The good folks at Bohemia, announced the F2P release of ARMA2 at E3 this year and we've been working with them ever since to get one of our favorites up on Desura. With truly unrivaled scale and gameplay possibilities. Arma 2: Free serves up almost everything offered by the original Arma 2 - and is the '13th best PC game of all time', according to North American PC Gamer.
The free version is no different from the original (which retails for 19.99), just minus the campaign, HD graphics and support for user-made addons and mods. While the mods are a big miss (as they have a huge collection here on ModDB), you can always upgrade down the road. Here is the official release:
Bohemia wrote: Create your own custom-built scenarios or deploy a massive selection of missions and game-modes made by others. No micro-transactions, no hidden costs, just the same epic terrain and huge variety of equipment! This is Arma 2 Free - virtual war without the training wheels. Arma 2: Free to download, free to play, free to share, free to host, free to create... free to play redefined!
Arma 2: Free is fully compatible with user-made missions, campaigns and multiplayer modes originally created for Arma 2, as well as being multiplayer compatible with the full Arma 2 providing no user-made addons or mods are used.
And with Arma 3 on the horizon, it's time to sharpen your skills and cut your teeth in the Arma battlefield. To jump into the action this weekend, just click the link above and Desura will take care of the rest.
Cool :D
Just download soon!
Edit: When I launch it it says: Bad Serial Key given in Setup.
me too, this sucks
you need to run the "activation" link. So click the "Activate F2P" link before clicking "Play F2P".
Worked, thanks.
i did this, it brings me to a site, i download 1 off those mirrors, it gives me 1 read me and 1.exe. then when i want to try run .exe it just brings me again to the sam site
you need to click the login link on the left. You don't need to re-download the game.
jay !
i need another hd ,WTH!! im gona buy the game anyway ..
this mod support is really needed since infiltraton is going to be ported over i gues xD
WOW!
ARMA 2 for free!!!
this is worth a try for sure!!
leon
No mods, therefore no point.
Well, you could just, you know, play a large part of the game for free.
Then purchase Arma 2/Operation Arrowhead it if you really want the mods, plus and the singleplayer campaign.
no its not that there is no mods, which you can't play on the free version. there are many campaigns and missions using vanilla content. the problem with the free version is crappy low res graphics. your better off buying Arma 2 CO its only about 25$, 15$ if you buy on sprocket.
This weekend doesn't look so gloomy after all :D
Absolutely amazing :)
Great work ;)
Guys give this a try. If you really like the F2P version, ArmA 2 Combined Operations (ArmA 2 + Operation Arrowhead) is on sale at Sprocket (the official store of the devs):
Sprocketidea.com
(buried)
SO you get a game with nothing to do?
No campaign
No custom content
No Graphics
Whats the point then, waling around a empty field?
Gameplay is the point.
You get everything you get with the full version, except no modding and no campaign. There are scenarios and you can create your own one and play them online with other people.
read Bistudio.com
and
Community.bistudio.com
Notice, they said HD graphics will not be in the F2P one, NOT graphics as in the whole game.
it's just texture quality difference
this has been out for a while...
the free verson is awesome it includes multiplayer, a map editor, and more.
true, but now it's available on Desura :)
This is too good to be true. Such an awesome game for free ??? Hmmm i must try this ^^
Haha, what the hell!
I just bought Arma 2 yesterday! :P
Right, the bought game is higher quality than the free 2 play one. You get campaigns, mod support and high quality textures/models/graphics/etc.
Holy **** I never thought this would be Free2Play. Im downloading this ASAP!
yaarrr f2p.
What???... i woke up and i saw this what is happening!!!! pretty awesome!
No wonder Greenmangaming was giving this away for free... horrible game imo.
you probably just suck at it
You haven't given the game a chance. Without the ability to play the campaign your missing out on just one major aspect of the game.
I had the full game. Greenmangaming gave it out for free. Your right I didn't really give it a fair chance but I couldn't stand to keep playing :/
I haven´t heard of this game before, now, I have a question: just because it´s free, it can´t be played on multiplayer mode or can it be?
Are people who own the retail version able to play online with the people who own the free version? I want to play when there is actually a lot of poeple playing online.
Thats what it says above.
Where does it say that? I don't see it.
It's not a horrible game, it just might not be to your likings because it's a little hardcore.
So true. Played the campaign and I keep crashing the helicopter. This game is one of those that you have to learn a whole lot of stuff before you can actually enjoy.
Even though there is a lot to learn the game is really fun.
It might sound stupid but I bought the game a year ago. Am I able to play on those free servers? I really want to play again with some people since last time I played on multi there was only 12 people on everyday...
It says on the article that you can play with people that actually bought the game as well as the F2Players.
As for the lack of people, there's hundreds of servers on in the evening (American time zones (I have to play at 2AM in the morning!)) and even if it's not peak time a lot of the servers are highly populated.
Everyone keeps saying this has minimal requirements yet it makes my computer lag like some **** on it. And it's a good computer!
Damn! Can't play multiplayer O_o WHY?! o_O It just throw me from server with no errors o_O
every server i try connect to i get disconnected or something , does the free version require the ace mods or something?
There is always a reason for getting disconnected.
Go to C:\Users\*WINDOWS USERNAME*\AppData\Local\ArmA2Free\arma2free.rpt (open that will notepad).
I bet it'll say why you were disconnected in there. Either that or an admin kicked you, but you'd know about that.
Can't see any explanations =\
Exept maybe this one "Item str_disp_server_control listed twice"? But what does it means? O_o
Whole log:
-----
Version 1.10.80665
Item str_disp_server_control listed twice
Warning: looped for animation: ca\wheeled\data\anim\uaz_cargo01_v0.rtm differs (looped now 0)! MoveName: kia_uaz_cargo02
Warning: looped for animation: ca\wheeled\data\anim\uaz_cargo01_v0.rtm differs (looped now 1)! MoveName: uaz_cargo02
-----
Ok, solved the problem. The "BattleEye" (Anticheat? O_o) was not installed. It can be found in "..\ARMA 2\BEsetup" folder, just simply install it and it must solve the problem with disconnections...
When I used Desura it started installing, then Desura crashed halfway through I hit uninstall but it kept installing then I hit it again and now I apparently pre-ordered Arma 2.
This happened to me too, just minus the uninstall part.