Bohemia Interactive’s latest entry in the long-running Arma series, Arma Reforger, looks to be another solid addition to the series that’s perfect for mods. This is what I saw when I was able to check out a hands-off preview of the new game. While still in early access on PC and available now on Xbox Series S|X as a game preview, Reforger is looking promising for what the next mainline Arma game will bring.
Arma Reforger is a creative platform for players and modders to get a firsthand experience of what’s to come with a future Arma 4. Reforger uses the proprietary Enfusion engine, while showing what the gameplay, modding tools, and operation of the severe infrastructure in Arma 4 will be like, when that game is eventually released.
The Arma games are a series of first-person military shooters, developed by Czech studio Bohemia Interactive. The first game was released all the way back in 2006, on Windows PC. Arma features large elements of realism and simulation; a blend of large-scale military conflict spread across large areas alongside more close-quartered battles. For those hoping the series might break from those conventions with this new entry, they might be disappointed.
As mentioned earlier, Arma Reforger is played from a first-person perspective with realistic graphics aplenty, but these graphics do look good, and they help increase the tension during combat. Players can expect a range of missions and loadouts that are usually spent with their teammates, or comrades.
Yes, this game is set in Soviet Russia, with lots of trenches and rainy environments to traverse through. The footage shown didn’t display a lot of variety in terms of levels, so hopefully the full release will differentiate from what I saw.
“Arma Reforger is looking like another solid entry…”
The sound design is also really good, as it should be. There is lots of glass breaking and the sounds of bullets flying through the air and hitting different things. This will all add to the game’s atmosphere, so it’s good to see Bohemia working so hard on this.
Arma Reforger is looking like another solid entry with lots of shooting and wide vistas that demand teamwork and cooperation. While the industry has been a little over saturated with war games as of late, Reforger is standing on its own when it comes to realism and variety of missions and weapons.
Speaking of that variety, Reforger is set on the fictional island of Everon in a familiar fictional 1980s setting. The terrain, which is part of the Malden Islands archipelago, has been reimagined and faithfully recreated from the original game, Arma: Cold War Assault.
Bohemia has also made improvements with the addition of lakes, ponds, and flowing rivers, all made possible by Enfusion. The terrain spans an impressive 164 km area containing 51 km of landmass, offering players a stunning environment to discover, complete with dense forests, low-rolling hills, mountains, patchwork fields, and idyllic towns, all inspired by the former state of Czechoslovakia and embellished with some necessary overtures towards the nation’s historic French heritage and maritime flavour.
In terms of Arma Reforger’s playable content, the game comes with two multiplayer modes. The first one is Conflict—a team versus team deployment, where players need to work together in order to capture strategic positions from the enemy. By building bases and completing their tasks, combatants can earn battlefield promotions and rise up through the ranks.
Players have two factions to choose from, American or Soviet, and each comes with their own unique era-authentic weapons, vehicles and equipment. There is also the smaller independent force, with their own unique apparel that community veterans will quickly recognize from the first game.
The second game mode is a real-time scenario editor, known as Game Master. In this mode, labelled by the developers as a dynamic sandbox, one or more curators can take on the role of Game Master, and create responsive combat encounters for other players.
As for the mod’s, Bohemia has specifically focused on that with Workshop, where console players can enjoy add-ons created by PC users. Also, thanks to the Enfusion engine, players can mod Arma Reforger using the exact same tools used to make it. Players can introduce new mechanics, assets, and more. The only limit is their creativity and imagination, so get working soldiers!
With all of this content and focus on multiplayer and player creativity, Arma Reforger looks like a really good time. Hopefully, Bohemia Interactive can capitalize on this game when the time comes to release Arma 4. In the meantime, Reforger is launching on May 17, and I would definitely recommend checking this one out because it’s looking to be a great time either alone or with your fellow soldiers.
