After playing the Arma 3 alpha for the past week, I’m ready to share some detailed thoughts on the pre-release version of the long-standing military sim. I’m enamored with most of the improvements Bohemia has made, especially to how Arma 3 looks.

The alpha is an appetizer version of the game—it features just a dozen guns, eight vehicles, and a handful of brief single-player challenge missions, and two multiplayer scenarios. It’s also restricted to Stratis, the 20km² baby brother of Arma 3’s two maps (Altis, based on the Greek island of Lemnos, will be about 270km²). While the amount of content is pretty modest at the moment, the alpha does feature an unlocked scenario editor, which means players can start creating and sharing new missions right away.

How it looks + performance



What I like:
At E3 last year, Dean Hall told me “If you can run Arma 2, you can run Arma 3.” So far, that statement holds up. On my home system (Intel Core i7-870 @2.93GHz, two ATI Radeon 5850s in Crossfire) and a more powerful work system (Intel Core i7-3770K @3.5GHz, Nvidia GTX Titan), the game ran comfortably in almost all situations I put it in.

Arma 3’s performance, naturally, fluctuates a lot depending on where you are in the map and how many AI and objects are in your field of view. I encountered framerate dips in the situations I expected—when flying at high speed over a dense urban area in a helicopter, and in large firefights—but considering the across-the-board improvements to how Arma looks, I’m satisfied with the trade-off.

Using the scenario editor, I constructed what I considered to be a slightly-unreasonable scenario: I dropped 130 friendly and enemy infantry, two helicopters, and six HMG vehicles into the largest town on the map, Agia Marina. With every visual setting turned up on the higher-end system I mentioned above, I averaged about 19 frames per second while having the entire scene in my field of view from a hill outside the town. From the same position, my framerate improved to about 28 when I cut the infantry population to 60. And it improved to about 40 frames when I turned every visual setting down by a notch and lowered my view distance by about half.

Don’t regard that as a genuine benchmark, of course. Less scientifically, I love how clear Arma 3 looks on cloudless afternoons, where you can see unnaturally far. Draw distance is absolutely the most noticeable improvement—the game wants you to see its intricate sandbox for miles in all directions. I love the way shadows get longer at sunset, and all the life the new HDR breathes into mundane corners of Stratis. I love the little tessellations in my kevlar weave, which emit their own shadows when I turn away from the sun. I love that muzzle flashes are no longer flat decals, but dynamic, fiery burps. I love the fuzzy, minuscule distortion in holographic weapon optics when you move your rifle.

What I don’t like:
Arma's post-processing continues to be a bland blur effect; PP was enabled by default on my system, though it's easily disabled. The overcast weather state doesn't have much going for it—a stormy sky essentially disables the game’s shadows, and Arma 3 feels drained of some of its character without all that good lighting flowing.


Stance adjustments


What I like:
Despite the fact that Arma has never been a game filled with convenient, soldier-shaped objects to hide behind, using cover for protection is essential for survival. Despite the importance of it, the game’s infantry animations often get in the way of using cover well. Transitions between stances in Arma 2 are sluggish. Going prone behind rock often means you can’t see your target at all. Tapping A or D to peek around a corner while crouched is clumsy and ineffective.

Arma 3 addresses this by adding stance adjustments, and this system represents my favorite mechanical improvement to the series. The new movement options all pivot off of Left Ctrl (rebindable, of course)—holding it and hitting W brings your soldier to a more vertical stance; doing the same while tapping S brings you closer to the ground. Holding Left Ctrl while leaning and tapping A or D activates an additional side-step to the left or right. So if I want to crouch, lean, and then take a lateral to the right, the sequence would be: X, EE, Left Ctrl + D. The Z and X keys still operate as fast shortcuts to the prone and crouched positions, respectively.

On paper, Bohemia introducing gaming's most nuanced lean system might seem inconsequential. In practice, because these adjustments animate pretty seamlessly, the system solves a real problem that existed in Arma 2: firing from behind cover is finally comfortable, and there’s more gradients between stances. It enhances how playable Arma 3 feels as a shooter.

What I don’t like:
Executing these movements occasionally feels like playing a game of Twister on the left side of your keyboard. An optional HUD element for visualizing what stance you’re currently in would probably help new players use the system.

The AI


What I like:
Arma’s computer-controlled infantry has always been slightly schizophrenic. In Arma 2, they operate as dumb targets that occasionally demonstrate insane marksmanship, making them a simultaneously predictable and erratic enemy. From what I’ve observed in the alpha, Arma 3’s AI hasn’t fundamentally changed, but it has gotten better about moving more aggressively toward you from long and medium range. AI also lean and shoot around corners with greater frequency, and when they do spot you, they’re good at remembering your position and firing on you quickly if you move from the left side of a rock to the right side, for example.

