Hey everyone first post,

Just figured out about GOG.com , so far it seems like a great website. I am a big fan of FPS's so i was quite pleased to see they have the ArmA games, especially at the price they are, but I am debating which one I should get? If you guys could help me decide which one to pick up, and maybe a couple of reasons why, that would be great. Thanks in advance and have a great day.

I've never played ARMA. Looking at the game catalog though, it looks like there's much more content in the Gold Edition (It's a game plus it's expansion pack). It also has a file size about 7 times bigger than Cold War Assault. It could be Cold War Assault is better, I'm not sure (It does have more reviews), but if someone says that they're pretty much the same in quality then the Gold Edition would give you much more to play with.

ArmA 2 is superior to them all.

ARMA wins hands down for me if you have a rig that can run it well. Neither has all that much of a story, it's mainly down to military sim gameplay and they're rock hard compared to normal FPS's as one shot can be the end of you. Graphically ARMA is better, although faces still look creepy. ARMA also has a massive scenario maker that utiliizes both islands and I had great fun with it building my own little scenarios. One I made had a massive air & sea beach invasion on a fortified town where you could play as a soldier riding in a boat or helicopter on the way to the invasion or as a spec ops team which simultaneously drops into another town a little way away to stop a reinforcement convoy and then flank the town to help clear up.

My vote goes to Cold War Assault. I'm a huge fan of the series and I have to say CWA has the most heart and soul out of the three games, while ARMA Gold has the least. CWA's campaigns are a great balance between sim and story, the music is (comparatively) memorable, and every detail puts you into the game, down to the menus which are presented as notebooks and clipboards. ARMA, while better-looking, lacks that heart that CWA has - it feels cold and sanitized; a little too simmy. ARMA 2 (not on GOG) goes a long way towards capturing the original's feeling, though, and there's a 100% free version at www.arma2.com/free.

Recommended graphical updates for CWA: GRAA unit replacement, laumax skies, mr burns AEC islands

My first solution! Whee!