So, I grabbed the whole shebang (ArmA II, Operation Arrowhead, British Armed Forces, and Private Military Company) when it was like $20 for the bundle on Steam. Just got started with it, though, as I bought Antichamber at the same time and that game sucked up all my wetware CPU cycles.

First impression: positive. Could use a better manual, and a better tutorial. The scripting in "Boot Camp" is a little glitchy. Other than that, it scratches my "realistic shooter" itch. I particularly like the fact that when switching night-vision goggles off, it actually takes a little bit for your eyes to adjust (black screen with the scene slowly fading in).

just getting toward the end of the first campaign.

thoughts:

AI is either amazing or pants .. no middle ground .. it either Can't drive a tank round a goat in the road .. or shoots you in the head with pin point accuracy from 2KM away

Grass is annoying ... you can't see over or through it ... and at range it doesn't help conceal you as it's not rendered.

mission scripts ... transalted from Russian to arabic to glaswegian and then to russian and finally to english ... I had the hardest time actually figuring out what objectives to follow !
and if you finally figure it out and head in the right direction .. some NPC goes and beats you to it !! Grrr

but

once you get into it, it's pretty damn good

operation arrowhead, does seem an improvement but the early missions have a huge reliance on vehicles ... where I like the black ops approach sneak in and sneak out

just done the first 2 missions though so it can only improve

Also just bought the ARMA 3 Alpha on steam ... this should be amazing !

Annoying script glitch in the first campaign mission: offered an optional objective requiring a laser target designator. Have target designator in inventory. PLAYER CHARACTER SAYS HE DIDN'T GRAB THE DESIGNATOR FROM THE CHOPPER, FAILING OPTIONAL OBJECTIVE BEFORE I CAN EVEN ATTEMPT IT. WTF.

one of the things I realised far too late in the game, you don't get points for winning, it's not CoD thank goodness ...

If you are some sort of achievement hunter or completionist, this game will destroy your mind for the example you give.

Play it like it's war, expect the missions to take months of IRL (mostly driving stealthily from one place to another ... and avoiding goats in the road ... but weirdly .. not walls, walls are fair game to be destroyed at any time)

and play to survive, not to Win

I get all that. I'm just annoyed that a scripting glitch effectively caused the mission to end itself before I was finished playing.

Theres a few examples of that im sorry to say, and dont get me wrong, i wasnt accusing you of being a COD plonker.. Just trying to say dont let it spoil the experience for you, if you can get past that the game shines in other places.

Have fun

Have you installed DAYZ yet ?