An extensive upgrade system, great class variety, and giant poorly rendered insects can't save a repetitive Arma
The gameplay is fun and original… in the beginning. After the first two or three levels the gameplay feels very repetitive. There are some special one timer levels, such as jumping in a giant AT-AT sort thing. What makes this game feel different from other shooters is the classes. There are soldiers (neutral. No advantages nor disadvantages), jet troopers (swift but do little damage), heavy troopers(do a lot of damage but are slow to evade attacks) What makes the game repetitive is the level order and objectives. You will shoot bugs through a linear level with false walls, defend your base, next blow up an ant hill, and finally for the last part of the mission you will defeat flying spaceships and try to find tall buildings to shoot them from, while making sure ground insects don't destroy the building you are on( I actually loved these segments). The next level will be a vehicle mission or some sort of special level. The whole game consist of about ten of these. While the upgrades are enticing and time consuming the game is not. A single play through should take you about 5 hours. Do not think that there is not more to do though. Players can engage in replaying missions and earning achievements (trophies for PS3). The story mode is very short, but a multiplayer component is involved. It is nothing special though.
Overall it is a fun game loaded with weapons and upgrades just waiting to be unlocked. If you have someone to play local multiplayer with you, all players will have a blast. It is like smash bros is really fun multiplayer. That's what this is. It reminded me of the good old GameCube days. As for the story you are a soldier who has volunteered to fend off Earth from giant insects in evacuated cities. You will have a team assisting you in the process. It's a pretty generic story. The graphics are nothing special. The giant insects (especially the ants) are very poorly rendered. Other enemies, such as the giant mechas, look glorious when the light hits them right. That brings us to lighting effects. The lighting effects aren't that great because a lot of time you will be taking cover behind a building or in a sewer. The graphics aren't bad they are just mediocre. While I am sure many others will thoroughly enjoy this third person shooter (especially longtime fans), I for one did not. I finished game nearly one month ago and have not played since. If you are a newcomer to the series I would definitely recommend a rental before purchase. It's worth checking out but certainly not worthy of purchase unless your sure you like it. If you want to here more about the game send me a message.
-thenerd64-