The new ragdoll death animations, which finally do away with the pre-baked death tumbles of Arma 2, are probably what add the most the fun to engaging infantry.

What I don’t like:
Old behaviors seem to die hard for Arma’s AI. Though there’s more variation in how enemies respond under fire, the typical AI reaction is the same as it was in Arma 2. When I shoot at a squad a couple hundred meters away, they perform this dance: drop prone, get up, run a few meters, stand around, drop prone again, and eventually return fire. I really wish enemies simply sprinted for cover when you shot at them.

This aloofness also sometimes extends to vehicles. Friendly vehicle turrets seemed hesitant to engage ground targets in situations where there were plenty of targets to pick from, firing in polite, single shots when they should’ve been going full-auto.

Inventory


What I like:
Arguably any change would’ve improved Arma 2’s current inventory system. But what’s instantly noticeable is how responsive and easier to operate Arma 3’s gear menu is. Items no longer take a quarter-second to move or equip, and the addition of right-click and click-drag functionality for moving stuff around makes re-equipping much faster.

The main improvement, though, is the modularization of infantry equipment in Arma 3. Watch Dslyecxi’s video above for a great explanation about what this system will mean for Arma 3.

What I don’t like:
When you’re looting a dead soldier, the “View All” selection doesn’t display items stored inside enemy backpacks and harnesses, so nesting is still a minor problem. Relatedly, in order to steal a weapon attachment off an enemy weapon, I have to equip their weapon, drop the desired attachment on the ground, drop the enemy weapon, pick up my original weapon, and then equip the enemy’s attachment.

Encumbrance is also only currently represented as capacity bars that fill up as you place more items on your soldier or in your ruck, and I’d like to see more feedback about its actual effect on stamina and weapon handling.


 
For anyone that enjoyed Arma 2, Arma 3's alpha is absolutely worth the $33/£20/€25 Bohemia is asking, the lowest tier of the Arma 3 pre-order scheme. It's low on content, but the most important thing—the sandbox—is accessible, and should be populated further in the coming month as enthusiastic community members fill the void. If this would be your first trip to Armaland, I'd recommend watching more video content before putting down cash, or grabbing an Arma 3 Lite key from a friend who's pre-ordered.

In advance of the Arma 3 alpha dropping on Tuesday for Steam pre-orderers, I launched a salvo of questions at Project Lead Joris-Jan van ‘t Land and Co-Creative Director Jay Crowe. We'll have in-depth coverage of the alpha when the embargo lifts on Tuesday, March 5.

PCG: We were elated when Ivan and Martin finally returned to Bohemia safely. Are they actively involved in development at this time? How are they doing?

Joris-Jan van ‘t Land, Project Lead: The four months they spent in Greece were very troubling. It isn't easy to continue development as if nothing has happened. Welcoming them back on the day they landed was a surreal experience. They are both taking some time to get back into the game, absorbing the changes that happened, and doing what they do best in their respective fields.

Jay Crowe, Co-Creative Director:: Yeah, I'd agree with that, but, generally, it's just awesome to have the lads back! There was really no stopping either of them. I think Ivan could probably still work with a newborn baby under each arm, a beer in his lifting-hand, and a keyboard in the other.

It’s been interesting to watch your projects cross-pollinate. What’s something Arma 3 has gained--technically or in terms of design--from DayZ, Carrier Command, and Take On Helicopters?

van ‘t Land: It can certainly help us as a relatively small development team to be able to assimilate tech from other projects on the RV engine. Never is it quite a copy-and-paste job, but we don't have to reinvent the wheel every time.

Crowe: Exactly. Our programmers would kill us if we tried to suggest sharing tech was that simple! That being said—from Take On—there's a bunch of stuff like render-to-texture and the environments tech but, for me, the best cross-pollination is found simply in the finalization and release of other games. Particularly in the context of longer or delayed developments, you've got to maintain a real focus on “product” completion and have an awareness of the trials, tribulations and rewards associated with getting your work outside of the development bubble. Take On's development wasn't perfect, but it's tight, focused structure helped highlight these aspects.

van ‘t Land: Learning from TKOH certainly helped us to evolve the Arma 3 team. We needed to really start looking towards the finish line and stop adding new functionality and content. Doing multiple public releases within the project (last year's expo versions started this) helps train the team to deliver a final product. Doing this for the Alpha now, let's us get things out of the way for the Q3 release and should help it be smoother. We get some great support from our studio in Prague when it comes to distribution and publishing!

