Recommend the best single-player FPS military game for the PC

[MillCreek]

So I received a $ 50 gift card, and I am pondering buying a contemporary FPS military game for the PC. I want one with a robust single-player capability.  I don't want to get into the co-op gameplay over the Net; I don't have time for that.  Just a good FPS game that I can sit and play for 30 minutes or so at a session.

Any suggestions?  Cost is not important. I would be running this on a Vista 64 bit premium desktop bought last year, so it is fairly robust.

[Fitz]

I'm not sure about the new ones, but the first two call of duty games had EXCELLENT single player campaigns.

[Sindawe]

While the release is a bit dated, the Brothers in Arms games are IMAO the best single-player FPS games on the market.  The second game Earned in Blood when combined with Rendroc's Command Mod beats all others hands down for single player gameplay and intensity.  Earned in Blood requires a bit of work to get running on x64 Vista, but can be done and the rewards are worth the effort.

The most recent release Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway should still be generally available and is visually stunning; has an engauging storyline and is tough enough to be no easy task to finish.

In a more contemporary setting, Full Spectrum Warrior is the way to go. Can be had for less than $10 on the discount racks, or free download.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

Any of the CODs - Black Ops, Modern Warfare 1 & 2. Medal of Honor is very good, too.

[Nightfall]

Consider ARMA II: Combined Operations.

You give up the polish and accessability of COD for unrivaled scope & freedom. Leans more toward a sim than a game, IMHO. You'll have to deal with bullet drop at long ranges, one or two hits drops you, etc. Requires a willingness to tweak the graphical settings a bit for a good experience (and for goodness sake, turn off mouse smoothing!). Try out the demos for ARMA 2 and it's stand alone expansion, Operation Arrowhead, to see if it remotely interests you. Though be warned that the demos have not been updated as the games have, so current performance in several areas is noticeably better in the actual games.

Not for everyone, but unmatched if it's your kind of thing. Oh, and it can be played 1st or 3rd person.

[MechAg94]

It has been awhile since I played it, but Medal of Honor is good.  I didn't care for COD much, but it had the Russian weapons which was cool.

[Boomhauer]

Operation Flashpoint and it's children ARMA and ARMA II, plus all the related expansions of each. It is a pretty unique FPS/combat simulator family. Main two things that they are weak in is the aviation parts of the game don't work too well, and AI can be a bit weak in the game (particularly if you are trying to work with AI as part of a tank or helicopter crew). Lots of fun...jacking a T-72 and wreaking havoc behind enemy lines is strangely satisfying...

[HankB]

In addition to those already mentioned, I enjoyed the original Ghost Recon. You can probably find this one - cheap - in the bargain bin somewhere.  (Ghost Recon II: Advanced Warfighter had some gameplay issues that detracted from the experience.)

[MillCreek]

I am downloading the Arma 2 demo now.  I wish, wish, wish that the game sites would say if a given program worked on 64 bit versions of Windows. I have been burned too many times by games that said on the box that they worked with Vista, only to discover they work only on the 32 bit versions.

[Jocassee]

Half Life 2 is the king of all FPS. Has it all--Zombies, Aliens, SHTF. You should be able to get all three episodes for less than 50 on Steam.

[Boomhauer]

Half Life 2 is the king of all FPS. Has it all--Zombies, Aliens, SHTF. You should be able to get all three episodes for less than 50 on Steam.

Half Life 2 is also great fun, for a FPS that is "gate controlled"- i.e, you are limited to where you can go on the map by the mission, until it removes checkpoints/obstacles at the proper time. Great story in HL: 2, too. I tried the original HL, but didn't really care for it as much. How big of a fan am I of the Half Life saga? I don't wear a Gordon Freeman costume, but I did go out and buy a crowbar to keep in my backpack.

What I like about ARMA is that it's an "open map" experience...you can literally go to the other side of the map, or wherever you choose. Want to take the really long way around to infiltrate enemy lines? Go right ahead.

[eyebrows]

A word about ARMA 2, if you go that route get the "Combined Operations" version. Stay away from the stand alone "Operation Arrowhead" as it does not support a majority of mods you'll find on the net. The mods are what make Operation Flashpoint and its ilk(arma) great games.

