The Video Game Revue

ArmA: Combat Operations

Matt asked me a couple of days ago what's worth picking up these days, gaming-wise. I probably should have encouraged him to keep playing FF XII (did anyone in my circle of friends make enough of a commitment to actually finish that?), pick up Guitar Hero, Devil May Cry 3, Soul Caliber 3, Metal Slug Anthology, Resident Evil 4, or something such thing. There's no shortage of great console hits that Matt hasn't played.

But, knowing Matt, those answers didn't even occur to me at the time. He's more of a PC gamer than a fan of great console hits, and I knew that he was looking for something wholely new and boundary-pushing. I told him, "nope, nothing that I know of; let me know if you find anything."

And he did! ArmA: Combat Operations not only kick ass, but it kicks my ass with its uncompromisingly technical and challenging nature. There are many modern games that strive to be accessible and have a broad appeal; this one is the antithesis of that philosophy. As somebody who has been immersed in Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and Battlefield games for years, I found that ArmA has made a complete noob out of me once more. The level of coordination and awareness that is necessary to succeed at this game stretches into the territory pioneered by the hardcore flight simulators of old. Anyone who thinks of FPS games as primarily an action game genre will be disappointed here.

I had a hard time pulling myself away from this game. ArmA is extremely immersive and all the more satisfying for its high challenge level. I've only been playing it for a short time, but it seems likely that I won't tire of this one for a long time. And that's good news since it'll take me a long time to reach a respectable level of skill at this one.

Speaking of games that kick my ass, I've been pretty frustrated with Art of Fighting and AoF 2. Those are some pretty cryptic fighting games, and my prior experience with the likes of King of Fighters doesn't translate well. Art of Fighting 3 is much more conventional, however. Although playing KoF hasn't helped me a lot with AoF, I'm hoping that somehow the reverse will hold true. If nothing else, I'm being educated somewhat in the ways of classic fighting games that I'd previously missed out on.

I'm also looking forward to Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core coming to the Wii. I don't play nearly as much Guilty Gear as I should.

Finally, I waited too long to get a copy of Resident Evil 4 for the Wii, but once I do manage to snag a copy, I'm planning on a thorough play-through... assuming I can find the time, of course.

posted by Parappa @ 11:28 AM