Crowe: One of the best things about the A3 Alpha is that we've dealt with some of these risks up front, and we're in a stronger position because of that.



What new AI behaviors does Arma 3 implement?

Crowe: With Arma's AI it will always be a case of carefully evolving it. We've given ourselves some quite big challenges with some of the new headline features. Now, it's our job to make sure they work and integrate well alongside the existing behaviors.

van ‘t Land: New functionality means we need to train our AI to do more things. We try to refrain from trickery and simulate AI behavior in all aspects; letting them walk around, engage in infantry combat, fly gunships, drive boats and do many of the things players do. It's a lofty goal that sometimes will mean the AI is seen doing less than intelligent stuff. Now we are teaching them to engage in underwater combat (this adds a third dimension compared to walking on land), to detect and avoid minefields and flames, to drive using the PhysX vehicles, and to use Under-Barrel Grenades well.
"New functionality means we need to train our AI to do more things."
Crowe: Little fixes like the use of UGLs makes a surprising difference--even if they do sometimes cause friendly-fire problems! We've also tried to take care of certain things that impact upon AI. We've improved some of our tools so the terrain developers can see how their compositions are traversed by the AI. I mention it because this kind of work improves AI behavior through appropriate design. It's something our programmers often shout at us about. I like to think we've started to listen.

van ‘t Land: A lot of work goes into the actual configuration of all game content. Only when that is carefully done, can we see which things still need tweaking in the AI technologies. Internally we've set up something we refer to as “Task Force Balance,” headed by our Lead Sandbox Designer, Lukáš Haládik. They are trying to find the best balance between authenticity, realism and fun to match our design vision. Their initial focus has been on the regular infantry squad and their weapons, and now they are moving on to specialized weapons and vehicles. We want to be able to proudly show off our advanced AI by making sure it's properly configured.

Crowe: Looking at it from the perspective of our Alpha, we can say there's still some way to go, but it's rewarding to see progress and the alpha helps us focus on our goals.

Will Arma 3 take advantage of the “headless AI” that’s recently emerged in the A2 co-op community?

van ‘t Land: We still harvest most of the changes and fixes done in the Operation Arrowhead beta program, and this could well be one of those. The success of DayZ has provided opportunities for our engineers to look at multiplayer performance, security, stability and functionality in more detail. This benefits Arma 3 as well.



How will the significantly greater number of indoor areas affect combat?

Crowe: Structures with interiors provide more opportunities for gameplay—offering the chance to bring combat in a little closer - and help to make the world feel more natural. They also serve a pretty basic purpose of providing cover. Everything is so bloody lethal! Being able to get behind hard cover helps out with basic survivability.
"Battles in natural terrain are where we excel."
van ‘t Land: The animation team has done some magic when it comes to movement fluidity. The addition of adjustable stances gives you a tactical advantage when peeking through windows or hiding behind corners. Playing Operation Arrowhead recently, I often felt stuck in my avatar. I do think it's fair to say our focus is still on the big outdoors. Battles in natural terrain are where we excel. That said, with the new animations and some detailed interiors, there are very cool multiplayer opportunities. Next to that we are working on a set of Challenges which hone your skills when it comes to navigating obstacles as infantry in a fun way.

What weapon attachments can we expect?

van ‘t Land: Different kinds of optics, IR laser pointers and flashlights mostly for now. You could be playing a mission where at first you need sighting suitable for CQB, but then later you can loot something for ranged engagements. The community benefits are very interesting. Before, they would have had to create whole new weapon models, whereas now they can independently create new attachments.

Crowe: We're currently working on recoil and sound suppressors. They're not there quite yet. We need more work getting the sounds right, and configuring a decent balance between authenticity and usefulness for gameplay.

What’s the most fictional or experimental weapon or piece of equipment you’re putting into Arma 3?

Crowe: The future setting gave our artists some creative freedom, which we can see in things like the OPFOR's MRAP, which we've finally named the “Ifrit.” Don't get me started on how many times that's been renamed. It's this awesome, chunky beast. Perfect for our powerful enemy, and great for one of our talented artists to get his teeth into. There's other things, too, but we've not actually revealed them all yet...

van ‘t Land: ... let's just say we have some major vehicles hidden under the cover of darkness still, some re-imagined old favorites and classics. We're not trying to invent weapons and vehicles from scratch, but are always basing things off current prototypes, near-future concepts and feasible blends between them. There are plenty of technologies being tested in the real world now that many people have no idea about. Our underwater rifle is based on actual technologies and how they may project over the next decade or so.



