it's a "realistic" FPS modern combat sim where you have squad tactics and complex goals like blow up an enemy airstrip or rescue hostages or both if possible. plus it has vehicles! sounds pretty awesome
i never played Arma (the first) but i heard great things. apparently the main weakness was enemy AI in single player and the graphics sucked. however i plan to play arma 2 online only and the graphics are at least decent.
i'd love to play this with j2 people. it's coming out june 19. let me know if you're planning to get it!
some arma 2 articles
http://kotaku.com/tag/arma-ii/
he 27th U.S. Marine Expeditionary Unit has been deployed to the former soviet republic of Chernarus: a small country chained to the threat of an upcoming civil war. Force Reconnaissance Team "Razor" is among the first to fight. This elite five-man team is about to fall down the rabbit hole, trapped in a war not only for control of the country, but also the hearts and minds of its people. With the might of the USMC offshore and Russia anxiously watching from the north, the stakes couldn't be higher. The fate of Chernarus is balanced on a razor's edge...
* Key features: Player-driven story: Players will have the opportunity to command members of Force Recon Team Razor through a branching campaign full of twists and surprises. ARMA II integrates a combination of preset conversations with dynamic queries about the game environment: the revolutionary "dynamic conversation system" which brings to the player a unique gaming experience in a movie-like style. Players can talk to soldiers in the field and civilians caught up during fights to gather the Intel they need to further advance in the game. As a pure military simulator, there are linguistic difficulties while speaking to native citizens if you don't know their native tongue. Chernarussian's NPC's speak Czech, US NPC's speak English and Russian NPC's speak Russian, etc.
* Reality check: Bohemia Interactive's standard 225 square kilometers of highly detailed sandbox landscape, modeled with stunning detail and precision and using real-world geographical data, covered by 235 megapixel of accurate aerial map (15.3602 pixels) and more than 1 million objects. This game is a true environment master piece, never seen before in first person shooter type games with 81 weapons and 136 vehicle models created to an exacting real-world schematics with extreme precision, including 350 kilometers of roads, 50 cities and villages full of life.
* Authentic military simulation: ARMA II simulates various aspects of combat and environment effects form bullet ballistics and deflection to material penetration, tracers, varying ammunition types and stopping power, to supersonic bullet crack and weather conditions. ARMA II benefits from the 3rd generation Real Virtuality engine featuring advanced and semi-autonomous AI. Players will compete with the ultimate next-gen AI: no scripts, no predefined pathways, and no repetitive gameplay. All units react to actual game situations and use the open environment to their advantage. Soldiers shout and use hand gestures based on real world military doctrine, actively seeking and using cover and also taking advantage of suppressive fire techniques. The ARMA II system is so complex and effective that the same simulation technology is used to train real soldiers in numerous countries around the world.
* Live war: the campaign missions can be experienced in cooperative mode, or players can join for duty in the massive multiplayer battles with up to 50 players. Among standard MP modes is Warfare, introduced in ArmA: Armed Assault, a unique combination of RTS and tactical FPS which allows players to choose whether to control the combat with detailed base management or instead to operate guerilla hit-and-run tactics focusing on attack rather than defense.
* Unlimited Creativity: An intuitive and easy-to-use built in mission editor, together with powerful modding tools, infinitely extends the gameplay of ARMA II and moves it far above the standard gaming experience. More than 200 character models, 81 weapons, 136 vehicles are ready to be used in an enormous 225 square kilometers sandbox map. Players can use default models or create completely new models and mods can be shared with other players all around the world.
not because the game sucks, just because it's buggy. so hopefully a patch can fix it