Arma Reforger

Written by Jason Dailey on 12/26/2024 for PS5  

I am no stranger to virtual war. I play most of the big military shooters that hit the console market, as well as some smaller ones, up to and including Call of Duty, Battlefield, Hell Let Loose, Isonzo, and Insurgency: Sandstorm, among others. You might say I am a grizzled vet of virtual war, but I can assure you that I did not know the true nature of virtual war until playing Arma Reforger. It is far and away the most hardcore and realistic military simulation that I’ve played – for better and for worse. This is not Call of Duty, or even Battlefield, so don’t go in expecting anything like that. I’m not sure if there is a one-to-one comparison on PS5, but if I had to relate it to something, I would say it is more like Hell Let Loose, albeit even more hardcore than that.

Of course, the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. So, to attempt to break the ice for new players, Arma Reforger does include an extensive, multi-hour long set of tutorials, but apart from introducing the basic controls, they suck. Seriously, I learned more watching an hour-long YouTube video than I did in the game’s myriad tutorials. And the fact that I had to watch an hour of YouTube just to better understand how to play this game should tell you a whole lot about the kind of game it is.

It's the kind of game that doesn’t show you where you are on the map, instead asking you to whip out the trusty compass and paper map to plot a course to the next objective. Early on, I grew quite frustrated with not knowing where I currently was on the map at any given time, except for when I spawned after dying. I was unequivocally crushed on social media by Arma vets for criticizing this fact. One person told me that I had a map, a compass, the sun and stars – what more could I need? What more, indeed. Instead of handholding, Arma Reforger is the kind of military sim that wants you to learn the landmarks and points of interest on a map, and after several hours I did start to become a bit familiar with some of the hot conflict zones. There’s also something of a workaround – if you are a squad leader, you will have a marker that is always visible on the map. For this, and many other reasons, I strongly suggest you squad up with your friends or other random players when playing the game.

To that end, solo players have the biggest hill to climb in Arma Reforger. Again, this is not Call of Duty; there is no running-and-gunning, no killstreaks to call in, none of that funny hero business. Teamwork and squad play are not only imperative to winning matches, but imperative to your enjoyment of the game, in my experience. Do you hate relying on other players? Don’t play this game. Do you hate playing with a microphone? Don’t play this game. Let me be abundantly clear – this is not a game for lone wolves.

Arma Reforger is the kind of game that rewards – nay, requires – teamwork and tactical coordination. It wants you and your teammates to take it seriously, and I can assure you that the game is not enjoyable when that is not the case. But when you find yourself on a good team, or at least a helpful one, that is when things truly click, and when it does, it can lead to some memorable gameplay experiences. I’ve had more than one water-cooler moment playing this game thanks to its hardcore simulation and role-playing elements. It reminds me of the experiences I would see people share when playing Elden Ring – not that Arma Reforger is as good as Elden Ring. Arma Reforger’s emergent gameplay has led to a couple of my own water-cooler stories – those “you just had to be there” moments that games can sometimes give us.

One such tale is when me, a friend, and two random players traveled together by Humvee to capture a point. We gathered equipment at the base, spawned a vehicle, and followed the lead of a gentleman barking orders over the radio. He drove us to the objective, which we successfully captured with no resistance – but the resistance soon came. In the distance the sound of a helicopter could be heard closing in on our position. We had no idea if it was friend or foe, so we kept our eyes on the sky. Sure enough, it was the enemy Russian forces in not one, but two choppers. The enemy engaged us with strafing runs of machine gun fire while we returned fire from the ground with our measly M16 rifles. Someone – I’m not sure who at this point – managed to squeeze off a couple of RPGs that did not connect with their target. While we are fighting for our digital soldier lives, and for control of the objective, our impromptu squad leader is pleading for help over radio comms. Help never came, and we eventually lost our lives, but I will never forget the time our squad of four fought off not one, but two helicopters, while our squad leader screamed for assistance on the radio. It was a blast, in more ways than one.

The problem is that it’s a coin flip as to what kind of experience you will have from match to match, and that’s largely because of your teammates. In my experience, most people are either already paired up with their buddies or have little interest in sticking together with strangers long enough to consistently capitalize on the type of game that Arma Reforger is. I don’t know that I’ve played a game so reliant on cooperation and human interaction, at least not a military shooter. In that regard, this is very much a “your mileage may vary” type of game, with your enjoyment critically reliant on both you and other players willingness to dig in and engage with its role-playing elements.

Getting to some of the nuts-and-bolts of the game, it performs mostly well on PlayStation 5 Pro, with an occasional frame drop regardless of whether you are playing in the 30 frames per second quality mode, or 60 frames per second performance mode. It is a bit janky in terms of menu navigation, which doesn’t always work correctly when trying to re-deploy or navigate the map. It’s clear that Arma Reforger is first and foremost a PC game, with clunky controls within menus and your inventory. Bohemia Interactive has made a valiant effort to translate the literal dozens of keybinds to the PS5’s DualSense controller, but sadly, doing anything in a menu or inventory is a real chore. However, they’ve included some excellent use of the DualSense haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. Each weapon feels different to fire, with unique recoil on the trigger, even losing resistance when you have an empty mag. But perhaps the best part is the work they’ve done using the haptic feedback to indicate where explosions are coming from. I can’t recall a game that does this better than Arma Reforger. It’s hard to describe in writing, but I knew exactly where an explosion was coming from and could even determine my approximate distance from it based on the intensity of the feedback – it is quite impressive.

In terms of game modes, the primary one is Conflict, which sees two teams of players battling for control of objectives across one of two maps. This is the best and only mode worth playing, in my opinion. There is also a co-op mode called Combat Ops that is a PvE experience for up to six players, but it contains very little action compared to the Conflict mode, which itself can have extended periods with what feels like nothing happening. Not to mention, there is no social system in Arma Reforger, meaning you are unable to squad up with friends or invite them to your matches. Instead, you must share server names and browse the global list to find each other’s game. The absence of social features might be fine on PC, but it’s a no-no on console. The third and final mode is Game Master, which is exactly what it sounds like. You can place structures, troops, and vehicles around the map to design custom scenarios for you and others to play. You can get as far in the weeds as you like with Game Master, including time of day, the weather, and if those things change dynamically or not. If you want to keep things fresh, you can hop back into the editing tools and adjust things on the fly to keep everyone on their toes. It’s neat, but full of menus, which likely make it too complex for most console players to truly enjoy.

Ultimately, Arma Reforger is certainly not a game for everyone. On PS5, I can’t think of a more hardcore military shooter, so it’s nice to get this kind of experience over from PC. But as a PC port, it comes burdened by some of the things you’d expect – too many and unwieldy menus, lack of social feature integration, and an existing player base with varying degrees of patience for us noobs. However, when things are clicking and you find yourself on a team of committed players, it can lead to some truly special moments – the type of water-cooler gaming stories you and your buddies will remember for years. The problem is that most PS5 players won’t make it past the first hour or two due to its steep learning curve, poor tutorials, and isolation of solo players. Still, Arma Reforger is a deeply rewarding game if you take the time to learn its systems, understand its complexities, and engage in a bit of militaristic roleplaying.