There's a stigma around Arma that it isn't very well-optimized. How would you address the concern that Arma 3 will be too demanding for an average PC to run?

Crowe: I'd counter that it's about empowering the player, about providing options to configure the game in such a way that it runs well in the way the player wants it, on the hardware he's got.

van ‘t Land: This will forever be a topic when we're talking about the PC platform. Unlike with consoles, there is no fixed hardware target. Endless combinations of CPU, memory, GPU, motherboard, OS, drivers, third-party software running and peripherals make it a little tricky to get things running well for everyone. Improved auto-detection is in progress and we hope to explain the various video options better for people to experiment with.

Crowe: Personally, I tune my game so that I get a rich detail out to about 3.5k, which, in itself, can be quite demanding. On my old laptop that means cranking down the resolution less than 100 percent, so it's a big trade-off. On the other hand, if you want to fly around with, say, a 10K view-distance, we say “go nuts!” Unfortunately, players also have to option to literally go nuts, ramp up everything to “ultra,” max out the view-distance, and casually throw down a couple of hundred AI, too. There are also different opinions within the team. For example, my colleague, Pavel Guglava—our very own visionary artist, and one of the main guys driving Arma 3's splendid visuals—dreams of an 80k view distance! So it's about finding a sensible balance. Since it's so subjective, that means putting faith in players to configure the game how they please.

van ‘t Land: During recent weekends I've been evaluating the Alpha at home on a laptop, granted a fairly high-performance model—but its GPU is a bottleneck. The auto-detection worked much better than with previous Arma games. I could play comfortably without tweaking, but did go into the options to change the balance between graphical fidelity and performance as Jay pointed out.
"It's about finding a sensible balance. Since it's so subjective, that means putting faith in players to configure the game how they please."
Crowe: I must add, though, that it doesn't mean we're complacent about improving performance. Evaluating the Alpha build, I think we've got a long way to go—particularly in terms of getting our entity-count up for those big, epic battles we all love to see. This is something I really need to see us move forward with.

Arma 2’s Scenario editor is powerful, but using it relies on scripting knowledge to some extent. If in fact it has, in what was is the A3 editor easier to use for beginners?

van ‘t Land: Arma 2 introduced “modules,” ready-to-use systems for handling things like strategic commanding and UAVs. It was all very advanced stuff, but we realized we can use the same approach for handling basic functions—imagine briefings, tasks or checkpoints—and letting designers configure them right in the editor. Many of the new modules can also be synchronized with an area trigger to activate them, so you can now easily set up a mission without knowing a single scripting command. There are definitely benefits to learning the scripting language though, your palette of options becomes virtually limitless.

Will Arma 3 use Steam Workshop for mod and mission downloading?

van ‘t Land: We are certainly looking at all the benefits Steamworks integration can bring us and the community. I do not want to promise features until I see them fully integrated. We're starting from the smallest type of modding and working our way up: scenarios, add-ons, mods and finally total conversions. Let's quickly talk about one potential feature: publishing scenarios to Workshop from the editor and downloading them within the game. Next to that you would still be able to place scenarios manually in the game's root Missions folder as well. It is important to us to help user-generated content developers to get their hard work to everyone who wants to try it. There should not be barriers like installation for those who cannot be bothered to find where they should copy some local file (but we have no intention of preventing loading add-ons and mods in these old/advanced ways).

I read about some concern that current content hosting websites become redundant, but I really do not believe that to be the case. They can see Steam Workshop as a competitor, but it would be much better to see it as an ally. Evolve and offer differentiating services. Write elaborate reviews and guides, run competitions and find other ways of adding to the mod community. My own history with Bohemia Interactive started with a fan site, about a year before the release of Cold War Crisis (Operation Flashpoint Network - OFPN). There were many similar concerns for example when big file-hosting services started appearing (e.g. Fileplanet), as well as dedicated mission depots (like the awesome OFPEC). Instead of fighting this, find ways to complement each other and cooperate. That benefits the developers, community and every single player of Arma 3.

The stance adjustments are one of the most exciting and interesting aspects of the alpha for me. Are you worried that being able to shoot through small gaps will make combat easier?

Crowe: I'm not sure if “easier” is the right word, at least, I don't think that's the intention! I The stances are great because they provide opportunities to make a shot you might otherwise not be able to but, sometimes, they make you a little more vulnerable--a touch less mobile. It might take a bit more effort to quickly get out of a jam. I'm fine with that, though, because it's your choice to roll on your side and shoot from under that vehicle. If a frag comes your way, and you're not quick enough to GTFO, it's a choice you made. So it's a trade off.

