Czech developers from Bohemia Interactive became famous by creating two games - Operation Flashpoint, the rights to which were later snatched away from them by Codemasters, and the independent Armed Assault, which, after its release, gained not much fewer fans than OF. Today we want to tell you about the second part of this project.

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Czech developers fromBohemia Interactive became famous by creating two games -, the rights to which the company subsequently snatched from themCodemasters ,and independent, which after its release gained not much fewer fans than. Today we want to tell you about this project.

...and again the Russians...

Contrary to the popular belief of inexperienced players, the difference between and is very big. Not huge as between, say, an American football simulator and an RTS, but striking enough for projects of the same subgenre (we're talking about military simulators). In the original, the gamer was more of a loner - he acted either as a quiet sniper or as a brave tankman. B already commanded an entire detachment, relying on the coordinated actions of all its members. This feature migrated to the second part, even receiving some expansion.

The plot plays out the conflict that broke out on the territory of the abstract country of Chernarussia, whose citizens decided to build communism in their state. Of course, the head of the pro-Western coalition did not like this. However, he did not want to start a war, so he tried to resolve this issue through peaceful means. And the Russians responded to persuasion with terror and aggression.

Squad leader

The idea of ​​team action developed back in the original. Now the interaction of soldiers with each other has reached a qualitatively new level. The player is the head of a squad who calmly manipulates his subordinates. He can switch to any fighter in his group at any time. This is partly justified by the individuality of each soldier, who now has his own equipment. But at the same time, warriors do not have full-fledged role characteristics. The best, or at least the most promising, were sent to war, so all conversations boil down to clarifying the mission's goals and teams. Briefings, by the way, play a very important role - from them you can learn about the most dangerous parts of the map or get unexpected information about the mission. This brings at least some variety to the banal plot.

The interaction within the group turned out better than in the first part - the squad leader easily gives orders to his subordinates, quickly coordinates their actions and directs fire. Don’t hesitate - your colleagues will cover you, conduct barrage fire, or blow up a shelter or wall. In addition, if you don’t like the actions of one of your charges, you can literally get into his skin and strangle your enemies with his hands. As they say, if you want something done well, do it yourself.

Future Wars

Many players noted the depleted range of equipment in the original compared to . In the second part, the range expanded significantly. Among the new products we noticed armored personnel carriers BTR-90 and BMP-3, an F-35 fighter and even a T-90 tank. The Arsenal has also been updated and now the gamer can fire from the M-14, M-8 and Vintorez. Of course, this is far from full list updates, but we named the most notable examples.

In addition, the authors divided the guns according to their characteristics, so you will never confuse the MK 19 and AGS grenade launchers. For example, a bullet fired from a sniper rifle passes through obstacles, slowing down and losing destructive power. Not inferior to the general high level and transport, which is divided not only by the degree of cross-country ability, but also by the armor, on which any damage is displayed.

The flights are arcade-style, so they are unlikely to appeal to fans of simulators.

But if we put aside minor shortcomings, it still stands firmly on its feet. Of course, there is a direct competitor - but can the company, which has recently been eager to reach the casual public, be able to bring it to fruition? Codemasters It's hard to say. Therefore, now it represents the best symbiosis of hurricane team action and a serious combat simulator. Not individual types of weapons or equipment, but the war as a whole - this is a very important feature of the game, which distinguishes it from the projects of the US Army and others.

Arma 2: Tactics modern warfare - a 3D tactical first-person shooter. The game takes place in a fictional country called Chernarussia, divided into two parts, one of which, the northern one, is part of Russia, and the second, the southern one, is independent. Southern Chernarus is tormented by internal conflicts between the communist and democratic parties. The next elections, where the overwhelming majority of votes were given to representatives of the Democratic Party, led to the fact that their rivals unleashed an open armed conflict. Rebellion and a brewing civil war have divided the population into two opposing camps - those who are convinced that the country should unite with its northern neighbor and become part of Russia and those who believe that Northern Chernarus is theirs by right and only by uniting can they build a strong sovereign state. The first shots were fired after the Russian government refused to accept the rebellious and unstable republic into the federation, then the government of the small country was forced to ask for help from NATO forces to end the internal conflict.

