I will admit that I did not have high hopes for this and didn't expect this to be a very good DLC, but I purchased it anyway. I was expecting a few new toys in the sand box and a pretty boring campaign about walking around, picking up the odd mine, while being lectured about human rights the rules of engagement. And now I will also admit I was very much wrong.

The new toys to play around with are more fun than I was expecting, and I have no doubt the community will create some great content using the new features. But for me the biggest surprise by far (and probably for me the standout feature of the DLC) was the new mini campaign. It takes a few (rather enjoyable) hours to complete and is surprisingly engaging and very well written.

The story is all based around a single town on Altis; over a period of about a year you get to experience the events of the town from many different perspectives (IDAP workers, CSAT / NATO, AAF, Civilians, Guerrilla fighters). Switching their focus from the less detailed, massive scale of conflict in the main campaign to detailed story telling on a much smaller location has worked really well and is a distinct change. The writing of the campaign is amazing well done; it does not force anything down your throat but instead weaves it seamlessly into the story, starting off by showing the end result of people actions and the lasting effects of war; but instead of just demonising the people who carried out these actions (like too many people seem to instantly do these days) it then shows the other side of the story to explore why people made the decisions that they made and did what they did, leaving you to decide what actions were and were not justified and who truly was to blame for the devastation caused to the town.

The campaign is narrated throughout by the main protagonist in real time, by means of a Skype call in which he explains his work and the story of the town to a journalist; this works surprisingly well and is something I have not seen done before. There are also choices to make, which while not making massive differences on the end result change the way you play slightly. The narrator also reacts to your actions and occasionally there is the odd bit of well-placed humour (if you make certain choices). Overall it is a truly impressive campaign with a surprising amount of depth.

This DLC will not be for everyone, if you are only playing arma for the combat then you can give this a miss, but if you want a genuinely enjoyable and eye opening campaign, or just want an expanded civilian faction for roleplay servers and missions the I would recommend this DLC.

I will admit that I did not have high hopes for this and didn't expect this to be a very good DLC, but I purchased it anyway. I was expecting a few new toys in the sand box and a pretty boring campaign about walking around, picking up the odd mine, while being lectured about human rights the rules of engagement. And now I will also admit I was very much wrong. The new toys to play around with are more fun than I was expecting, and I have no doubt the community will create some great content using the new features. But for me the biggest surprise by far (and probably for me the standout feature of the DLC) was the new mini campaign. It takes a few (rather enjoyable) hours to complete and is surprisingly engaging and very well written. The story is all based around a single town on Altis; over a period of about a year you get to experience the events of the town from many different perspectives (IDAP workers, CSAT / NATO, AAF, Civilians, Guerrilla fighters). Switching their focus from the less detailed, massive scale of conflict in the main campaign to detailed story telling on a much smaller location has worked really well and is a distinct change. The writing of the campaign is amazing well done; it does not force anything down your throat but instead weaves it seamlessly into the story, starting off by showing the end result of people actions and the lasting effects of war; but instead of just demonising the people who carried out these actions (like too many people seem to instantly do these days) it then shows the other side of the story to explore why people made the decisions that they made and did what they did, leaving you to decide what actions were and were not justified and who truly was to blame for the devastation caused to the town. The campaign is narrated throughout by the main protagonist in real time, by means of a Skype call in which he explains his work and the story of the town to a journalist; this works surprisingly well and is something I have not seen done before. There are also choices to make, which while not making massive differences on the end result change the way you play slightly. The narrator also reacts to your actions and occasionally there is the odd bit of well-placed humour (if you make certain choices). Overall it is a truly impressive campaign with a surprising amount of depth. This DLC will not be for everyone, if you are only playing arma for the combat then you can give this a miss, but if you want a genuinely enjoyable and eye opening campaign, or just want an expanded civilian faction for roleplay servers and missions the I would recommend this DLC.