As a long time OFP fan I was disappointed when I finally replaced my PC and was able to play ARMA 2. Just like OFP you gotta mod the AI and get some things like DAC going so you can have some dynamic battles that are actually fun to make and play. (for me the fun was always in the editor and making my own missions/battles)

[Nightfall]

I am downloading the Arma 2 demo now.  I wish, wish, wish that the game sites would say if a given program worked on 64 bit versions of Windows. I have been burned too many times by games that said on the box that they worked with Vista, only to discover they work only on the 32 bit versions.

I could never get the ARMA 2 demo to work right, but the Operation Arrowhead demo never gave me problems. If you decide you like it, know that I run 64-bit Windows 7, and I've had no trouble running either ARMA 2 or Operation Arrowhead.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

Just Cause 2 is another awesome game. Not a proper FPS, but great, insane fun.

[brimic]

Its an old one, but MOHAA is good single player, The Spearhead expansion is a very good multiplayer game- I've been playing that mostly for the last 6 years or so.

[Cromlech]

Single player?
FPS? (also 3rd person view available)
Military?
PC?

Hidden and Dangerous 1 + 2! 

They're getting on a bit in years now, but I had a lot of fun with them. Pretty much any PC should be able to run them nicely.

Other than that, the CoD games if you can get them at a good price. They are not all that long in singleplayer, especially the more recent Modern Warfare games (5 hours).

[BReilley]

I'll put another one in for ARMA... have not played ARMA 2 but I'm sure you can pick up the first for dirt-cheap - that franchise is kind of "niche", so price dropped quickly.  I got my copy for ten bucks.  Graphics are amazing, gameplay can be tedious *at times* but there are some fantastic moments.  For instance, early in the game you do an early-morning raid on an armor depot.  Using night-vision, racing the sunrise, trying to plant charges before it's bright enough for the opposing soldiers to spot you.

Hidden and Dangerous 1 + 2! 

They're getting on a bit in years now, but I had a lot of fun with them. Pretty much any PC should be able to run them nicely.

Hidden and Dangerous can now be downloaded for free, and runs well, at least on XP(my old version had sound issues under XP).

I suggest Bioshock.  It's ultra-creepy but *beautiful* and pretty deep.  Very good if you're into suspense-type games(I'm usually not), and also cheap.

Those are a few suggestions for now; I will put up a few more later.

[S. Williamson]

I can't find any system requirements for Arma... 

[KD5NRH]

PowerPoint.


Oh, wait, you want to go the enlisted route...nevermind.

[MillCreek]

I am pleased to report that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, runs just fine on a Windows Vista Premium 64 bit machine, and it cost $ 30 at Target.  I downloaded the demo for both Arma and Operation Arrowhead but they did not run.

[KD5NRH]

I can't find any system requirements for Arma... 

If you have to ask, you need a new computer.

[Boomhauer]

I can't find any system requirements for Arma... 

ARMA:
Minimum Specification:*CPU: 2.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor*
RAM: 512 MB*
Graphics card: Nvidia Geforce FX series or ATI Radeon 9500 series or higher (Pixel Shader 2.0)*
HD space: 3 GB (or more as needed for downloadable addons)*
Operating system: Windows XP or Windows 2000

Recommended Specification:
*CPU: 3.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor*
RAM: 1 GB*Graphics card: Nvidia Geforce 6800 series or ATI Radeon X800 series or higher
*HD space: 4 GB (or more as needed for downloadable addons)*
Operating system: Windows XP




ARMA II


Minimum   
CPU   Dual Core (Intel Pentium D 3.0 GHz, Intel Core 2.0 GHz, AMD Athlon 3200+ or faster)   
Memory   1 GB RAM   
Hard drive space   10 GB
Graphics hardware   Nvidia Geforce 7800, ATI Radeon 1800 or faster (with Shader Model 3 and 256 MB VRAM)   

Recommended
Quad Core CPU or Dual Core CPU (Intel Core 2.8 GHz, AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400 + or faster)
2 GB RAM
Hard drive space   10 GB
Nvidia Geforce 8800GT, ATI Radeon 4850 or faster (with Shader Model 3 and 512 MB VRAM)

[Boomhauer]

Bro digging up a two year old thread?

[freakazoid]