sounds.

-Movement was improved SO MUCH! CQB is actually incredibly engaging now, and movement of your own character and control of your gun feels amazing, especially with the combat stance.

Cons:

-Performance. I get 25-40 FPS in most places, regardless of what settings I use. Hopefully this will be fixed during alpha/beta.

-Water is a bit glitchy. Sometimes you can get into this weird pseudo-underwater state where the seabed below you is the same colour as the ground above water, without the blue tint. Also, your player doesn't have a swimming animation yet. You also seem to stick to rocks if you touch the top of them, as if you are briefly standing on them (maybe this was intended?)

-Certain sounds are less immersive, such as some of the gun sounds. I think games like Battlefield really do this well, at least for things such as the echoes of your gun in an enclosed space. Also, it might be just me, or do your own footstep sounds seem a bit off in terms of direction?

-Movement can still be a bit weird at times. Prone through doorways is still very glitchy, and you can occasionally get stuck on the odd piece of debris, but the latter is very minor and hardly noticeable.

Suggestions:

-Larger naval units available as well? Possibly a movable version of the ArmA 2 aircraft carrier on the intro screen, or maybe a battleship?

-Community: Maybe an actual large city with streetlights/apartments/malls/skyscrapers... I'm fantasizing now.

Verdict:

Probably the best money for a game I've ever spent since Total Annihilation (released in 1997, got for $5 in a bargain bin at The Hudson Bay Company). There's just so much diversity and content in this game. One important point is that even though this is jam packed with content, it's not like it is rough around the edges to the point of unplayability; something ArmA 2 struggled with at times. Because the core game mechanics are all there, anything built around it is going to benefit from the existing components. It may have it's fair share of bugs (client crashing when turning towards an explosion as well as connectivity issues to servers), but I'm truly hard pressed to find legitimate criticisms about decisions made in the game's content itself.

Hats off to BI for creating a shooter that has filled almost every single wish and expectation of mine, and I look forward to the finished product.

I would like to hear the community's opinions so far as well. What does everyone else think/like/dislike about the game?

[clydefrog 3]

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?147538-Share-your-first-Arma3-Alpha-Impressions-%28all-first-impression-type-posts-here-pls%29