Are you prepared for the darkness It might take you multiple failed attempts after falling victim to aggressive AA missiles and a few crash landings, but reaching the landing zone while under small arms fire and rescuing retreating infantry feels like a great triumph.

The massive sprawl of two fiction Mediterranean islands provides the backdrop to near-future lethal operations that resemble little else in video games.

Whereas most modern military games aim for the cinematic bombast of an action film, ARMA seeks inspiration from authentic clashes.

Arma 3 Aim Down Sights Series Of Wartime

The third iteration of this series of wartime simulations isnt about blood splashing unrealistically across the screen and playing whack-a-mole with waves of nonthreatening grunts.

Its about the fire and ache you feel in your belly as you crawl toward your mission objective, fearful of the one bullet that could end your life in an instant.

Needless to say, patience is a necessary attribute if you wish to appreciate the wonders of ARMA III, though not just because you spend more time planning, scouting, and observing than you do firing weapons.

Its also because you must spend more time than you might expect fiddling with menu settings to get the game to run at a decent frame rate in online sessions.

Its because youll spend time in the server browser seeking matches and modifications that best serve your needs.

And its because theres not as much developer-provided content as previous series installments had, leading you to sort through the available user-made content hoping for the cream of the crop to rise to the surface.

That ARMA III is still a work in progress--as much platform as it is game--is obvious not just from the prominence of player creations, but from the big coming soon message that arrives when you click on the campaign option.

An episodic campaign is in the works, but for now, theres no focused single-player conflict to draw you in.

There are, however, a number of showcases that introduce you to specific facets of the design, from infantry and armor to underwater navigation and drone operation.

These disconnected missions are no substitute for a proper campaign, but they are good introductions to ARMAs unique take on large-scale warfare.

How you initially respond to ARMA III depends on your background with the series.

If youre a newcomer, youll be initially struck by the unusual control scheme, which has you using the mousewheel and spacebar to perform various actions, or the measured pace at which you crouch or vault over objects.

Forget bunny-hopping, of course.) If youre a returning fan, a new fluidity to the animations and an array of stances might stand out over other features, or perhaps how the weapons are now unlicensed rather than re-creations of real-world firearms.

A distant lighthouse can be a sight for sore eyes.

Are you a novice You might hear the radio chatter and notice its stiffness, or cry out in frustration when every turn you make while controlling a tank as a gunner is accompanied by vocal commands.

Right. Right. Fast.) Are you an ARMA fanatic You will hear the radio chatter and cry out in elation that it sounds so much more natural than in ARMA II, thankful for the dialogue touches and audio mixing that make AI teammates sound more like real people.

ARMA IIIs ambition in re-creating so many elements of modern warfare will astound you if this is your first foray into games of this ilk, and so it should.

Yet there arent as many unique vehicles and weapons as there are in ARMA II.

There are numerous examples of one step forward, one step back.

As disappointing as it is that ARMA III doesnt come with more official content, the game benefits from its early public alpha and beta releases: there are already a great number of player-created scenarios, which are easily perused and added to your game thanks to Steam Workshop integration.

Spending significant time with ARMA III involves accessing any number of modifications.

Some are simple single-player missions that have you piloting a Ghosthawk chopper, ferrying troops around while flying low to avoid antiaircraft missiles.

Others are popular online efforts, the most ubiquitous one for now being the Wasteland mod, a multiplayer survival mode that has you scrounging for weapons, ammo, and food while avoiding the violence of other players desperately clinging to life.

A mission requiring you to do little more than take off, fly, and land a helicopter might not sound compelling, but ARMA IIIs strength is in how tasks so seemingly simple in this game can provide so much tension.

Arma 3 Aim Down Sights How To Use Autohover

Thats not because the flight controls are impenetrable, but because piloting requires self-control and an understanding of multiple nuances, such as how to use autohover and how to make the different camera perspectives work best for you.