The first step towards Arma 4 has its own name: Arma Reforger, a new military simulation experience that introduces new technology to make warfare more realistic than ever. We have already seen what is new from Bohemia Interactive for PC and Xbox Series, and these are its keys.
If you write on Youtube “Arma 3 gameplay”, the first video is one called “Old Command – Operation First Steps”. The clip lasts 56 minutes, of which the first 16 are trips from one point to another; first, by helicopter to some boats lodged in the sea; second, in the boats, to the coast. The members speak and communicate through walkie-talkies; they use very specific terminology, technical indications and interpretations of the coordinates; they respond in unison to the orders of the superior, who is clearly differentiated. The video is a gameplay, but it might well be seen as a neat choreography, immaculate, where you see the need for the pieces to fit and move in unison to make the whole work seamlessly. The obedience, accuracy and respect that is professed in each movement seems more like that of the pre-opening rehearsals on Broadway than that of a group of people facing a mission in a war simulator.
This was Arma 3 and this will be Arma 4but in this transit of almost 10 years we have something in between: Arma Reforger. This defines itself as a turning point in the saga; it is a goodbye to what was seen before and a hello to Arma 4. This is how Bohemia Interactive itself defines it –“the first milestone”, “the basic stone”, “the first step”the team members reiterated- and that’s how it feels to see it: Reforger’s goal is to reveal to the world the new engine that the Czechs have developed, called Enfusionand on which the video game has been built.
This title lands today on PC and Xbox Series in the form of Early Access. It will have two game modes; Conflict is the first, and pits two teams (Soviet and American) once morest each other to capture strategic enemy positions. In between you can complete objectives and tasks to earn more points and climb the scores. Game Master is the second. It consists of a scenario editor where one or more players configure the battlefield for others to fight. apart is Workshopwhere user mods will be published for everyone to use and enjoy, and important note here: Bohemia includes a Workbench that allows you to use the tools used to develop the game. The objective is none other than to unleash the creativity of the users.
Enfusion is a totally new technology: each pixel is made of 0Pavel KrizkaBut what the team put the most emphasis on was Enfusion. Pavel Krizka, representative of the company, commented that it is a “totally new technology: each pixel is made of 0. We have put a lot of emphasis on the shadows, on the interiors, on the reflections of the water… Shadows can give advantages in confrontations”. Marek Spanel, CEO of the company, took pride in the work of his team: “We have paid a lot of attention to the physical ones: to the collisions of bullets in materials, to collisions between vehicles, to small objects”. Everonthe island on which Reforger is located -and which is inspired by Czechoslovakia-, looks pretty and will have a size similar to that of the map of Operation Flashpointthe first game of the Czechs published back in 2001, with almost 13 kilometers of land.
Key is also the spirit of this new path. The team repeatedly referred to the aforementioned Operation Flashpoint: they commented that the objective is “back to the rootsnot only in combat but in communication and technology”. Fidelity is almost imperative in this new project. That is why Reforger was born: to assess the acceptance of users, to see how they mess around, to test the reception of a new installment in the saga; in short, for re-excite the public with a renewed and fresh Weapon.
Weapon Reforger is a transition. It’s a closing of a chapter to start a new oneRegarding its durability, Spanel assured that it wouldn’t last long: “We don’t want to make it much longer than a year. As we say, it’s a transition: will not be more than a year en el Early Access […] Also, we don’t have a defined timeline. We will implement ready-made elements, such as helicopters, and some that the community sends us. We will nurture it little by little, but we do not have established dates.”
Weapon Reforger is a transition. It is a closing of a chapter to start a new one. It will serve as a source of knowledge for Bohemia: they will receive opinions, they will work and polish what has already been built with its new Enfusion engine, they will observe the creations and experiments of users… In short, a testing ground for what will be the future of the saga, where, there yes yes, it will be everything that defines Arma’s personality. A future that, by the way, looks –and never better said- better than ever.