Game Features

• The plot of the game has no parallels with reality. The fictional country is located in unknown coordinates, on the shores of the Green Sea, and all the inhabitants of the country have distinct Czech names and surnames;
• The graphics engine opens two large maps - Zagoria and Utes, the total area of ​​which is more than two hundred square kilometers;
• Maximum proximity to reality, achieved thanks to the drawn settlements, where not only civilians and guerrilla rebel groups are found, but also kilometers of roads and numerous civilian and military objects;
• To complete the effect, the developers have created a serious historical layer, where the player will become aware of numerous facts from the country’s past, starting from the fifth century.

Gameplay realism

The authors of the game tried to do real work to create a full-fledged world where existing models of weapons, equipment and cars with characteristics close to existing models are used. Everything affects the gameplay - ballistics, recoil and reloading, as well as movement speed and technical data. Damage received by soldiers and equipment is of high importance during the game. The entire environment is interactive, buildings are destroyed, and the enemy can react and rebuild during the firefight based on numerous factors, including the terrain and the presence of stinging insects nearby. Aviation equipment is also present here, namely helicopters. Their controls are not completely realistic, but they are conveyed with amazing precision, and in order to get into the air you will have to spend a lot of time on training, and the result will pleasantly surprise fans of the genre.

Strategic mode

Using classic moves for tactical shooters, the developers decided not to limit themselves, and at the very end of the single-player campaign the player will be offered two missions, where the shooter will turn into a full-fledged real-time strategy, with all the ensuing possibilities.

Add-ons

At a later time, several DLCs were released that greatly improve and change original version. The list is arranged as new products are released by date.

• Arma 2: British Armed Forces
• Arma 2: Private Military Company
• Arma 2: Army of the Czech Republic

