Arma 3’s been around for so long it just hit 2.0

This one’s for all you weird military niche gamers out there! The ones that like to simulate combat with a game designed to replicate the janky authenticity of military maneuvers, right down to a sergeant, played by your mate who’s usually very timid, barking orders at lowly grunts to huff their duffs and get to the objective. Arma 3 is a special little game because of the very specific experience it offers players, and while the above might sound awful to me, plenty of folks dig that kind of stuff. Thus, they’ll be pleased to know that developer Bohemia Interactive has dropped a huge update for Arma 3 that essentially acts as the 2.0 version of the game.

So what’s new in Arma 3 2.0? Well, there’s a new firing drill, enhanced integration with the Steam Workshop, more achievements and new equipment variants. Let’s break that down, one by one. The firing drill is supposedly the toughest in the game and features some callbacks to previous versions of Arma 3. As noted by Bohemia in a blog post, “(Course of Fire: Gray) invites players to set a record time on a challenging course hosted by a familiar operative from Arma 3’s story campaigns.

A gold medal is awarded to those who can complete the drill in under two minutes (2:00). Players running the course might encounter various surprises related to previous versions of Arma 3 if they know where to look and what to do.

Perhaps most exciting for dedicated (and creative!) players is the improved integration with the Steam Workshop. Players are now able to directly share creations from the game to the Workshop and make them available for anyone in the community to use. Players will do this by “accessing Arma 3’s extensive library of weapons, vehicles, equipment, characters, structures, and props available and arranging their in-game assets in the editor.” This arrangement can be saved as a custom composition and then dropped straight into the Workshop, nice and simple like.

Easily the best part of Arma 3 2.0 is that every player will receive a lifetime’s virtual supply of “Arma” Eau de Combat, a perfume that’s available to all players in the game as a little equip-able glass bottle. Which is just the kind of goofy stuff to remind people that despite Arma 3.0 replicating a military experience as closely as possible, it’s also a game and you should be having fun with it.

Last Updated: October 15, 2020