...
. For many gamers there can be no greater endorsement than that - but players who have been taken down once too many times by ArmA's crackshot AI may need a little more convincing.

"In ArmA you could be hit with a miracle shot, but you could still wipe out 30 enemies beforehand" admits Marek Spanel, head of Bohemia Interactive. "In ArmA II that won't be possible without really careful preparation because the AI is more cautious."

Helicopters are from the upper tier of the many vehicles on offer.
Spanel says soldiers will now take cover behind corners and provide suppression for each other, not moving until they know the other guys in their AI team are providing suppression in turn. Bohemia call their new system 'Micro AI' and claim it allows for unparalleled placement of enemy and friendly units. "Unlike our previous titles where AI was designed primarily for larger-scale combat in open fields, this time the AI is capable of finding cover with centimetre precision, like at corners of a building," says Spanel, "And they act dynamically and cooperate as a team; provide suppressive fire and trying to avoid it from the enemy. It's a big advancement in terms of AI."

The team Spanel alludes to forms the centerpiece of ArmA II's main campaign, the development of which has proved to be something of a challenge. Realising that campaigns in their previous titles have been perhaps too freeform, the early emphasis was to create a fast-paced linear story that would compare with Call of Duty. "But that's not what we're about" says Spanel, who ordered a re-think. "The story didn't utilise the open nature of the map or the gameplay. Our engine is more dynamic and so a linear experience just doesn't work out as well."
...