ARMA Reforger Update 1.7 Has Corruption Problem After Launch

Rebels. Rebels. Freedom fighters. Whatever you want to call yourself, the Freedom and Independence Army has been a staple of the ARMA series since its introduction in ARMA: Cold War Assault (née Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis).

So far, the presence of the FIA ​​in ARMA Reforger has amounted to little more than a speed bump. If you’ve played a Clash cycle from the beginning, you’re familiar with the flow: drive to the objective, fight the FIA ​​manning the roadblock, maybe eat an RPG or ten at a time, and never hear from the rebels again.

It took a lot of requests and more testing in the test branch, but the 1.7 update of ARMA Reforger has finally changed this by giving you the ability to play as FIA fighters.

Now, the last time I checked, the whole plan was for the FIA ​​to act as a third force against the United States and the Soviet Union. However, corruption has become rampant, and once-respected activists have been caught collaborating with the military on several occasions.

FIA Brings Chaos to the Battlefield

There was nothing inherently wrong with going up to a target in a Humvee and melting the defenses with a .50 cal, but It’s hard to deny that the ‘Old Testament’ FIA in ARMA Reforger was formulaic even in its best days. Adding player control to local rebels has always been a popular request for this reason, as the unpredictability of the human factor is always preferred to ones and zeros.

Bohemia Interactive obliged, and after a rigorous testing period in the test branch, the final version of FIA controlled by the player has reached the release version. Now the players who spread chaos is not a new thing, despite the problems that exist, the addition of a third party has made the games more intense, but what caught my eye is the number of reports that the rebels are collaborating with foreign forces.

In some cases, this has taken the form of a simple marriage of convenience. You know the drill: two teams attack the same objective, and put their differences aside to defeat the defenders. After that, they are back to being enemies.

However, it seems that many military commanders who are entrepreneurs have decided that Bloodshed shouldn’t be difficult, as long as you can buy the rebels. Thus began the era of warlords and guns for hire at ARMA Reforger.

FIA has plenty of style and bravado, but that alone doesn’t make up for its significant lack of substance, especially in a game so popular with crafty Barbie players who love their toys so much. Taking advantage of this weakness, Soviet and American players have begun to face individual FIA units, and sometimes even cars.

One such exchange I saw involved exchanging M16A2s for grenade launchers, ammunition, and a few LAW rocket launchers. Back in gear, the FIA ​​guys were determined to attack the Soviet troops while the Americans moved on to their real objective.

There are also reports that the Soviets are working with local forces, as documented by a Slovak military correspondent.

The nature of such engagement remains a mystery for now, but have we really reached a world where even ARMA freedom fighters can be bought off with a few guns and a smile?

This piece is not intended to slander the brave warriors who wreak havoc on the islands. We know that what is being sold is a small number, but we also know that this kind of rot is spreading. If you can’t trust your brothers in arms to stand up and fight the Soviet and American invaders, then you also can’t trust them to turn on you later when a lucrative offer comes along.

You can find the full notes for ARMA Reforger 1.7 here. The game is currently available for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Released

November 16, 2023

The ESRB

M For Adults 17+ // Blood, Strong Language, Violence