It's no secret that the gaming market today is oversaturated with shooters different breeds and suits, both high quality and not so good. But at the same time, these interactive “shooting games” are indecently simple and, more often than not, extremely linear entertainment. The general trend towards simplifying gameplay, the ardent love of the masses for the arcade nature of it in the form of a “health bar”, sinning with self-medication and other similar “tricks”, is very relevant these days. In addition, nowadays computer races with a machine gun at the ready strongly gravitate towards the exorbitant dynamics of fights, which is created by pre-calculated, staged scenes and scripts of “on-rails action”. A little history Against the backdrop of these processes, more or less serious military simulators, like Operation Flashpoint or Armed Assault, are perceived by intelligent players as valuable, hardcore and exclusive content. The story of Armed Assault begins after the creation of Operation Flashpoint. Despite the fact that the first game in the ancestor series is about eight years old, this military shooter is blooming, smelling and not even going to fade. The servers are functioning stably, the forums are not empty, and the passionate fans tirelessly and ceaselessly rivet large-scale, and most importantly talented and entertaining modifications. But the creation of the sequel to Operation Flashpoint took a little longer. This turned out to be a difficult and controversial matter. The creators of the title, the Czech studio Bohemia Interactive, have fallen out with their publisher, Codemasters, which owns all rights to this trademark. One way or another, the path of the demiurges split into two narrow paths. Publishers from Codemasters set about creating the second part on their own, using their internal game development division. And the Czechs went their own “ideologically correct” way, releasing the original of the successor to the Flashpoint tradition - Armed Assault. The game was released by the creators in 2007 and lingered in the memory and minds of players not only due to its hardcore approach to building game fights. The first part was partly remembered due to a considerable number of errors - all sorts of bugs and lags. In the sequel, the authors from Bohemia planned to save users from this kind of inconvenience, and themselves from notoriety. At the same time, the demiurges decided to gift fans of the game of war “seriously” with more advanced visual design, better implementation of the single-player campaign and some other small “goodies”. However, as the release of ArmA 2 showed, much of this “magnificent bouquet” of advantages requires serious improvement. Oh, a sequel. Ah, the sequel...Armed Assault 2 belongs to a rare breed of shooters, in which before the start of the campaign it would be a good idea to take a course for a young fighter. You can do this in a boot camp, and practice a couple of exercises even on an aircraft carrier. And still, this will not be enough, because many common truths will have to be comprehended on your own, already in battle. Everything is just like in life! The player will have to plunge into the maelstrom civil war, alien and completely alien to the heroes of the game. Armed Assault 2 is set in 2009. Events take place in the former Soviet (fictional) republic of Chernarus. She is tormented by political contradictions that arose after the collapse of the USSR. Civilians sleep and see Chernarus as a democratic country oriented to the West. And the rebels want their homeland to join the Russian Federation. Higher army ranks, who received training during totalitarian regime, are gradually crushing the country under themselves. The frightened legitimate government sends diplomats and a package of documents to Moscow, wanting to become part of the Russian Federation. The Kremlin, having weighed all the pros and cons, rejects the “tempting” offer of the envoys. And the poor fellows have no choice but to turn to NATO for help. The Alliance sends out its peacekeepers. The user takes on the role of a member of the elite Marine squad "Blade". Moreover, switching between characters is carried out at the request of the player by pressing a special key. Both squad commander Patrick Miles and other special forces are in charge. Namely, we are talking about the master of sabotage Matt Cooper, covering machine gunner Chad Rodriguez, staff medic Brian O'Hara and the eyes of the unit - sniper Randy Sykes. The most interesting thing is that the single-player campaign will allow fans of serious games about war to try on the jackets of only these American guys. But this does not mean that fans of Armed Assault will not have the honor of playing, say, for the brave Russian special forces - far from it! Among single scenarios, the choice of heroes is very wide. The country of young democracy, Chernarus, is much livelier, richer and more interesting than game world the first part of Assault. But in the gameplay mechanics the differences are minimal. For example, the authors taught controlled characters to deftly climb over low fences and obstacles. Orientation based on the clock and compass has been replaced by actions based on GPS readings. This innovation is not superfluous, because according to official information, the territory of Chernarus occupies about 225 square km. And the ornate ribbons of roads stretch across the expanses of the country for 350 kilometers. Huge territories open up wide scope for the flight of imagination of the player. This leads to a variety of playthrough styles for the sequel. From stealth attacks to sudden, out of the blue, tank strikes and air raids. But the elements of role-playing fun promised by the Bohemia Interactive studio remained at the level of unrealized ideas. The user is offered only a wide selection of ammunition for fighters. In addition, the gamer has the opportunity to accept or reject this or that combat task, such as the often encountered search for evidence of military atrocities of local warriors. Fulfilling the goals set for the “Blade” involves “seven-mile” forced marches. In this regard, peacekeepers have to saddle “iron horses” of various stripes, breeds and purposes. There are a lot of vehicles in Armed Assault 2. A lot of civilian equipment, including even bicycles in its fleet. It’s not worth even talking about the military, there is everything right up to heavy armored vehicles, both Western-style and those that “originally” came from the USSR. Oh, you horses, my “horses of steel” Aviation is represented no less widely - jet and rotorcraft “swallows” "is also enough. The behavior model and control of the equipment have hardly changed since the original, but it wouldn’t hurt to change a few things. As before, we are not allowed to fire from car windows, as we say (we apologize in advance) in Godfather 2. And hitting a target from a helicopter is the lot of a true virtuoso master, of which there are only a few. However, virtuosos are not born. You can become one, or at least try out weapons and military equipment, in a special training section of Armed Assault 2 called “Arsenal”. The list of “guns” and “cars” for a test drive is more than impressive. It will amaze the imagination and satisfy even the most demanding fan of the project. Just for fun, the authors have equipped the arsenal with missions for NPCs, even the most incredible ones, like goats, roosters, chickens and other animals. These “heroes” are invited to try to stay alive in missions of the “run away from the hunters” type. Arsenal is far from the only fun outside of the single-player campaign. An advanced map and scenario editor invites users to resort to building bases, barracks, and recruiting units, so typical of the strategy genre. This section truly offers a lot of features that fans will appreciate. After all, there is nothing better than a mission created in your own way.” homemade recipe" As for multiplayer attempts to introduce democracy in Chernarus, they represent a rather trivial cooperative mode of passage. However, it is complemented by online fun, a little reminiscent of Bohemia’s fantasies on the theme of the Battlefield project’s lists. A few words in parting However, the game not only pleases the user, but the fly in the ointment that the Czechs offer for consumption instead of honey is simply huge. The Real Virtuality engine no, no, and it shows the player its weak points. The sprite bushes and grass are in your eyes, and the trees and special effects could look better. Stable work is an unattainable goal for demiurges. Despite all its advantages, disadvantages such as terrible animation, sudden disappearance of textures or characters walking through walls kill the desire to play. The action of the “iron mind” leaves much to be desired; the enemy is often dumb and frozen in place. Sometimes co-workers are also affected. But still, the Armed Assault 2 project is not hopeless; it is entertaining, although somewhat difficult for the “inexperienced” player. And we just have to wait for patches, especially since they have already appeared.

