There's a new Arma 3 video out from community man, Dslyecxi, in which he talks about what Arma 3 is and why you should buy it in eight minutes. It's considerably less insidious than your standard marketing plop, and its effects are enhanced by the fact that Arma 3 is actually looking really good.
The alpha has changed my perspective on the series. I've always enjoyed Arma from afar, living and dying vicariously through veterans' videos, now I want to get stuck in. The idea of sitting in a bush for an hour waiting for a perfect sniper shot seems suddenly more appealing. Arma is something I actually want to play, not just read about.
Perhaps it's the movement. Aiming, firing, running, ducking and tweaking the exact height of my stance feels instantly more responsive than in previous Armas. That slight slipperiness is gone. I'm occupying a soldier avatar, rather than puppeteering one. Perhaps it's the engine. It's beautiful, in an intentionally no-frills way. There's no lensflare, no greasy eyeballs, muck or dirt spatter. The island feels huge and rugged.
Or perhaps it's this video of a stunt track that modders threw together. Bohemia are keen to talk up Arma 3's modding potential, with good reason. The Arma 3 alpha is already a working platform for those who just want to have fun with the tech.
It's a shame you have to pay to get into the alpha. I'd like to see Bohemia run an open beta weekend. I think players put off by the daunting prior installments will feel more at home with Arma 3, and it's flexibility could allow it to reach beyond the hardcore military sim crowd. Also, there are going to be a billion DayZ fan follow-up mods, and one of them will probably be good, right?
That's enough from an Arma noob like me. Evan's brought hundreds of hours of front line experience to the alpha. Here's his Arma 3 alpha hands-on account , and here's a video of Arma 3 running on max settings , and here's Evan's convincing video argument as to how gritty and REAL Arma 3 is as an authentic military experience.
Aaaand trailer:
