What do you mean novelty answer? This is as close as you'll get. Yes, there is no call of duty game you have to spend 6 days in between missions sitting on a duffel bag in a gravel lot waiting for an NCO to tell you to go inside
Sit in a room and don't leave it for 3 hours. Find a cup and something to throw into it. You now have the classic game of throw things in cups.
Once you mastered this and stop asking "What are we even waiting for" you're ready for promotion. Congrats
Or
Object: (should exist in this exact spot)
Chief: no one is going home until this object is found and put In its correct spot
Sailors after 3-4 hours of searching an aircraft carrier for object: Chief….Bosun said you checked it out to another department yesterday……they lost it.
Damn, that's nostalgic lmao. I remember calling my uncle (he introduced me to CoD) as a kid, telling him all about this, because I of course assumed it was real lol. He was probably confused where I had heard all of these weird "leaks", but played along.
Based on every marine I've known it would be Deep Rock Galactic, except you just stay at the bar in the hub world the entire time and occasionally get sent to the med bay
You might try Escape from Tarkov, then go offline with the modding community. You won't spend time with your buddies in a base, but you do have a "hideout" to buildout, trades and quests, and enough gravy seal action to last hundreds of hours. Otherwise try Gray Zone Warfare as it has a "base like" mechanic where you can just hang out and voip.
I recently played the first ARMA, and it felt a bit old-school, but it was a fun experience. Does the second and third game feel a bit more polished and modern?
Well, I had to restart a mission in the first game because an enemy tank that was supposed to cross a bridge ended up flipping upside down because the commander thought it would be a good idea to try and climb a mountain instead of sticking to his programming. I also had an alarm go off in a base over and over and over again without enemies showing up, and when they finally did, it was one guy crawling on the ground, surrounded by my squad mates who didn't even try to shoot him. Does that stuff happen a lot in the sequels?
Arma 3 can be incredible but you practically need a PHD to get it off the ground. My arma mod folder was about as big as the game and we had an awesome and extremely realistic server going with an AI enemy commander moving the opps around realistically.
Once you get there you need like at least one other person to play it with for it to be very fun IMO.
So Arma 3 is an awesome mil-sim but is about the farthest you can get from casual/plug and play.
I haven’t played too much of the third installment but I know the AI in the second is not great. People mostly play in online rp servers from my understanding.
I'll say gameplay wise, reforger is the most polished one and ofc the newest.
Much more demanding.
The second one is my favorite (not sure why) but it have its flaws and did age quit well if you ask me.
You're looking for Arma 3 Invade & Annex multi-player. Be ready to just sit around for a while.
There's white-list servers and public servers. And each has its own variables.
**Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain** has you playing as a special ops soldier doing various operations in Afghanistan and Congo. You're also controlling a mercenary military base, where you can talk to your operatives and even get recruits. It has light supernatural concepts and can get action-oriented at times, but remains grounded in most gameplay scenarios.
**ARMA** is a simulator that does its best to make you a soldier. It's not as fun as games, though, it really aims for realism to a fault. Might feel a bit slow.
**Foxhole** simulates a battlefront between two factions. Some players run around as soldiers, some play as drivers in supply lines, others try building working train tracks. If you don't mind the top-down camera, it's a lot more involved than a typical soldiers game. PvP only.
**Stalker** is a simulator of scavenging around a large, closed off area, kind-of as a lone soldier. There are many organized factions there, from different military outfits to gangs of bandits, with their own bases and interests. They also often fight among themselves. It has a lot of quiet moments, places to sit down and talk with NPCs, as well as a good story. Combat is slow and semi-realistic, as bullets are deadly. A new entry is coming around the end of the year. **Metro** is similar, but more of an action shooter.
**Death Stranding** is my wildcard suggestion. It involves a lot of realistic travel as you try to deliver supplies between different bases in a wasteland. It has combat, but you aren't really a soldier and guns aren't that easily available. Despite that, it might be worth checking out.
Not OP, but I left Foxhole years ago. Felt like a game where only the veterans have fun as they tend to gatekeep the cool stuff from newbies. My favorite role though was logistics driver. I took important war materiel from the backlines to the front.
Again, because unless you're in a squad and buddies with someone relatively high rank, you can't do the cool stuff. I pretty much just borrow a truck lying around and deliver whatever is needed to the front. After I'm done, I leave the truck unlocked somewhere safe and with a tank full of gas.
Last time I checked they had problems with alts sabotaging either side.
That’s a shame. I hear there’s very little moderation too.
The game has lingered in my Wishlist for a while so maybe I’ll grab it one day, but I cbf with gatekeeper-y players when I’m just learning.
I managed to get my head around Hell Let Loose and enjoyed it but that’s another game with a similar player base unfortunately, and it seems now they’re even less patient that the GamePass players can cross-play with Steam users haha.
Lol I also quit Hell Let Loose! It was fun, honestly, my main was the machinegun. But goodluck getting the sniper role or being in a tank when you're not buddies with the server owner or the clan that owns it. You could probably play those during downtimes where there's only like 50 players on that server, but where's the fun in that.
There's also this graphical exploit where players turn down their graphics to remove environmental obstacles. So, for example, you're crawling in the middle of a field of tall grass. If your enemy has lowered graphics, they literally don't see the tall grass. You're just a dumbass crawling in the middle of nowhere and get immediately shot. Lame.
You just need to be willing to join a Regiment (Clan/Guild) and play in their style as you learn about the game. If that Regiment doesn't work for you, keep looking until you find a good fit. Most MMOs require joining a guild to progress end-game content, so I don't know why people expect Foxhole to be different.
As for gatekeeping, there is a lot of experience required for keeping a battle tank (second largest tank class in the game) or battleship (largest ship in the game) alive, and those represent hundreds of hours of player time to build, so of course no one is going to let a brand new player hop in one. As a new player, you can still typically find medium tanks to take out for free, especially mid to late war.
Any player can do anything in the game, including building a facility to build their own battle tank. It just takes a ton of time/grinding, which is why you need to be in a regiment.
I honestly think not. It would be an extremely boring game that i think wouldnt sell. From experience, youll spend most of your time doing one of two schedules.
1) wake up, gym, chow, shower, walking sim for 8-10hrs, shower, chow, video game/spades/board games, call your girl friend on whatsapp, sleep...a couple time in a year span you might have fun.
2) be bored out of your mind for a year straight
I honestly think it could work if you skipped the most tedious and repetitive stuff. I guess what I'm really looking for is a war game where you get to chill out once in a while and actually get to know your squad. Random no-name faces fighting by your side mean nothing to me. I feel nothing when they die, because some other randomly generated soldier will replace them.
Thats one thing thats hard to convey in a game. I mean, my mates....weve slept together, froze together, sweat together, bleed together, showered together, we did everything together for years. You had people you loved and people you hated. But still its hard to condense that to 8hrs.
But yeah, deployments early on were crazy. Then it just turned into coin ops...so walking sim
Then later years were just hanging out in a tent for a year.
Mass Effect does a great job of establishing bonds between characters. It's three full games, each clocking in at anything between 30 to 60+ hours. You spend a ton of time on the protagonist's warship, just talking and getting to know your crew and squad. By the end of the third game you know those guys inside and out. I'd definitely give the Shepard trilogy a go if you're into sci-fi. It's Star Wars, Star Trek and Gears Of War combined.
ITS UNPROFESSIONAL *literally drools into a cup*
Also, dont forget having to do all those mandatory quarterly online trainings at the same time as everyone else on base, and they only work on internet explorer from like 2002. And theres only 6 computers in the library
Metal Gear Solid Phantom Pain for single player, like they’ve said. No one is soulless.
Multiplayer? Try Helldivers 2.
And for what others have said: the real military experience is excruciatingly boring 99% of the time, and “biggest event of your life” 1% of the time.
Boredom is the most dangerous thing in the US Military.
If that’s your criteria, getting to know people and caring when they die… then you absolutely have to play DayZ. More of a post apocalypse sim than a soldier sim, but it’s the only game where you can meet a random person in voice chat, go on hours long adventures with them, and then watch them die after you let your guard down for a bit having not seen or heard anyone in hours. That moment of silence following their death is haunting in the best way possible. It sinks in like holy shit, I just watched my friend die and I will never see them again. That is of course as long as you only stick to game chat and not exchange discords.
This game truly is second to none in so many ways, but the struggle to survive and the such high stakes of death make it a standout. I think you’d really enjoy it based on this and other comments you’ve made throughout this thread.
There’s a bit of a learning curve but just starting out and not having a clue is really an incredible experience.
Literally every ARMA campaign is like this to some extent, with briefings and ruck marches included. I'd say ARMA 3 should mostly satisfy this desire, since it has extended sections at basecamp.
Down time in the military eh.
Take those things, carry them over there.
Wash that.
Clean this.
Fix that.
Sit there and don't say a fuckin' word.
As a game dev now who was in the military, I wasn't aware there was a demand. I'll get started.
Half-Life begins with a long train trip just to get to work, and when you get there you have to do some menial tasks before the main story begins. I just love little details like that. Makes me feel like more than just a floating gun running down a shooting range, you know?
I'm in the same boat, race you to release.
I need you to take these two 10 gallon water jugs to Motor Pool.
After a Mile walk to Motor Pool: we don't need these, take them back.
🙃 Roja Sarnt 🫡
Metro Exodus might be a decent stand-in. You have lots of opportunities for optional interactions with your comrades and can chill with them for quite a while. The levels are semi-open world so you can choose when to come or go from camp and can also meet up with them at various posts around the map.
Edit: I would absolutely recommend starting with the first two games before moving to Exodus. I only listed Exodus bc I think it best fits OP’s criteria
is Metro Exodus good to play without playing the previous games? I played a bit of the beginning and had fun with the gameplay itself but the characters seemed to be referencing things that had happened in previous games (I think?), especially in regards to the main character's previous accomplishments and I felt a little out of place not knowing the full context
I would definitely start with the first game. They’re not very long and they’re probably my favorite story-based FPS (or just story-based games in general)
The only reason I listed Exodus instead of the whole trilogy is that I don’t think the first 2 match OP’s criteria as well as Exodus does
As others have mentioned, Squad and Hell Let Loose are multiplayer FPS games that align with what you describe. You'll end up joining a squad of teammates where you fulfill a role (gunner, medic, etc)
The gameplay gives A LOT of downtime as your squad/team travels across the big map, builds bases, construct defenses, make supply runs, etc. Almost everyone is running a mic for communication and some of the best moments in the game stem from just shooting the shit with your teammates.
Also, when you get a GOOD squad leader who communicates and knows what they are doing, it can be one one of the best gaming experiences still out there. The effectiveness that 1 squad can have with good comms is insane. Very rewarding.
Have never played Squad, but Hell Let Loose ticks *some* of the boxes while being a fantastic game. While there isn't really a downtime and you won't really "feel bad when they get shot" because they'll be back up within a minute, you can certainly play a logistics style gameplay, driving supplies to the front line with a passenger or play as an engineer building up defenses while talking shit with your fellow engineers.
Where the game really shines is its voice chat. You can chat, strategize, complain, joke and RP within proximity, your squad, or command chat
I would also argue that when you're holding down a trench for sometimes hours with voice comms it starts to feel a lot like war, you get to know your squad mates, celebrate the good, hear randoms scream for help as their character dies. It's a wonderful social experience, as well as being a great game. I think hell let loose is a good stand in as well for more fps oriented gameplay but there's nothing quite like foxhole.
I literally almost made this same post over the weekend. Currently rewatching Band of Brothers and want something that captures the life of a soldier in all regards, not just battle after battle. I want a game where I get assigned to watch a line and may have activity but maybe not - not a guaranteed shooting gallery every mission. Where I have to act as a runner into enemy territory and deliver a message, or go on a recon patrol. Not “Rush to A and shoot everything that moves”.
The only ones I have found (but admittedly have yet to try) is All Quiet in the Trenches and Invasion Machine. All Quiet in the Trenches seems like a management game that had you balancing the needs of your men with the orders of your higher ups. Invasion Machine is more modern setting and looks like it had a lot of potential, but may be abandoned due to solo devs health problems.
In my weekend search I found Brother’s In Arms: Hells Highway and think that could fit as well? Older game I missed when it was first released and need to do more research but it mentions going on patrols and being at CP so here’s hoping it could work.
There's perhaps some of this in [E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy](https://store.steampowered.com/app/91700/EYE_Divine_Cybermancy/), although it's more simulating being a WH40k space marine with the serial numbers filed off as opposed to a generic soldier.
Although, you don't really have a squad per se.
Stalker Anomaly (and GAMMA which requires a PhD to install), if you play Warfare Mode you get missions to go out and take territories. On downtime you're either stressing over maintaining your guns until your brain explodes, scavenging for crafting stuff, grab a smoke with the comrades by the fire as someone plays a guitar, go out hunting and get your ankle chewed on by a blind dog, or taking up sniping positions and guard your base (which is 95% boredom and 5% HOLY SHIT THERE'S LIKE 50 OF THEM). You also get assigned to go out and kill certain individuals (assassinations, if you will) only to come back and the person who gave you the contract is shot dead so now you're 300 rounds down, broke, and ain't getting paid (just like the real military!). If you feeling really ambitious then follow the story which involves a lot of radiation and dying. Also the game is free, just need a decent rig.
Another is HBS's Battletech or Roguetech mod. You control a mercenary outfit and do war crimes for the highest bidder for a living. On your down time you fix and modify your Battlemechs and vehicles, actually resolve frictions between your employees, upgrading your ships, negotiating contracts, etc... Another similar game is Wartale, but I don't have that much playtime to conclude anything.
Six Days in Fallujah is def the route the go if you are looking for a superior realistic military sim. This game is based on a Marine who partook in the battle and recreates true stories from the Second Battle for Fallujah. It’s not easy, as is the same with war. Helluva game IMO.
For multiplayer I'd recommend Squad, you will have to build up fortifications, hesco bunkers and drive truck for supplies, but there are plenty of shooting and swearing and other bullshittery going on, a really fun experience. But be warned that it's a game where your experience will heavily rely on people that you'll end up playing with, but this game is also immersive as fuck, every firefight feels like a PTSD inducing scene from a brutal war movie.
For single player, Arma 3 is still good option, there are plenty of campaigns in there. If you don't mind graphics that are dated, then Operation Flashpoint original series of games might be for you, you literally play as a private in the first game, you do basic missions, patrols and whatnots, something pretty boring but eventually a conflict erupts and you are a part of it, slow burner type of game but like I've said it's pretty dated.
The cool thing about flashpoint (especially operation flashpoint resistance) and Arma 3 is that you will have these islands of calm where you can get briefed, hang around at the camp/base and choose side missions before you opt to go for main mission. For example you can be tasked to sneak into an enemy military base and sabotage a tank or other armored vehicles in the middle of the night, and if you do that youll end up having less tanks to worry about once the main mission starts. Or you can choose to do weapon smuggle missions, which would result in better gear that you can equip yourself or give some to your squad members.
Hidden and Dangerous 2 was a truly low key gem that can easily be overlooked due to its average aesthetics and generic military sim. However, it is unique in that it’s the rare WW2 shooter with Rainbow Six style squad controls. Not military life per say but very believable squad based stealth approach military simulator that allows for pretty open freedom :)
Not exactly a “soldier” game or realistic, but Perfect Dark allowed you to knock about the Carrington institute between missions, do training in the firing range etc.
Maybe not exactly it but the CoD Infinite Warfare campaign has downtime inbetween missions where you can walk around your ship, speak with crewmembers, check out your fighter, watch news reports of recent events, and choose which main/side mission you embark on next. Very solid single player that a lot of people overlooked and didn't play.
aside from the real life boredom, Aliens Dark Descent. you'll care about your team. you \*don't\* want to your teammates to die or get PTSD. But they will. oh yes they will.
The division (1 and/or 2)
Ghost Recon Breakpoint (you take your own brakes at camp or at base OR you take a slow hike with your team and enjoy the view.)
Ghost Recon Wildlands (but breakpoint is better in many ways but some)
Buy a treadmill and a big backpack. The closest thing you can get 😂 play a soundtrack of an officer shouting at you as you play the walking simulator and you are set
Wolfenstein the New Order has you spending some downtime in the resistance base, I guess.
If we're doing dark horse recs, maybe something like **BATTLETECH** (the PC game, not the tabletop game) that has you making administrative decisions about how to keep your space PMC solvent.
But some tabletop games do a good job with this! Armor Astir Advent is a game about magical giant robots and the irregular soldiers piloting them, and heavily inspired by Mobile Suit Gundam, Vision of Escaflowne, and stuff like that. There is an entire codified phase of the game for downtime between sorties, where you bond with the crew, try to process your increasingly manifold traumas, or do groundwork for the next mission.
Vietcong 1
You chill in your barracks in between missions listening to the radio and reading stuff like Intel, debriefing, a handbook and your journal that gets new entries after every mission.
You can also go to the firing range.
Many missions have your squad and yourself silently patrolling the jungle looking for the enemy.
Great game if you can get over it being 21 years old.
You mentioned wanting something more modern feeling than Arma, Squad is a great milsim, much faster pace and you work with a squad of other people in game.
Not out yet but Trench Tales looks promising
[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/trenchtales/trench-tales/](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/trenchtales/trench-tales/)
The operation flashpoint games are a bit old but they are still my favourite open world military games
A more modern answer would be ready or not/Insurgency sandstorm
The old WWllOnline used to be like that if playing with the right clan/squad.
In between many awesome experiences playing it, I remember once expending a whole real time night on duty guarding an advanced camp along other squad members by requirement of the HQ. We chatted about life while patrolling the area walking, scouting for enemies that never came. We didn’t shoot a single shoot in like 8 hours but I still remember that night as one of my best and more realistic ever game sessions. The fear, the friendship, the feeling of being on duty with the life (virtual) of others depending on you… we all became good friends and ended meeting in real life a few times after that.
For what I have read, Hell let lose could be a similar experience with the right people but at my 49 I’m too old now to be able to join a role playing squad and be able to commit that much time to a game as used to do 20 years ago.
Closest you'll get is making friends in ARMA or Squad or some kinda multiplayer military shooter where you can actually get to know your teammates and work cooperatively towards objectives. Any single player military game is going to be Call of Duty style cinematic campaign. Maybe the Brothers in Arms games might work?
Im not horribly familiar with these in particular. My husband and our friends are a bit. From what I’ve seen? Stalker anomaly? apparently. Maybe Tarkov? I dunno. Tarkov gives me palpitations lol
I played Ready or Not. It's kinda like what you're looking for, but you're an HRT team leader. It's got high stakes room to room cqb, pretty realistic. You can manage you and your team loadouts for ops down to the pound. You hire, fire, and manage the mental health of your team between missions. Multi-player is supposed to be good but I haven't tried it yet.
Foxhole could scratch your itch? Its a persistent world, where you dont have to be a soldier. You can manage factories, mine resources, take care of logistics (boat, truck, train), build forts or just do whatever!
My favorite thing we did with my friend was partisaning; where you would take little resources, and get yourself by a small boat near a road that connected logistical centres and the frontline. Then you just dig a trench and wreak havoc
I haven't played a lot of the games mentioned here, but I can vouch for MGS5 getting you at least part of the way there. You can go back to your base and wander around, along with having administrative control. Downtime is not all that interactive, unfortunately. The gameplay is amazing overall, however, and really makes you feel like you're Big Boss building up your own independent army.
Honestly The Division (I and II) gave me those vibes when you could hang at safe houses with other people, and at base, etc, before going into missions.
The division is pretty much what you’re describing. You play as an agent tasked with working to rebuild civilization. It’s a 3rd person cover based shooter, it’s pretty grounded and you’re constantly going on missions.
Escape from tarkov has the most immersive and realistic fps experience but it’s going through a bit of a moment right now. Not sure how recommendable it is in its current state but take a look.
this isnt really fully a "shooter", but have you looked at valkyria chronicles? its technically a turn based strategy but the way the combat works (very rough description incoming) has you actually moving the soldiers yourself within a set amount of movement, having to perform your turn optimally to avoid enemy fire as you move around the battlefield, and you have to be the one to take the aim yourself. additionally the game is about half gameplay and half cutscene, with lots of side content where your soldiers interact with each other and bond and such. might not really fit what you're looking for but been playing it recently and thought id throw it out there
Ghost recon breakpoint might fit the bill. Read a recent review or watch on YouTube. It started out rough but it now has so many great options to play just how you want to play. And, it has a lot of downtime, cutscenes and dialog if you want to immerse yourself. There’s a base where you can chill and see other players and talk to NPCs.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint is the best military power-fantasy any game can offer. With its immersion settings, the game is transformed, and if you're willing to engage in a bit of roleplay, the experience is stellar.
Arma Reforger is an amazing and deep militar simulator(-ish), while also being an accessible and a polished version of all its predecessors. The servers that mimic the war in Ukraine are amazing, and the experiences you'll live through will be unforgettable. THIS, is the peak of military life simulation.
Ready or Not. Not about soldiers, but if you're willing to roleplay a bit, it's a pretty convincing tactical shooter with a decent management and preparations for tasks in between all the missions.
Also have to put here the first Ghost Recon. For some maybe outdated, but in MANY ways it's still unrivaled. Rocket launchers have a backblast... Need I say more?
Sniper Elite 5 is a pretty solid third person milsim lite. You begin each mission at a form up point or observation post with your comrades where you can assign your equipment, have a chat with the mission stakeholders and get a briefing or some Intel. The pre-mission areas aren't expansive, but it does sell the narrative that the characters have been in place for a while.
Also call of duty black ops 5 had a safe house hub that let you chill with your comrades and research story lore and Intel between missions.
Helldivers a little bit. You can chill in your ship in between missions. Although there’s not a lot to do in your ship apart from stand around or upgrade your gear.
Why do you want to spend 90% of your playthrough doing paperwork, cleaning, working out, standing at a random spot guarding something, and redoing the paperwork because you either forgot to sign block A, or because the kids in the office lost it?
And I didn't get to your actual job yet which only 20% of which would be engaged in direct combat? (Not 100% on that figure) I work behind a desk all day, for example.
Now if you want, an RPG, that is about a deployed troop, I do have a few recommendations but they're not what you're looking for.
1. Sid Miers: Pirates! Is an RPG where you're in command of a 17th century ship in the carribean, if you choose to be a merchant, pirate, navy vessel, smuggler or whatever is up to you. There is quite a few elements that would encapsulate the feel of being a CO (I would assume) from deciding where to go, who to attack, resource management and politics with both troops morale and seniors above you, but it's Navy and 400 years off from what you're requesting.
2. Skyrim and Way of the Samurai 3, are both RPGs. I have to assume you know Skyrim and WotS3 is what it sounds like. Both give you the opportunity to join one of either army, hang out in camp, and go on combat missions.
3. Any party based RPG such as knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire of BG3 would theoretically give you that same vibe of going on missions with downtime in camp. But again they aren't necessarily military in nature. Mass effect is probably the closest?
4. Any story intensive shooter like Halo, Call of Duty or medal of honor should at least give you an idea of the brothers in arms vibe you might be looking for, but you're not going to get much time in camp. Halo Reach, CoD Big Red One and Medal of Honor Rising Sun I feel like have pretty good stories that focus on more than just the main character.
Black one blood brothers
Made by the OG devs of ghost recon. Have a 9 man squad plus a dog on your mission
Operation flashpoint dragon rising
Basically the OG arma before arma but alittle more simple. Really cool game
Combat mission black sea military sim RTS
Give vibes of OG ghost recon but has a campaign where you dont get to have vehicles of solderies respawn.
If you’re familiar with Garry’s Mod at all, there are military RP servers that kinda have what you’re looking for, though they can be a little scuffed. I’m not super familiar with them, but from what I do know there’s plenty of downtime interspersed with training, events, etc.
I think sniper elite might be in the vein you’re looking for. You’re still going mission to mission but it’s technically the same mission just broken up into parts. Not all missions but some start you off in a camp like setting where you can load up and talk for intel on the local area. 4 specifically has a camp toward then end you can hang out in for a night and 5 has one where you pull up to a lil 3-4 person camp and they give you intel on the local area( if you walk away mid speech the guy will call you out for being rude )
It’s not day to day but it shows that Karl isn’t just the best sniper Britain has ever had, he’s also just a dude like anyone else.
Deep rock galactic. It’s a indie title and you’re not a solider or even a human for that matter. You are a dwarf, you work for a mining company, and the missions are simply you doing your job. It just so happens your job takes place on one of the most hostile planets in existence. You will violate the Geneva convention nearly every mission. As a driller your starter weapons are a napalm-thrower, a nice lil pistol, some throwing axes, a pair of hand drills, and c4 that once upgraded becomes a mini nuke….. not to mention the actual nuclear bombs the engineer gets. In between missions you can kick back with your fellow co-workers for a few drinks, dancing, and maybe even a game of soccer all in the launch bay. You fight bugs and living plants and sometimes robots, and sometimes even a fellow dwarf.
It’s a great little game that just got its biggest update ever on pc and it comes out at the end of the month for console.
Ghost recon breakpoint maybe? There is a base but there’s not much to do there, however if you pay attention to the quest a lot of the side quests are you doing stuff for the base like gathering supplies or eliminating soldiers who may be close to discovering the base’s location. You’ll have to use your imagination a bit because from a gameplay point of view you are just going mission to mission. As someone with over 500 hours in it, it’s good but to get what your wanting out of it I’d suggest playing without gear score and tweak the settings to your liking- you can really dial in your personal experience to be truly personal.
This last one is a reach but hear me out….. shadow of war. Are you a soldier? Kinda. Can you do normal soldier things? No, but you are the commander and can do commander things. You can order your captains to go hunting or go gather wild beast or go assassinate/ infiltrate an enemy captain. When you walk through your fort you’ll see your soldiers doing solider stuff like drinking or sharpening there weapons or casually torturing the captured enemy soldiers.
Did I mention that your a dude using ghost powers to quasi brainwash orks? That’s important your soldiers are orks, the enemy is also orks…. But they can be made your orks.
It’s fun, I dunno if it’s exactly what you’d want but it IS a game where your dude was a ranger for the black gate of Mordor ( so he’s kinda like ODST to a normal space marine from halo ) and now is waging wars. You have soldiers who you can observe going around the base living life and your captains will even make comments when they see you. I’ve got over 2,000 hours in that game and I still just love walking the streets of my own base seeing everyone as happy as orks can be. And I love it even more when i go to take over a fortress and bend the old commander to my will.
Deep rock galactic is probably the closest to what your looking for as its the only game with dedicated mechanics for drinking beer and dancing n stuff, meanwhile everything else you’ll have to use your imagination with to some degree. If your on pc I know you probably have better options too.
