[ArmA] Operation Desert Rats by Jffsieg

Review by Mathias_Eichinger

Overview

An Overview was not provided with this mission.

Intro

The intro is very long and completely shows the events leading up to the mission. While the scenes inside the hotel are problematic due to ArmA`s pathfinding, the rest of it is very good and also features some well-chosen custom music. But it still has some typos.

Briefing

The Briefing is short and to the point, quite understandable after the lengthy intro. One good thing about it is the very extensive weapons selection which adds a bit of replay value to the mission.

Mission

The mission itself is a pre-dawn raid on an enemy-held village that starts with some Hollywood-blockbuster-like music. You are dropped off by helo just east of it, and you only need to kill all enemies on site. Upon entering the village, you have quite some tense moments because a number of soldiers are positioned just around a corner and they turn out to be too close for comfort. But you will notice that you can move unopposed on the main roads.

There are some unexplained things as well. The Briefing does not tell you that some US soldiers survived and are standing around doing nothing. The same goes for the lone US sniper on a water tower who would not engage, but rather be engaged by the player who has been told to be on the lookout in the Briefing.

Another curiosity is the sizeable squad of CLA, stacked against a wall and waiting for whatever to come, not moving anyway. No matter which direction you enter the village on a replay, it is just a matter of roving around and being careful at the dangerous corners you already know.

The time of day is pre-dawn, just before the sun comes up, so you really want to use your NVGs. Once you do that you start to wonder what the addons are for: New enemies, and mighty Navy SEALs to play, all on the arid scenes of Dry South Sahrani....sounds good...but not just in monochrome green.

Outro(s)

The Outro is a short conversation with some grammar errors/typos. It is just there to wrap the story up and does not live up to the Intro.

Special

Nothing else but the use of custom music and a rather long and well-done Intro.

Overall

Verdict: A mission that is basically enjoyable and has its tense moments. But much potential is lost. It could be much more exciting with patrols on the streets and a hostage rescue objective. The time of the mission does not do a good job in showing the addons, they could be left out altogether.