G.I. BRO!
It’s for real now. My latest obsession is a game called ArmA 2. Now, I have always been a fan of a game called Operation Flashpoint ever since it came out in 2001. In fact, it ranks among my top 5 favorite games of all time. For those not in the know, Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis was the first game to really immerse the player in a tactical shooter on a large scale. Whenever I describe it and its successors I say, “Well, it’s less like a first person shooter and more like an infantry combat simulator.” This was before the Battlefield series, and you could hop into tanks, trucks, helicopters, jets, all of that stuff, and all while commanding your squad in an open environment with big draw distances and worrying about one bullet killing you — ‘cause that’s often all it would take.
As of the past few years PC gaming, for me, has taken a back seat. Financially, it’s a burden, as well as the knowledge that one needs to maintain in order to know what’s happening when you get the plethora of errors and glitches when trying to do the simplest of things in a Windows-based environment, not to mention the lackluster polish most PC games seem to launch with. I’ve been pretty into my Xbox 360 and definitely will continue to be be, especially since Alan Wake is yet to be released. When I heard that Operation Flashpoint was coming to the 360 with the subtitle “Dragon Rising”, I was pretty stoked. It came out just before Modern Warfare 2 came out last year, and while for many people it’s not their cup of tea (including fans of the original OF series), I enjoyed it; the major selling point being able to go through the campaign co-op with friends. I did that with my friend Greg. And he is a noob. Greg? When there’s a sniper rifle around I’m getting it, because you can’t shoot the ass off Big Mamma’s HOUSE! EAT IT, GREG!
But, to be critical, the game just didn’t have the scope of its predecessor. That’s partially because it was released for the peons that play consoles, but mainly because it’s a different developer. Turns out Bohemia Interactive, the true guys behind Operation Flashpoint, were building their own franchise in a game called ArmA (Armed Assault). They even had a side-project with military institutions around the world to develop training simulators for multiple branches through various fighting forces — needless to say they know their shit. I completely missed the first ArmA, but now all I think and dream and want is ArmA 2.
Why I make that comment about how consoles are for the masses is based entirely in truth. I think it’s due in part by controller limitations, desire to appeal to the most people as possible, and because of noobs like Greg, the idea of having an intimidatingly robust and complex game out for consoles is a major turn-off for any prospective producer. However, on PC, they still exist and thrive. Which is why in March I’m going to get a gnarly ass computer and get back into it (The Shift from Maingear looks dizzy to the izzope). Then I will be able to play the Total War series, see what Crysis was all about, play Dragon Age the way it was meant to be played (it was dumbed down for consoles), get back into flight simulators, and of course, play ArmA 2.
Rather than explain why it’s so awesome, I’ll show you. Check this link out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCaRjHppBqE&NR=1
This is a video from an online clan (a group of people who play one game with a varying degree of intensity) called GOL — Guerillas of Liberation. Liberating what? The fictitious innocents of fictitious wars in a virtual landscape. Which to most people screams nerd, but to me is awesome. But think about it, you’re not going to make a clan in a military sim and call it Pony Express Boys. Nah, brah. Nah. Shit’s gay. You want to strike fear into your enemy, even if they haven’t be programmed to feel it. Anyway, these guys take it to the limit. You watch that three part video (and all the others out there if you get hooked) and tell me that it isn’t awesome that 50 guys from around the globe all get on one server and execute elaborate three-hour missions by the book, with callsigns and legit commands, and different dedicated branches of their own mock military service. That. Shit. Is. COOL.
I feel like even if you’re not into video games, if you’re a guy, there’s a part of you that gets that. Girls, probably not so much. Not to say girls don’t play games of all genres, but that army-guy-super-technical-in-depth aspect is mainly a dude thing. For me, it’s not because I’m some crew cut marine wanna-be (I’m petrified of physical conflict and weigh barely 155 lbs), but something different. It’s kind of like when I was young and I played G.I. Joes for hours on end, setting up intricate battles, closing one eye and using the open one as a camera to get “cool shots” imprinted in my mind like I was some toddler version of Michael Bay, and how half of my now-interest in history is based on what guns and tanks and swords everyone was using at the time. There’s like a gadget quality to it as well as the tactics and the cool uniforms and the shooting up bad guys…ah, what a dream! I’m rambling. The cool part about these guys, which I will join the ranks of when I have the means, is that they do that shit together, like a team. It’s not just G.I. Joe for them, it’s G.I. Bro.
BAM! See what I did there??!?! Fucking put the title right in there! Like a pro. Like I’m some kind of God damned pro. I won’t be doing that all the time, but the truth was there and I thought I might weave it poetically into my amazingly well-written manuscript here.
That’s the type of thing that you’ll never get on a console, and it’s this realization, or should I say reminder, that has empowered me to drop some serious change and get back into PCs. It bums me out to see that the PC gaming industry has seriously taken a nose dive in the past few years due to the power of the latest consoles and software piracy, but at least this year in 2k10 there will be a new member added to the dwindling ranks. I might even get into an MMO at some point just because I can. But mostly I’ll be playing ArmA 2 every Sunday with people from the GOL Clan for their “Sunday Ops” and calling out “contacts” and issuing orders to “Bravo team”.
Go Joe!!!
