Altis Life is a mod for Arma 3 [official site] where players take on the role of paramedics, police officers, taxi drivers, salt miners and many other ordinary occupations. You start with a wad of cash and try to make your own way in the world. Maybe you start running minerals and metal between mines and refineries. Maybe you become a humble fruit picker and spend all your money on a sweet new scarf. Or maybe one day you’ll have an interview to become a medical helicopter pilot, conducted by other players. It’s all possible.

Recently I was dispatched to a UK server to make contact with the citizens. I discovered tales of banditry, traffic regulations, police corruption, salt barons and much more. Most of my information came from a criminal known as Hank. Here we offer you the chance to hear my ridealong with Hank firsthand (edited for time, of course).

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There was a shot. It was not the sound guns make in Call of Duty or Battlefield. It was more of a sugar stick snapping or stretched bones cracking. Sparks was still running, his back occasionally illuminated by passing bullets. Careful, considered commands still coming over comms. I, however, was not moving. My vision blurred, and I fell. A crack later, and I was no longer in first person cast into spectator mode by death.

This is how my first mission with Folk ARPS, the Rock, Paper, Shotgun joint Arma 3 outfit, came to an end.

Here is how it began.

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Altis Life is a roleplaying mod for Arma 3 [official site], featuring police, ambulance crews and outlaws. We sent Brendan deep into one of the UK servers to see what the populace is up to.

Hank receives a message. Raise your altitude or be shot down . Before either of us have time to consider it, we can hear the telltale crack of gunfire beneath us. Hank lifts the helicopter higher and higher until the gunshots ebb away. We are flying high over the orange streetlights of Kavala now, over the main street of the town, the bank, the fishmongers, the pub. I turn to Hank. Was that the police shooting at us?

Yeah, he says, hand on the stick, that was small arms fire.

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Bohemia don’t always seem the most organised with how they update their games, whether it’s DayZ or Take On Mars, but they have been much better over the past few years with Arma 3 [official site]. I like especially their regular posts about their internal development roadmap, and there’s now a post and new footage outlining updates and expansions to come in 2016.

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July is for lazy mornings in the sunshine, lounging around beer gardens with family in the afternoon, and tackling gaming challenges with friends in the evening. Despite the height of summer, the RPS community has continued to soar, with action in Arma 3 [official site], Europa Universalis [official site], Guild Wars 2 [official site] and Terraria [official site].

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A leak last week made pretty clear that a new tropical landscape was coming to Arma III [official site], and now it’s really, formally, officially happening.

The South Pacific archipelago of Tanoa (pronounce that last part like in ‘quinoa’ or everyone will think you’re a right mug) will arrive in Bohemia’s military sim with an expansion in the first half of 2016. I don’t believe they’ve named the expansion yet. Of course, given that this announcement already leaked, all we really have to show you that’s new is the trailer we couldn’t see before:

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Sometimes you need a hand to hold, so we ve compiled a list of the 25 best co-op games to play on PC with a headset-wearing friend or a muted stranger.

Whether solving puzzles, sneaking, shooting zombies or stabbing mythical creatures in the face, the existence of another player adds an element of unpredictability. The reality of your co-op partner constantly alerting the guards is drowned out by the experience in your head – the synchronised stealth takedowns, the perfectly executed plan – but both success and failure are more compelling when you can take credit for the former and blame someone else for the latter.

There is a co-op game for every duo and our selection includes a variety of the most bestest. Don t worry if your favourite co-op game doesn t feature – it just means you re wrong. All mortals are, on occasion. … [visit site to read more]

I remember my second kill in Battle Royale. The first one, like many first things in life, was somewhat sloppy and forgettable. The second one was different. It was at night and I was hiding in a ruined building in Agios Dionysios. The blue circle had just popped up and I was looking at the map when I heard the footsteps. A man ran past my building and stopped under a tree some 15 metres away, most likely to do the same thing I was doing – look at his map. All I had was a revolver. I peaked over the crumbled wall, aimed at his back and fired three times. Razmon – that was his name – flopped to the ground.

On a surface level Battle Royale is simply free-for-all deathmatch, but unlike most public multiplayer mods available for Arma 3 today, it’s based on skill and a tiny bit of luck. You can’t buy anything or grind to unlock anything. How well you do is down to your map reading skills, planning, situational awareness and gun handling. In this way, it’s the cleanest deliver of what makes Arma multiplayer great – and it’s playable against strangers, without the need to clear hurdles and join a community.

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Ready to discover once-and-for-all whether X-Plane is better than FSX? Whether Falcon 4.0 is better than Milk Float Simulator 2012? Ready to read the word ‘realism’ 46 times in a single hour, and spit feathers on discovering that the sim that caused got you through your divorce has been cruelly cold-shouldered by an idiot with a bus fetish and a sci-fi blindspot the size of the Crab Nebula? You are? Splendid. You’re in the right place.

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Gathering together the best shooters is no easy task, but if you’re looking for a new PC FPS to play, look no further.

Your favourite game is at number 51.

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