Featuring the most realistic warfare ever, ArmA II promises to build on the excellent features that have made Bohemia Interactive a respected name among gamers. Players can expect in-depth team-based combat, a comprehensive playbook of military tactics and an enormous battlefield to push strategy to the limit.

ArmA II benefits from a 3rd generation game engine that has been in constant development for 10 years; no other developer can offer such a great heritage in creating open-world military shooters. The Bohemia engine has been recognised as a benchmark in producing realistic warfare simulations to such an extent that the developer has used its Real Virtuality engine as the basis for training simulators used by armies across the globe, including the United States Marine Corps, UK Ministry of Defence and Australian Defence Force.

This experience is also helping Bohemia Interactive to craft an incredibly detailed storyline, full of political intrigue and plot twists, which blurs the boundaries between fact and fiction. Set in the near future in a fictional post-Soviet country called Chernarus, players take on the role of a United States Marine Corps Force Recon squad, who are called to the country as a peacekeeping force to prevent further civilian casualties and ensure ongoing stability.

North-Eastern Chernarus is a hilly area with rocky coastlines; the tallest hilltops reach more than 700 m above sea level, covered with temperate forests and is still relatively untouched from logging and mining. The biggest cities and industry are concentrated on the southern coast. There are mostly smaller villages inland, situated in deep valleys, hidden in forested ridges or on elevated plateaus with lush meadows.

The word 'Arma' is Latin in origin; a multifaceted word that depending on context can be used to mean defensive arms, shields, soldiers or weapons of war amongst others. The reasons for the team at Bohemia choosing such an ancient and unconventional word are two-fold; to have a name that is easily remembered and pronounced across different languages and to signify that just like the name itself, ArmA II's gameplay is boldly different and not afraid to deviate from tried and tested shooter formulae.

When creating a name for their flagship product, Marek and the rest of Bohemia Interactive were equally keen to avoid videogame name clichés of the past and walk their own line.

"[When naming the title] it felt like almost everyone preferred something along the lines of Battleshock Operation Force 3: Thunderstorm Troops over a simple and strong word, with a strong foundation behind it," commented Marek. "Choosing the right name had been a big deal for us, but ultimately we know the quality of this game will speak for itself."

ARMA II consists of 225 square kilometers of highly detailed sandbox landscape, modeled with stunning precision and detail, using real-world geographical data of the Ceske Stredohori mountains; a picturesque, volcanic area situated in the northern part of the Czech Republic (GPS location for reference: 50°42'6.477"N, 14°7'55.217"E). Covered by 235 megapixels of open, accurate, aerial mapping (15.3602 pixels), 350 km of roads, more than 50 cities and villages and over 1 million world objects, ARMA II is a true masterpiece of environment creation, never before seen in a tactical military simulator or first person military shooter.

ARMA II benefits from an internal realism based vegetation system called LINDA, capable of generating realistic vegetation both for massive real-time as well as offline rendering. LINDA generates vegetation based on real biological processes including its development over a period of time.

Key Features :

• A whole new chapter in the ArmA franchise with new characters and an in-depth story
• Unlike most war simulations, ArmA II focuses on team play – including co-operative play, the ability to switch between team members and dramatic moments when you must give first aid to team mates
• Improved AI for team mates and enemies, now they use cover, hide and work better as a unit
• Dynamic conversations and events that shape the storyline
• Incredibly realistic game engine that’s been used by the military for combat simulations
• Comprehensive online multiplayer modes
• An extremely strong modding community among the ArmA II fans

Minimum System Requirements:

• Windows XP / Vista
• Dual-Core CPU
• 512 MB Ram
• Graphics card with 256 MB-VRam and Shader Model 3.0 support

Recommended System Requirements

• Windows XP / Vista
• Quad-Core CPU
• 1 GB Ram
• Graphics card with 512 MB-VRam and Shader Model 3.0 support

505 Games' ArmA II, developed by Bohemia Interactive, is scheduled for release on PC June 26, 2009, and yet unspecified console(s).