Does a better version of Operation Flashpoint or ArmA exist?

[Al B. Sure!]

I have Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising and I played the demo for ArmA 2. I am extremely impressed by the realism in both games' portrayal of Marine Corps organization and tactics. There are little things that you never see in other military FPS games like 5-paragraph orders, fire-team and squad formations and spreads, the use of ADDRAC, etc. Also ArmA has the ability to 'detach' from the standard FPS perspective and look around independent of where your rifle is pointing which is something that I've never seen in any game.

The problem with these games if anyone has ever played them is the sound. The voice acting in ArmA is the worst I have ever heard in any game. It is no joke shockingly bad. And both games rely on a computer to read off lines so that when you're playing, your squadmates say things like "ENEMY. FRONT. one. hundred. METERS." Operation Flashpoint is a bit better with this but ArmA's is shockingly bad. Like no reputable company would sell a game in this state...

Anyone know of any games made or in development that are as realistic as these two games but made by a company that actually has a voice actor budget? It's a shame but yes, something like that is a big enough deal that it breaks the games for me.

Check how bad it is:

[DrSpike]

I only really play top shooters, which tend to be very polished, so had forgotten how bad this stuff can be. It's like stepping back a few years to the first time voices were in games.

In essence it's bad news for you - this subgenre has never taken off on the consoles and PC gaming is a bit limp these days (with the exception of SC now, obviously!) so all that's really available is older games. You could check out the various Tom Clancy series:the older Ghost Recon games are relentlessly tactical for instance. The Rainbow Six games are less so, but there are more modern and polished games in this series available so it's a trade-off. Same for GRAW (the later Ghost Recon games).

[Al B. Sure!]

Can you believe that ArmA 2 is only a year old? It came out last summer.

GRAW and Rainbow Six are good but neither of them are really realistic at all nor as in depth as something like Operation Flashpoint. In OF and ArmA, there's a giant world (26km in OF) that you operate in and though you have specific objectives, you have a lot of leeway in how you undertake your mission (well, when you play as the 2nd Lieutenant; the Sgt. character is a bit more restrained). There's also the option of using Humvees in some missions or going on foot. Neither GRAW nor Rainbow Six have that nor does either game have different formations, formation spreads, accurate military SOP, etc. Hell, both GRAW and Rainbow Six kind of annoy me because the way you're given missions is so over the top and it's just not real.

They're good games but they're not anywhere near as realistic as the games I'm talking about. I mean in ArmA you actually use a Lansatic compass to get your bearings. That's the attention to detail and realism that Rainbow Six and GRAW never had.

[DrSpike]

If you've played those games then you'd better just suck it up and play Arma 2.