Free version of ArmA II announced!

With military simulator ArmA III being a little over a year away, developer Bohemia Interactive has announced that a free to play version of the series' previous main installment will be available for download later this month.

Players of the free version of ArmA II won't have access to the game's single player campaign, HD graphics and user-made content, but everything else in the game is left in tact. This means that everyone with a good computer will be able to try out the game's extensive map editor and multiplayer without having to pay a dime.
 

The ArmA II Free official launch trailer. KABOOM!
 

One of the main advantages of the free version is that PC gamers will be able to see if and how ArmA II runs on their PC, with the game being so notoriously demanding and all. Of course they could also resort to the demo, but at occasions the performance of a demo can differ from that of the actual game, so the F2P version is probably more reliable in this respect.

It's commendable that Bohemia gives so many things away for free, from a mission editor to dedicated servers, in an age where greedy publishers are trying to take more and more things away from gamers, only to sell it back to them for ridiculous prices.  That said, ArmA II is a totally unrefined hardcore game that will be either loved or hated by whoever gets to play it, but I suggest that anyone with a good enough PC at least give this title a shot.

Jesse Dolman, NoobFeed.

Links:
ArmA II official website