It's also important to consider the nature of combat in Arma. While it's often about facing off with your enemy, we're also not a corridor shooter, so you're liable to be out-flanked and attacked from the side. If you're peering down your sights in a stance that's enabling you to put effective fire down range--locked into your tunnel vision--you might just miss that squad moving up on your left flank! I like to think that game balances itself out in these ways, or at least provides opportunities for an advantage to be countered.



How will encumbrance affect my soldier in Arma 3?

van ‘t Land: Role-playing as a soldier, you have your limits. You are not able to perform everything without consequences as you can see in other games. You can't sprint several kilometers with a launcher on your back, or with a full backpack. This is something we would like to show the player. Managing your stamina really is crucial in real life, so we've taken this into consideration and put it into the game where it was useful and appropriate. We're careful not to let it frustrate unnecessarily and the aforementioned Task Force Balance is still actively tweaking the limits. The effects of being fatigued are noticeable in your movement speed and the stability of your aim most of all.

The terrain is at the heart of Arma’s character. What’s a specific part of the map you’re particularly fond of?

Crowe: I really like the way Camp Rogain is shaping up, nestled on the edge of a forest in the north of Stratis. It's a great trade-off between being a defensive compound and a good spot for enemies to assault without being decimated. There are a few other really cool locations I could talk about, such as the underwater area we demonstrated in our E3 Scuba Showcase, but part of me doesn't want to spoil the fun of exploring yourself! All I'll say is that it's off the west coast of Stratis.

van ‘t Land: When I can still find places I've never seen after years of developing and playing, that's when we deliver something awesome with our terrains. Stratis is relatively contained, but the main Altis terrain coming with the Q3 release is gigantic. Many people in our team take a moment each day, insert a single soldier in the editor at a random location, and walk around. By just dragging the same simple mission across the map in the editor, you have a new experience because of the terrain. Terrains are perhaps the most important characters in our games.

Thanks, guys.

I also talked with Jay and Joris about Arma 3's ballistics modeling. On the third page: more screenshots.

Authentic ballistics modeling continues to be a distinguishing aspect of Arma. But even though I've dumped hundreds of hours into the game, I realized I couldn't identify all the things that the system simulates. To alleviate me (and you) of this ignorance, I asked two of Bohemia's leads to break down what variables go to work when you pull the trigger in Arma 3.

PCG: Some amount of what's being simulated in Arma 3 is invisible to the player. Can you walk us through--chronologically--what happens when the player fires a rifle? From a technical standpoint, what is the game taking into account?

Jay Crowe, co-Creative Director: Actually, we can start even before the shot's been taken. With the Real Virtuality engine, it's often not just a story about the shot itself, but your journey up to pulling that trigger. How much you've been running around and the load you're carrying contributes to a fatigue value. This—together with your stance, breathing, and state of health—affects your weapon sway and, thereby, accuracy. Then, there's the distance to target to take into account—zeroing your weapon or adjusting to compensate for the ballistic curve—plus, leading your target so the projectile ends up where you wanted it to.

Joris-Jan van ‘t Land, Project Lead: And once you do actually pull the trigger, there's a long list of steps in the simulation before hitting the intended target and seeing it ragdoll to the ground. I've actually had to ask programming guru Vojtěch Hladík for the details:

Check whether the weapon can be used at all (most weapons don't function underwater).
Apply zeroing to the direction of the muzzle.
Launch a projectile based on the ammunition type: bullets, shells, missiles, mines, sub-munitions, flares or countermeasures.

All behave differently: some have a powered rocket engine, some emit light, some are explosive, etc.


Add dispersion factors.
Emit the correct sounds and muzzle flash, based on the weapon and accessories.
Heat up the weapon (for Thermal Imaging).
Compute firing visibility and audibility for other entities in the world, based on the weapon and accessories.
Simulate the flight of the projectile given:

detected collisions with the terrain, water or objects
environmental factors: air and water friction and gravity
correct trajectory and energy computations involving penetration and deflection


Your target sees the flash from step #5: it's already too late.

Crowe: So, there's a lot of simulation at work behind the scenes and I suppose it might seem pretty complex just to shoot. What we're trying to do with A3 is make it feel more natural—at least, as natural as discharging a firearm might be for any given player—and, through that, find simplicity. Not "taking away" any simulation, but making the experience more fluid or comprehensible. Taking these various simple, little bits of simulation and combining them effectively in a way that's logical and, ultimately, satisfying to master.



Arma 3 will be pre-orderable beginning next Tuesday, a transaction that will grant instant access to the alpha. We'll have a ton of coverage hitting on the 5th, and look for our entire interview with Jay and Joris (who should probably consider forming a quaint folk-rock duo) over the weekend.