P.S: project zomboid. I use to play it on pc back in the day and it’s absolutely the most in depth zombie survival game I’ve played. If you can’t find something to scratch that itch as a solider this game is exactly what your wanting but for zombies instead of soldiers. You can even fine tune it so you can control how long clean running water last and electricity, how the zombies act and even how the virus spreads. You want 28 weeks later? You want classic George Romero? You got em and anything in between. You could play as a solider who got lost in Louisville during the initial panic or something along those lines.
Just food for thought m8
PVP= Squad.
90% of the time i get really chill dudes or make a buddy through a session.
There are multiple modes but it’s about coordinating with a huge team to build up FOBs as you slowly gain objectives away from the enemy. My opinion, best mix of sim and actual fun gameplay
Not going to fully recommend it yet, but if they keep updating it, 6 days in falllujah. Worth watching a few videos first before supporting the EA state of it right now.
Story/singleplayer:
MGSV, i saw someone else recommended it earlier. Just adding that it’s still my favorite sandbox game period. You can handle most missions quite literally however the fuck you want. Wanna be a sniper assassin? Go ahead!
Want to be stealthy and extract pows to be tortured and interrogated back home? Go ahead! Get’s a little scifi-fantasty at times during story moments, but it tries to ground itself in a pretty decent pseudo-history world not that far off from our own.
A bit more arcadey, but sniper elite 2-4 are pretty decent, with i believe 4 being the first to push the open sandbox levels a bit more then prior. (My buddies say 5 ended up being a bit of a step down from 4 but i’m just spreading rumors at this point)
Metro series is ok, the story and themes are pretty nice but it is closer to a thriller call of duty with mutated radiation creatures if that sounds up your alley.
Other than that, COD campaigns are just action movies but there are a few that stand out from the rest:
Black ops 1-2 (peak imo)
COD 4 and WAW at least did not shy away with how nasty war can actually be.
(MW2-mw3 is an honorable mention. Great trilogy but no where near as good as the previous stated)
Infinite warfare had my least favorite MP (spitting on the face of titanfalls gameplay, even black ops 3 felt better to me)
BUT THE CAMPAIGN. Genuinely a fun time.
I thought mw2019 and mw2022 had decent campaigns, but i refused to by mw3 as it seems to have all been for nothing with how shit the direction went. Didn’t really think mw2(the new one) was necessarily good, but i had some false hope because there was at least 3 missions that i replayed a few times (stealth island mission and the convoy one and the one at the cartels mansion)
delisted now sadly (could find a key off a sketchy site potentially) but spec ops the line is a pretty wild take on war stories without spoiling anything. Whole game is seared into my head even though i must have played it 8years ago now.
Idk, can’t think of too many single player games that aren’t just sims that play better for MP (like arma)
Will be checking out stalker due to the previous comments as i’ve always meant to give it a try though
Medal of Honour: Pacific Assault.
From what I remember there's a fair bit of time between missions in the camp etc learning about your colleagues.
Also consider Homefront.
Arma 3, single player campaign, has many moments of relaxing with AI troops who sometimes have dialogue. You will load up supplies, drive them to another location, etc. And when the battles start, you have an ultra realistic and lethal war simulation.
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This is an old game but America’s Army. Made by the US army as a recruiting tool. It was a very fun shooter for its time but you legit had to take qualifying tests to be able to use certain weapons/classes in the game and even pass multiple choice tests to do medical stuff. It was free at the time. Not sure if it’s still available today
Hell Let Loose, just like Squad. If you prefer a survival approach Tarkov. That said, while Tarkov is addicting id wait to give them more money atm, they fucked up big
Planetside 2 is literally like old school Battlefield multiplayer but in the future.
You play as soldiers with different roles fighting over objectives on a massive continent.
For enlisted? Maybe Car Mechanic Simulator or Powerwash Simulator. For officers, MS PowerPoint.
For a novelty answer, that's a pretty good one.
No joke detected. This is pretty accurate
Air Force vet here. That wasn't a novelty answer.
Navy logistics vet here. Definitely not a novelty answer.
You two must have been able to see us army grunts. How sweet of you to notice.
What do you mean novelty answer? This is as close as you'll get. Yes, there is no call of duty game you have to spend 6 days in between missions sitting on a duffel bag in a gravel lot waiting for an NCO to tell you to go inside
That sounds like Arma to me.
Yes, ARMA III.
Sit in a room and don't leave it for 3 hours. Find a cup and something to throw into it. You now have the classic game of throw things in cups. Once you mastered this and stop asking "What are we even waiting for" you're ready for promotion. Congrats
“Gray zone warfare” would be as close as I can think for what you are describing.
