[Arma3] Bobcat by Gruntage

Review by savedbygrace

Overview

You should have no problem determining the content of this mission in your scenario listing. If the Image doesn't jog your memory, the author has provided adequate information to refresh it.

Intro

Gruntage excels in cinematic duty by providing the player with the ending results of the preceeding operation that leads to the current situation while offering cinema for both insertion choices for this mission. The author accomplishes an exceptional job of preparing the player for the story ahead.

Briefing

Map links made sense and spotlighted objectives clearly, background info expounded accordingly,  and tasks were not confusing. No weapon selection is available on the brief screen, but additional resources become available at mission start, and is essentially a continuation of the briefing. The mission author assembled an entire base in the middle of the desert to give the player a proper send off. Here is where you can interact with gear crates, view excellent satellite images prepared for the operation and decide which infiltration method you will persue. Very well detailed.

Mission

Regardless of your chosen insertion, getting to the first objective takes patience and timing. Once you have arrived, the remainder of the mission is adaptable to your gameplay style. You may crawl about like a black scorpion, striking fast and lethal from the shadows until you have widdled the enemy down to your liking, or go ahead and call down thunder while dashing from cover to cover, taking advantage of the ensuing rain of fire. The area of operation becomes your playground, allowing you to choose who lives and dies. Once you've had your fill of enemy tears, make your way to the exfil and meet up with your team mates. The mission author has taken good strides to hone the virtual ears of the AI to provide a more challenging obstacle filled AO along with attempts to deepen immersion for your presence. Random placement of various units, objectives and patrols increase replayability for at least three solid play throughs.

Outro(s)

As with the Intro, the cinematics delivers the action of the combined arms assault on the airfield with a punch. There are plenty of good angles of the carnage to reward your valiant efforts.

Special

Excellent AI scripted improvements, immersive sounds, realistic patrol routes, and random placement of a few of these are simple features that enrich the gameplay experience. Add the cinematics, and you have a complete package that may take only a couple of hours to finish but took the author months to compile.

Overall

It's always great to experience works of art where mission authors take pride in what they release for others to play with. Everything from custom sound and scripts to detailed attention in laying the playground out to make it fun for the player. The effort requires more than simply plopping units down on the map and attaching waypoints. It is a dance of building the mission ideals around the players' presence to layer an immersive experience that starts with the perfectly chosen Overview image and punctuates with a great Outro cinematic.

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