A military sandbox built around combined arms
Arma 3 is a military sandbox where you fight on foot, drive tanks and light armor, operate autonomous vehicles, and fly helicopters and jets across air, land, and sea. Ballistics are realistic and maneuvering keeps you alive, so positioning and movement matter as much as aim. The arsenal covers over 80 weapons with short- and long-distance attachments, plus a wide selection of clothing and equipment to tailor your loadout to the mission. There are more than 40 modeled and simulated vehicles to drive and pilot.
The maps are large: over 610 km² of open terrain spread across the Mediterranean islands of Altis, Stratis, and Malden, the jungles of Tanoa, and the temperate woodlands of Livonia. The base game includes the Apex and Contact expansions, so you get the East Wind campaign on Altis and Stratis, the cooperative Apex Protocol campaign on Tanoa, and First Contact alongside scenarios, showcase missions, challenges, and the virtual arsenal and garage.
Playing together in a group
Multiplayer is where the sandbox opens up. You form a squad and take on the official Combat Patrol, Escape, and Warlords scenarios, or the many unofficial game modes the community has built over the years. Both online and LAN play are supported for PvP and co-op.
Arma 3 Zeus is worth a look for groups: one or more Game Masters curate and influence the battlefield for the other players in real time, which makes every session different. If your group wants structure, there are long-standing community units that run organized milsim sessions.
Singleplayer and cooperative campaigns also exist, so a group can work through content together rather than only fighting each other. Steam Achievements, stats, and leaderboards track progress.
Before you start
The scale takes getting used to. Terrain is huge, engagements happen at long range, and covering ground on foot or in vehicles is part of the game rather than filler between firefights. Communication and squad roles carry more weight than reflexes.
Content creation is a core feature. The Eden editor lets you build your own scenarios and share them, and the Steam Workshop holds over 160,000 user-generated items, from custom weapons and vehicles to singleplayer scenarios and entirely new multiplayer game modes. Additional official DLC and Creator DLC add weapons, vehicles, and new theaters of war such as Vietnam, Cold War Germany, and the Sahara; Arma 3 Platinum bundles the base game with every official expansion and DLC. Captions are available if you need them.