Questions about buying Arma 2

[andybesy 1]

Hello,

I've recently discovered Arma and would like to buy the game but I could do with some advice about which to get:

Arma 2 - Do people still play this or has everyone moved over to Arma 3 Alpha already?

Arma 2 Free - Seems broken, expected to come back once websites fixed?

Arma 3 Alpha - Or would I be better off with Arma 2 for now?

I'm only really interested in the multi-player military sim side of things (not dayz etc).

Also I read there are some problems with hackers. I understand many games are affected by this to some extent, but is it so bad as to be unplayable? Does it affect just the free version, or the paid versions too?

Thanks, Andy

Edited March 25, 2013 by andybesy

[orcinus 121]

Hi

Arma 2 is still going strong & will be for quite a while, at least a couple of years & probably tailing off quite slowly. Browse the forum & you'll see people are still playing OFP, let alone Arma 1 & 2. Go for CO ("Combined Operations"), the combination of Arma 2 & the standalone expansion Operation Arrowhead which is desert ops. Arma 2 has Chernarus, one of the best islands ('maps') in any game - huge & beautiful. There is a vast range of addons, mods, etc. as well as very many sSP & MP missions.

A3 is (obviously <g>) an alpha - the release gives the community a chance to help the devs bash it into shape as well as getting their hands on it early. Expect it to be buggy, with limits to what is available as yet in terms of missions, mods etc. If you can afford it, get CO and A3 alpha. If you can only afford one or the other at the moment, I recommend CO - you'll find the gameplay will be much smoother and more reliable. Also, the controls, etc., will be more or less identical in A3. That's important as BIS does not make Rambo-style shoot'em'ups; the AI is much smarter than in other games & there is a steep learning curve.

It will be much easier to learn by playing a variant where crashes are infrequent & the quirks. foibles & residual bugs are generally well understood & documented.

Whatever you decide, welcome to the forums & the Armaverse :D

Orc

PS I can't comment on hackers as I only play SP, but from what I have read here it depends to quite an extent on the admin's competence, also DayZ servers seem to have far more problems with cheats & other slimoids.

[ArmaIInoobATM 1]

I'd recommend ArmA II, as Orcinus said I'm sure Arma 2 will still be very popular for many more years. At the moment ArmA III is only Alpha and very lacking on content, as well as buggy.

For about twenty pounds / thirty dollars maximum you should be able to buy the Anniversary Edition or at least buy Combined Operations as you'll have much more content to enjoy as well as improvements from ArmA II in Operation Arrowhead. (Both games are cross-compatible so when you are playing OA you can use all the weapons / vehicles and play on all of the terrains/maps from both ArmA II and ArmA II Operation Arrowhead included in the CO Package)

Personally I overall much prefer A2, especially when A3 is currently in-complete and it will be a few months at least before the Beta.

I very much doubt in a combat scenario in a server there will be any hackers. However, any roleplaying server such as Takistan / Chernarus / Zargabad Life is likely to contain hackers, like DayZ does. Fortunately it's quite rare, and hackers, if caught by admins or BattleEye are severely punished too.

Welcome to the community and hope you enjoy the game!