DayZ Origins is an unofficial spin-off of Arma 2's now famous zombie survival gametype - a mod of a mod, if you will. It took some flack over using the DayZ name, but its creativity's been praised by DayZ's creator Dean "Rocket" Hall. And given the substantial ambition evident in its latest update, it's not hard to see why.

Origins 1.0 introduced a survivor city where the moneyed elite had holed up, protected by high walls and mercenaries. It created a shared objective for players, who could band together to fight their way in. 1.5 sees the city's occupants fight back, sending sorties of mercenaries to the mainland, making survivors' plight all the more perilous. It also introduces Mad Max-style jury-rigged vehicles - entirely customisable by players. You can jam a plough onto the front of a truck to hoof dead-heads off the road, or even add wheels to a boat to make an amphibious vehicle. There are player-made encampments, too, which can be upgraded over time.

There are a dozen new zombie types, too, each with different capabilities, and a large number of additional locations built onto a modified version of the Tavania map, including a race course and safari park - plenty of stuff to keep zompocaylpse survivors busy while awaiting the official standalone version of DayZ.

Head over to www.dayzorigins.com for the full feature list. The client files should be uploaded and ready for download imminently.

A screenshot of wandering zombies by Reddit user fitzybaby.

DayZ changelogs are so much fun. Update 1.7.6 adds some important stuff, like a six arrow crossbow quiver and reusable wooden arrows with a 20% chance to break on use, and some less important stuff, like cans of Rabbitman beer and Chef Boneboy Ravioli. Or it did, until Hotfix 1.7.6.1 removed the modder-named cans after a big community argument. Darn, and I just said how fun these are.

But first: zombie logic. Zeds' max target range has been reduced from 300 meters to 120 meters, they should zigzag less, and their running speed has been reduced. That doesn't mean you can rest easy: "zed attraction" now causes the undead to "loiter closer to players over time," sending them wandering into new territory. Early reports indicate it's a welcome addition.

In other DayZ news, it's now super easy to install the mod if you own Arma 2: Combined Operations on Steam. There's an extra step to jump to 1.7.6, though: after installing, right click on the mod in your library, select "Properties," hit the "Beta" tab, and select 1.7.6.1 in the drop down menu.

Oh, about the cans. 1.7.6 added new cans named for contributors to the mod, presumably because it seemed like a fun idea. A segment of the community did not think it was a fun idea, and said so (some more civilly than others), prompting the hotfix which removes them.

DayZ creator Dean "Rocket" Hall attempted to toss a bucket of water on the flames, writing in the forums, "Let's not slaughter everyone just because something didn't go quite according to plan and some people think it's going in the wrong direction."

I'd have been fine with tossing back a few Rabbitmans while eating my Herpy Dooves Canned Muffins, but I understand the complaint from hardcore roleplayers. I'm more of a LARPer, in that I would actually like a beer and a few muffins if anyone has some.

In this week's debate, Evan argues that Crysis 3 is the best-looking game in gaming, while Tyler isn't wooed by its tessellated vegetation and volumetric fog shadows. It's undeniably impressive tech, but does Crytek still wear the graphics crown?

We assault, parry, and counter-parry on behalf of both sides in the debate below. Make your own case in the comments, and jump to the next page for opinions from the community. Evan, you've got the floor:

The Debate

Evan: C’mon, Tyler, have you seen Crysis 3? Go ahead, look at it. I’ll wait here.



Tyler: Oh, I've seen it. CryEngine is technically fantastic. Just like Thomas Kinkade was a technically skilled painter. But do I like his paintings? Not at all. Now Evan, I know you've seen BioShock Infinite. If Crysis 3 is a Kinkade, BioShock Infinite is a Norman Rockwell.

Evan: BioShock is beautiful, and I’ve talked with Irrational a bunch about what they’re doing to make the game look as good as it can on PC. Infinite’s art direction is inspiring, but I don’t think its fidelity and effects approach Crytek’s stuff, to be honest.

Man, we sound like a stereotype of teen girls, don’t we? “Oh my god Tyler, Orlando Bloom is so much cuter than Ryan Gosling, I don’t even know you anymore.”

Which would be a better date, Crysis or BioShock?

Tyler: Psh, Gosling is way cuter, but I see your point. If not technical quality, we're arguing a subjective preference for one style or another. But we can still argue it. Art criticism is valid, and if it isn't, my doodles are just as special as Crysis 3’s art direction, because that’s just my opinion.

