I have still got the original Operation flashpoint, which is nearly the same game as arma 2.
But the interface in arma2 seems even more clunky than opFlash, you would think that they would have sorted that out as it was 1 of the things that got bitched about most.

I do feel that they got to improve how the controls are laid out and some of the movement which feel quite clunky. They have improved things however as the AI is smart and will try to flank you. For what they are going for it works well, but they will have work harder to make it more accessible while keeping it's simulation roots. There is way to many keys to use so it is rather intimidating. Enjoyed my time play the demo.
I couldn't complete training however as one of the training opponents killed the training instructor. I lolled when i got out of the Humvee and find my instructor on the ground dead. Ether they targeted him or it was a stray bullet. If the latter, that guy was a really bad shot.

Now THAT is good AI... very Terminator.

Any word on what sort of DRM the demo (and even the full game) uses?
I love military sims, and wouldn't mind checking out ARMA2. I'm pretty sure I avoided the first due to rather dodgy DRM, but I can't remember.

I'm interested in getting ARMA II but I've been somewhat put off by all the whining on the STEAM forums about performance. But then again, they do like to whine over there.
Not had a chance to try the demo yet, but I'm hoping my Q6600 proc and SLI'd 8800GT Nvidia cards, 4GB Ram will be enough to run it.
Anyone actually have the full game with similar specs to mine ? Comments on performance?
Cheers.

I tried demo and I have Intel Core 2 Quad 2.66 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM, GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512 MB. On 1280x960 I got 24 FPS on benchmark on highest settings, by the way I am using Windows XP Pro with SP3.
Retail version of the game is using Securom DVD Check DRM, Steam version is using only Steam DRM.

Hrm.. Guess it could be worse, I suppose. I haven't had much trouble with Securom, but I do believe I haven't encountered the newer versions of it.

Cheers for that, looks like I need to lower expectations on FPS for my rig.
I'll grab the demo soon and check it out.

Ooh, it's out.
BUYING. NOW.

The Rock Paper Shotgun* "review" seems to basically sum up the game:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/06/29/wot-i-think-arma-ii/
*new fave site of all time for this week thanks to gog hyping it.

Yea I downloaded the demo, and played for about 2 minutes. It took that long to realize the games engine performs extremely sluggishly. Maybe I'll try it again if they fix it and put up a fixed demo, or a patch for the demo.
On max settings during the tutorial I got about 20fps with real sluggish mouse movement. That sounds not half bad, but when you realized I can play Crysis maxed at about 50+fps, you realize it's absolutely horrible.
WinXP SP3
Q9450
XFX 790i mobo (nvidia reference)
EVGA GTX 295
G.Skill DDR2 1066 - 4g
WD 1tb PRM HD on Raid 0
EVGA Xeno Pro NIC

You could turn down the settings a little.
Crysis isn't running a whole AI war over an open world of many many kilometers though, is it?

Managed to try the demo.
It ran ok on high settings with my SLI'd cards, but it wasn't fantastic (not that I expected it to be). Lowered to normal, everything appeared pretty smooth (seen smoother, but it wasn't going to spoil the game).
Unfortunately, I gave up after 30 mins as I kept getting killed by someone (no idea, never ever saw the enemy) and my squad seemed to have their own ideas on what to do (mainly stand in front as I'm about to shoot).
I'm not saying ARMA II is terrible , it's just probably not my 'cup of tea'. The AI and voice acting is dreadful (team mates repeating phrases over and over like a bad rap medley).
There's probably a great game trying to break out in ARMA II, but I'm going to take a rain check on it till such times they finish it and then patch it.
I'm sure if I stayed with it and tried a tad harder, I'd be praising this game, so I can also understand why people may swear by it :)
Sadly I just swore at it.

I don't have any particular inclination to play it. But i'm just grateful that such a game exists.
It's the kind of thing that can really only be done on a PC, and that only crazily ambitious PC developers would ever even attempt.
From what i understand of the community, the AI isn't an issue, since it's all about the multiplayer.
though given that the AI have to react dynamically to an entire war that's going on i'm not surprised they occasionally get it totally wrong ;-)

In my opinion, AI can either make or break a game, and this AI definately breaks it. I've never had so much trouble getting my guys to go where I want them to before.