ARMA 3, the third instalment in Bohemia Interactive’s critically acclaimed military sim, will be released on the 12th of September through Steam and elsewhere.
ARMA 3 will launch with almost 300 km of terrain split across two islands, Altis and the smaller Stratis, 12 singleplayer showcases, 3 faction showcases, 9 multiplayer scenarios, firing drill challenges as well as over 20 vehicles, 40 weapons and 5 factions to choose from. The game is also shipping with a scenario editor and modding support, which can lead to some successful spin-offs.
The game isn’t shipping with a single player campaign, that will come later in the form of free DLC. Huge kudos to Bohemia for not delaying the game, giving the delayed content as free DLC and giving consumers the tools to create their own while they wait.
The beta for the game is still ongoing, and anyone anxious to get tooled up can get access by pre-ordering ARMA 3 through Steam or to Bohemia Interactive site. There are two pre-order versions available, a standard one retailing at£30/€35/$45 or a Deluxe Edition going for £40/€45/$60. Both versions include access to the beta and full-game before the prices rise at launch.
For those who aren’t familiar with the ARMA series it was spawned from the split between Bohemia Interactive, who developed the original Operation Flashpoint games, and Codemasters, who published them. Codemasters own the intellectual property rights to the name Operation Flashpoint, hence the recent releases Dragon Rising and Red River. Bohemia Interactive built on the popularity of the Op Flash series and released Armed Assault, shortened to ARMA in late 2006 and early 2007.
ARMA is considered the “spiritual successor” to Operation Flashpoint and it keeps the original series’ emphasis on wide open spaces, strong tactical gameplay and a mixture of squad control and individual elements. Personally, I’ve never really got into them. They’re very in depth, very unforgiving and not my cup of tea but I’ve always admired the games for their tactical basis and open-world approach to military simulation.