Evan: We have to consider both sides, though. Crysis is totally concerned with maximum performance, and that theme extends to the technology that drives the art as well as the art itself. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all, but Crysis also wins from a quantitative standpoint. The gun models are carefully animated, but they’re piled with polygons. Wall textures in obscure corners of levels are given an unusual amount of care, but they look higher-resolution than any other game. In terms of raw texture quality and the 3D and 2D assets Crytek puts into the game, it’s evident that Crysis 3 is the prettiest thing on PC. Even the damn grass is innovative.

Tyler: I see we've hit the semantics hurdle already. It's hard to avoid in debates like this, but let's try to leap over it. “Prettiest” can mean a lot of things. I’m not taking it to mean “great anti-aliasing” or “look at all that grass!” To me, it could mean Limbo’s black and white film reel or Mirror’s Edge's stark playgrounds. Can you argue for Crysis 3 on those grounds?

Evan: Sure, but as PC gamers we’re interested in what our handmade machines can do. If someone asked you “I just built a PC. What game will really show me what my hardware can do?” would you recommend Limbo over Crysis 3?

Tyler: Alright, maybe not, but if you want to go technical, mods make Skyrim and GTA IV way more fun to look at than Crysis 3's rusted metal and overgrown foliage. iCEnhancer is insane.



Evan: iCEnhancer is a terrific mod. It’s a great demonstration of what’s possible on PC. And I don’t want to shrug off the effort it took to make it, but it isn't a comprehensive approach to creating something visual and interactive. It’s CG for the sake of CG. It’s novelty, to some extent, like the Star Wars special editions. Great visual design originates from an artistic vision and having the technology to convey that vision. Crysis has both sides of that.

Tyler: So you agree it’s not just about cranking up the polycount, but I disagree that Crysis nails the vision side of things. If I were going on vacation, I’d much rather book a tour through Skyrim’s snowy peaks and shimmering lakes.

Evan: Yeah, it’s obviously not all about stuff like polycount, but if we’re comparing two 3D, first-person games, the technical quality of assets matters. It’s the reason Skyrim’s characters appear slightly flat to me—they feel like inexpressive NPCs, and Psycho feels like a virtual person.

Skyrim's Mr. Corn Cob Horns

Crysis 3's Psycho

Tyler: Your counter-argument is vanilla Skyrim, but I'll go with it anyway. Yeah, it's got some blurry bits, but a trip to New Zealand with my glasses off is still better than visiting a movie set with 20/20 vision.

Skyrim is so full of character and variety. It's got this unique sense of scale, where mountains somehow feel like huge miniatures. It's got- well, I could go on, but instead I'll just show you my tribute to it:



Crysis 3 just doesn't do that to me—It's got some lovely swaying grass, but for all that foliage it doesn't feel alive.

Evan: Skyrim is pretty, but not nearly as impressive. I guess I judge visual experiences more on how intensely (and how often) they produce that feeling of “I can’t believe this is coming out of my PC.” Or “I can’t believe this isn't pre-rendered.” Those moments that raise the bar in my mind of what computers can do. Crysis does that more than any other game for me.

Tyler: Does it? Crysis 1 got us so used to holding the series up as the benchmark for PC power that it’s become our default, but it’s not 2008 anymore. Have you seen Witcher 2 with ubersampling? It’s called “ubersampling,” man, how could we ignore it? And don't forget about RAGE. We didn't totally love the game, but damn it looks good.

Sorry buddy, id is still the tech leader. Since you like comparing characters:

A passive gaze in RAGE.

Evan: Two bandanas? CryEngine can only render one; I am defeated.

But yeah, I actually had forgotten about RAGE. It speaks to id’s technical strengths that they can take a brown setting and make it look that beautiful. I’d be willing to say that RAGE’s acrobatic mutants are better-animated than Crysis’ bad guys. But I’d rather be in Crysis’ sunny, overgrown jungle than RAGE’s bright, barren desert.

Psycho in his debut role on Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Tyler: No fair choosing such delightfully dramatic lighting.

Evan: I just like the idea of Psycho telling me a ghost story behind that flashlight.

Tyler: It'd probably be way better than some silly story about slapping a “Nanodome” over New York. Forget about people faces, there’s something really special about RAGE's rock faces. Look at them for a while, and you realize that they haven’t had a tiled texture slapped on like, say, almost every other 3D game before RAGE. The whole surface has been hand painted with virtual texturing. Yeah, that’s something John Carmack invented. Have fun with your dumb non-virtual textures.

I asked id’s Tim Willits to help explain, and he said something that's hard to argue: “Michelangelo could not have painted the Sistine Chapel using procedurally generated textures.” Hear that? id Tech 5 would totally be Michelangelo’s preferred engine if he were alive today. Alright, maybe that's not exactly what he was saying, but it makes the point: an engine that removes limitations from the artist enables better art.