Armed Assault 2: Review

Czech developers from Bohemia Interactive became famous by creating two games - Operation Flashpoint, the rights to which were later snatched away from them by Codemasters, and the independent Armed Assault, which, after its release, gained not much fewer fans than OF. Today we want to tell you about the second part of this project.

And again the Russians...

Contrary to the popular belief of inexperienced players, the difference between OF and ArmA is very large. Not huge as between, say, an American football simulator and an RTS, but striking enough for projects of the same subgenre (we're talking about military simulators). In the original, the gamer was more of a loner - he acted either as a quiet sniper or as a brave tankman. In ArmA, he already commanded an entire detachment, relying on the coordinated actions of all its members. This feature migrated to the second part, even receiving some expansion.

Armed Assault 2: Review

The plot plays out the conflict that broke out on the territory of the abstract country of Chernarussia, whose citizens decided to build communism in their state. Of course, the head of the pro-Western coalition did not like this. However, he did not want to start a war, so he tried to resolve this issue through peaceful means. And the Russians responded to persuasion with terror and aggression.

Armed Assault 2: Review

Squad leader

The idea of ​​team action was developed back in the original ArmA. Now the interaction of soldiers with each other has reached a qualitatively new level. The player is the head of a squad who calmly manipulates his subordinates. He can switch to any fighter in his group at any time. This is partly justified by the individuality of each soldier, who now has his own equipment. But at the same time, warriors do not have full-fledged role characteristics. The best, or at least the most promising, were sent to war, so all conversations boil down to clarifying the mission goals and teams. Briefings, by the way, play a very important role - from them you can learn about the most dangerous parts of the map or get unexpected information about the mission. This brings at least some variety to the banal plot.

Armed Assault 2: Review

Interaction within the group turned out better than in the first part - the squad leader easily gives orders to his subordinates, quickly coordinates their actions and directs fire. Don’t hesitate - your colleagues will cover you, conduct barrage fire, or blow up a shelter or wall. In addition, if you don’t like the actions of one of your charges, you can literally get into his skin and strangle your enemies with his hands. As they say, if you want something done well, do it yourself.

Armed Assault 2: Review

Future Wars

Many players noted the lack of equipment in the original ArmA compared to OF. In the second part, the range expanded significantly. Among the new products we noticed armored personnel carriers BTR-90 and BMP-3, an F-35 fighter and even a T-90 tank. The Arsenal has also been updated and now the gamer can fire from the M-14, M-8 and Vintorez. Of course, this is not a complete list of updates, but we have named the most notable examples.

Armed Assault 2: Review

In addition, the authors divided the guns according to their characteristics, so you will never confuse the MK 19 and AGS grenade launchers. For example, a bullet fired from a sniper rifle passes through obstacles, slowing down and losing destructive power. Not inferior to the overall high level is the transport, which is divided not only by the degree of cross-country ability, but also by the armor on which any damage is displayed.

Armed Assault 2: Review

Of course, there were some downsides. Even in the first interviews, the developers stated that the development of aviation would remain at the level of the first part with the installed patches. Actually, this is how it is - aircraft, be it a fighter or an ordinary transport aircraft, have arcade parameters, which greatly simplifies their use. And the destructibility of the environment is noticeably behind even the already aged Battlefield: Bad Company. And at the same time, the game manages to slow down greatly during serious battles on very powerful computers, forgetting that it has a very average picture by today’s standards. This only indicates unimportant optimization.

Armed Assault 2: Review

But if we put aside minor shortcomings, Armed Assault 2 still stands firmly on its feet. Of course, there is a direct competitor - the next part of OF, but it’s hard to say whether Codemasters, which has recently been eager to reach the casual public, will be able to bring it to fruition. Therefore, now it is ArmA 2 that represents the best symbiosis of hurricane team action and a serious combat simulator. Not individual types of weapons or equipment, but the war as a whole - this is a very important feature of the game, which distinguishes it from the projects of the US Army and others.

Armed Assault 2: Review