this isn't close to ready

[ooglaboogla 0]

Hi, I'm new here but go back a couple decades with BI games, particularly Operation Flashpoint (I had an amazing experience with that even on the gimped Xbox version). I largely gave up PC gaming probably somewhere around 2000 -- just got tired of being my own IT specialist when it came to playing games. Never enjoyed modifying dll/bat/txt files, adjusting graphics cards and settings, always upgrading computers to meet minimum spec requirements, etc. I'm not knocking those who do that, but it's not for me. 

 

Enter ARMA Reforger.

 

I realize that this game is just a beta and a testbed for ARMA4, but man oh man is it giving off bad vibes in its current state on the Xbox. And it's been, what, a year now? Not nearly enough improvement. I WANT to play this game, on Xbox, but it just elicits so many groans and frustrations that I'm shelving it for another 6 months and hoping that BI devotes considerable time to a better version. It's in such a bad state that I wonder if they made a mistake in releasing it when they did on Xbox. I have several console friends who long for a more immersive, realistic shooter and/or mil-sim experience. They've tried ARMA Reforger with me, and left dissatisfied, and I have to say it's mostly because of the terrible controller interface. In a shooter, you HAVE to be able to feel connected with your tools and the environment. You can't be fiddling uncomfortably around for a flashlight, compass, pistol, etc. or taking five seconds to lean around a corner. Sure, you can adapt to some things with time, but this needs a major overhaul.

 

I get that it's difficult for game developers to smoothly map complex game mechanics to a controller, which is why some PC games never see the light of day on a console. But there have been exceptions, and I'm optimistic for BI on this. Go back to their roots with Operation Flashpoint from almost 20 years ago (2005?). Sure it was clunky on Xbox, but it was VASTLY better than what is currently being implemented in ARMA Reforger. I would gladly take that control scheme.

 

So there is hope.

 

I should also cite the terrible AI in this game (the enemy sees everything, even in the dark, they hear everything, e.g. converge from miles at the sound of a pin drop, they don't miss a shot even from too far away to be realistic) and the many bugs I've seen, including in the tutorial. These are somewhat understandable as part of a demo/beta, and I expect all of this to be tightened up before official release. Still, it's not exactly a good impression on first time players who ALREADY are waffling because of the lame controller interface.

 

Then there's the inability to play any custom or private game with friends on Xbox, at least not easily, nor is there any readily available official explanation of how to do so. I had to scour the internet to find some vague notes on how to turn my pc into a server, then change ports and some other .txt or .bat files to set up something that would THEN hopefully allow me to host games (?) Seriously? This is exactly how NOT to launch on a console.  

 

Lastly, BI charges $30 for this mess. It should be free at this point.  I paid it, though, with the expectation of some major improvements down the way, because I see the massive potential for a console community starved of this type of gameplay. I realize if BI doesn't figure out a better console interface, this may have been $30 down the toilet. But here's to hoping they do (see Vigor, DayZ, Op Flashpoint: Elite).

 

So please, BI, do this right on console. Spend quality time on making this a great experience, or don't bother. If need be, remove it from the Xbox store so you don't do any more damage to your reputation, then bring it back when you have something more worthy of release. Even as a beta, there are some standards that should be met.

 

And lastly, thank you for hearing my rant. I wouldn't do this unless I cared. 

 

[jakeplissken 77]

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising was on Xbox and PS3. This worked OK on the consoles and seems to be very fluid. Hopefully, Reforger can be fixed to actually run fluidly on a modern PC.