Evan: Virtual texturing is an exciting technique, and I’d love to see it used and iterated on more. But innovations in how flat, static surfaces are rendered don’t excite me as much as the improvements Crysis 3 made to lighting, animated vegetation, and character tessellation. The game has more moving parts, and they all feel authentic. Here’s a trailer that pans through some of the improvements:



Tyler: Alright, so that’s some stunning simulation. I especially like the “dynamic water volume caustics.” Still, I think you might have something else to say about “flat, static surfaces” when Arma 3 comes out. Its scale is incredible and the lighting is gorgeous, but check out that repeating ground texture. Blech! It and Crysis 3 would benefit from id’s technology and artists.



Evan: Oh, whatever. Arma 3 is a huge step forward from Arma 2, and I could even write a massive defense of Arma 2’s visual design, flawed as it is. The animations are rigid, and most of the textures look like they were picked up at a garage sale, but it’s one of the few games (with Crysis) where I go out of my way to run through grass because I love how authentically it animates.

It’s easy to be critical of all of these games. I don’t like Crysis 3’s overuse of motion blur (though some console commands can help with that). But we’re here to name a king—the best-looking game on PC. And I think Crysis’ sci-fi setting, neon weaponry, uncompromising approach to movie-like effects, and Crytek’s incredible engine represents the best-yet combination of aesthetics and technical quality.

Tyler: We'll see about that. You managed to derail my train and put it on the tech track, but now I’m re-railing it: objectively, both CryEngine and id Tech are superior to Unreal Engine 3, but BioShock Infinite is still better-looking. It’s got more style than Crysis 3 has blades of grass, and that’s where it counts. The magic isn't in the fancy shaders or even virtual texturing: it’s in the idea-havers and the art-makers.

Follow Evan, Tyler, and PC Gamer on Twitter to react to our battle prompts as they happen, and see how the community responded to this one on the next page.




@pcgamer modded or un-modded? Because I'm pretty sure you can make Skyrim look better than real life if you install enough mods.

— superkillrobot (@superkillrobot) February 20, 2013
@pcgamer technology wise? Probably. Art direction? Imagination? Notsomuch.

— Tony Heugh (@standardman) February 20, 2013
@pcgamer Definitely, no contest.

— Jake (keyboardN1nja) (@keyboardN1nja) February 20, 2013
@pcgamer For me, I gotta say Battlefield 3.

— Tribesman Gaming (@tribesman256) February 20, 2013
@pcgamer it is definitely, by far, the best unmodded game in terms of raw graphics ever. It just is. Real time caustics. 'Nuff said

— Kai Moseley (@Kibby_Cat) February 20, 2013
@pcgamer Yes, from a tech perspective. Psycho's model is IMO the most realistic looking human model in a game yet, coming from a #BF3 fan.

— Gerardo Pena (@Tobi5480) February 20, 2013
@pcgamer Crysis 3 does look fantastic, but something. about the snowstorms in Skyrim just blow me away.

— NSVG Blog (@NSVGBlog) February 20, 2013

It speaks volumes of the staying power of DayZ when it gets top billing in Bohemia's new $40 Complete Collection pack for Arma 2. It's a more extensive (and slightly more expensive) way of nabbing the required content for the zombie survival mod beyond the $25 Combined Operations, but it's also the definitive accumulation of Bohemia's best.

Along with the core Arma 2 game, the bundle includes expansion Operation Arrowhead and DLC packs British Armed Forces, Private Military Company, and Army of the Czech Republic. Each DLC adds extra vehicles, weapons, factions, and maps, so you're essentially getting tinier Arma campaigns with the same degree of hyper-realism. More importantly, you'll have everything you need to jump into The Science Bear, PC Gamer's very own Arma 2 server.

Though DayZ helped propel Bohemia's games into newfound popularity, Arma 2 also thrives among dedicated communities seeking both PvP and co-op mil-sim experiences through custom missions and scenarios. For examples, check out the truly spectacular-looking videos recorded by Shack Tactical's Dslyecxi for choice glimpses into what hardcore Arma 2 looks like.

Guns are a constant character in modern games, but we don't typically take the time to deconstruct their personalities. How a gun animates, its behavior, and what we hear in our headphones has a lot to do with how much we enjoy a shooter. In service of highlighting some of the best examples of good design, Evan, Logan, and T.J. sat in front of a camera to talk about which game guns they like the most.

The six or seven guns we mention are a sliver of PC gaming's armory, of course. What rifles, blasters, launchers, or cannons would you contribute to the discussion?