When comparing Arma 3 vs Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, the Slant community recommends Arma 3 for most people. In the question“What are the best LAN party PC games?” Arma 3 is ranked 47th while Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege is ranked 58th. The most important reason people chose Arma 3 is:
ARMA 3 is built as a simulation-type game and features rather tactical gameplay with a slow pace. [The developers use real-life military weapons, equipment and vehicles](https://forums.bistudio.com/topic/125727-is-arma-3-authentic/). Even some of the environments in the game are virtually indistinguishable from their real-life counterpart. ARMA 3's gameplay also encompasses more than a regular first person shooter, as military tactics such as water attacks, giving orders to squadmates and drone strikes are necessary in order to successfully complete a mission. Elements such as destruction are extremely important, as certain specific parts of a vehicle can be damaged.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Best in class authenticity
ARMA 3 is built as a simulation-type game and features rather tactical gameplay with a slow pace. The developers use real-life military weapons, equipment and vehicles. Even some of the environments in the game are virtually indistinguishable from their real-life counterpart. ARMA 3's gameplay also encompasses more than a regular first person shooter, as military tactics such as water attacks, giving orders to squadmates and drone strikes are necessary in order to successfully complete a mission. Elements such as destruction are extremely important, as certain specific parts of a vehicle can be damaged.
Pro Huge open maps
As ARMA 3 is an open-world experience, singleplayer missions are not as linear and take place in the same map area as the game's multiplayer mode. There are a couple of different islands to explore in ARMA 3, including Altis which has a size of over 100 square miles (270 km²). Stratis is the smallest island in ARMA but is still respectable in size but 7.7 square miles (20 km²). A new map - Tanoa - is scheduled to be included in the paid Apex Expansion pack, with a size of 38.6 square miles (100 km²).
Pro Huge amount of mods and add-ons available
The modding community of ARMA 3 is quite large, with multiple online communities and free tools provided by Bohemia - the developers of ARMA 3. At the time of writing, there are 115 mods available on ModDB and over 23500 mods in the Steam Workshop.
Pro Steam workshop
So much content on the Steam workshop. You can get 200 GBs of mods in 2 days.
Pro No player limit in multiplayer games
ARMA 3 doesn't impose restrictions on its servers, allowing for a true sandbox experience with a large population. Battles can be fought with hundreds or even thousands of players; multiplayer warfare is definitely large-scale.
Pro Long single-player campaign
The average playtime for the single-player campaign (referred to as 'Main Story) of ARMA 3 clocks in at just under 20 hours, while a 100% complete playthough of the campaign averages 39 hours of playtime.
Pro Underwater gameplay
ARMA 3 features underwater gameplay with diving gear and underwater weapons. Underwater gameplay is noticeably different, because it uses a third movement axis.
Pro Great variety of playable classes
You can choose from 10 characters on each side (total of 20) to find the ones that suit your preference, or to explore new, unfamiliar aspects of the gameplay.
As an example, there is Sledge who uses a hammer to break through walls, Flash who can blind the enemy with flash bombs, and Frost who can set up traps to neutralize enemies.
Having such a wide variety of classes not only adds depth to the gameplay, but also keeps it interesting for a long time.
Pro Excellent slow-paced gameplay
Rainbow Six Siege is unlike most modern FPS games. Instead of a super fast, twitch-based gameplay, it focuses on a very slow, methodical, and tactical approach to combat. You'll carefully navigate a building, peeking around every corner, using gadgets to scout out rooms, rappelling on walls, and listening to every sound around you. It's less about just shooting first and more about finding the enemy while staying hidden yourself, which is a refreshing change in the over saturated competitive FPS genre.
Pro Destructible environments make for a lot of fun
Even though you can't raze buildings to the ground, you can make considerable amounts of structural damage to them. You can destroy walls, floors, and various other objects in the environment using gunfire, explosions, or by just slamming something with your weapon. This is a lot of fun, especially when you're new to this game since everything will seem so amazing.
Pro Rival teams have unique objectives and strategies
Rainbow Six Siege makes players' experience truly unique and engaging by giving both teams different perspective, tools, and objectives. Defenders have to hold their ground against enemy who can burst through walls at any moment. They can fortify the base using barricades and barbed wire, reinforcing doors and windows. The Attackers have to strategize, find the weakest spot in opponent's defence.
Cons
Con Controls are unique and can be a barrier
It's not as simple as ctrl for crouch. While many tactical shooters use a similar s=control scheme, ARMA takes a sharp departure from the norm. This is part of what enables it to have far more robust/tactical movement.
Con Steep learning curve
The tactical aspect of ARMA 3 is also portrayed in the somewhat difficult controls and steep learning curve of the game. For example, a lot of different buttons and keystrokes have to be remembered for all the different commands, equipment options and vehicle controls. There is no in-game tutorial, the only way to learn how the game works in by trial and error, a field guide or by using in-game hints. Tactical elements and strategies aren't explained in the game.
Con Framerate isn't consistent
ARMA suffers from some framerate issues, with very variable results in both single- and multiplayer situations. Often the game will perform well in multiplayer, while dropping down to a severely worse framerate in a single player mission. Similar problems occur vice versa as well, which results in a very inconsistent framerate.
Con Hard to set up missions
Con Ranked play can be discouraging
Not only does Rainbow Six Siege have a very steep learning curve, requiring you to learn map layouts, classes, weapons, and various gadgets, it also has a pretty volatile and demanding community. Even though you can play in ranked matches when you reach level 20, you'll probably get your butt kicked and get promptly flamed by your teammates. This is mostly because of the expectation that you should know everything about the game before you play ranked matches, which is only around the level 60 mark. If you happen to make the mistake of trying them before then, it might leave you with a bad memory that prevents you from wanting to try ranked play again.
Con Lacks single-player content
Rainbow Six Siege is mostly about competitive multiplayer, so it doesn't have a single player campaign, any meaningful storylines, or stuff do alone. If you don't enjoy playing versus other players, Rainbow Six Siege is not the game for you.