The Infantry Experience is Lawn Mower Simulator
Lawns mowed, get the rock paint.
Dont forget MS Scrub barnicles off the boat all day, thats probably the most popular with navy brats.
Legit never had to scrape barnacles but.... Object: (exists) Chief: ...... Simmons, get that painted.
Or Object: (should exist in this exact spot) Chief: no one is going home until this object is found and put In its correct spot
Sailors after 3-4 hours of searching an aircraft carrier for object: Chief….Bosun said you checked it out to another department yesterday……they lost it.
Sage answer.
I feel like you know what you're talking about.
[This exact game really exists!](https://youtu.be/yuTkgi7scKo?si=R43AWVS6wgKhk93c) The Onion featured it back in the day =)
The Onion is great!
Damn, that's nostalgic lmao. I remember calling my uncle (he introduced me to CoD) as a kid, telling him all about this, because I of course assumed it was real lol. He was probably confused where I had heard all of these weird "leaks", but played along.
Based on every marine I've known it would be Deep Rock Galactic, except you just stay at the bar in the hub world the entire time and occasionally get sent to the med bay
Power washer? Must be Air Force with your fancy electrified automatic magic cleaning machines. In Marines we just use Lance Corporals and Privates
Is there one for sailors where you can just sweep water off the weather deck while it is raining?
Best I can do is DCS with the super carrier DLC
You might try Escape from Tarkov, then go offline with the modding community. You won't spend time with your buddies in a base, but you do have a "hideout" to buildout, trades and quests, and enough gravy seal action to last hundreds of hours. Otherwise try Gray Zone Warfare as it has a "base like" mechanic where you can just hang out and voip.
Umm day to day solider stuff... Arma. fps yes, casual nope.
I recently played the first ARMA, and it felt a bit old-school, but it was a fun experience. Does the second and third game feel a bit more polished and modern?
Modern? Yes. Polished? Depends on what you want to be polished. The controls and gameplay are just as convoluted.
Well, I had to restart a mission in the first game because an enemy tank that was supposed to cross a bridge ended up flipping upside down because the commander thought it would be a good idea to try and climb a mountain instead of sticking to his programming. I also had an alarm go off in a base over and over and over again without enemies showing up, and when they finally did, it was one guy crawling on the ground, surrounded by my squad mates who didn't even try to shoot him. Does that stuff happen a lot in the sequels?
Arma 3 can be incredible but you practically need a PHD to get it off the ground. My arma mod folder was about as big as the game and we had an awesome and extremely realistic server going with an AI enemy commander moving the opps around realistically. Once you get there you need like at least one other person to play it with for it to be very fun IMO. So Arma 3 is an awesome mil-sim but is about the farthest you can get from casual/plug and play.
I haven’t played too much of the third installment but I know the AI in the second is not great. People mostly play in online rp servers from my understanding.
I'll say gameplay wise, reforger is the most polished one and ofc the newest. Much more demanding. The second one is my favorite (not sure why) but it have its flaws and did age quit well if you ask me.
The first Arma...or Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis ? (they had to rename it to Cold War Assault because of licencing issues)
You're looking for Arma 3 Invade & Annex multi-player. Be ready to just sit around for a while. There's white-list servers and public servers. And each has its own variables.
Put \~65 lbs in backpack and do a 15km hike with lots of elevation.
Sooo... Death Stranding?
But where do I find a psychic baby floating in strange fluid?
At your local psychic fair, of course.
Pretty sure I got a coupon for one of those on my CVS receipt.
That'll be the elite/1% for sure.
**Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain** has you playing as a special ops soldier doing various operations in Afghanistan and Congo. You're also controlling a mercenary military base, where you can talk to your operatives and even get recruits. It has light supernatural concepts and can get action-oriented at times, but remains grounded in most gameplay scenarios. **ARMA** is a simulator that does its best to make you a soldier. It's not as fun as games, though, it really aims for realism to a fault. Might feel a bit slow. **Foxhole** simulates a battlefront between two factions. Some players run around as soldiers, some play as drivers in supply lines, others try building working train tracks. If you don't mind the top-down camera, it's a lot more involved than a typical soldiers game. PvP only. **Stalker** is a simulator of scavenging around a large, closed off area, kind-of as a lone soldier. There are many organized factions there, from different military outfits to gangs of bandits, with their own bases and interests. They also often fight among themselves. It has a lot of quiet moments, places to sit down and talk with NPCs, as well as a good story. Combat is slow and semi-realistic, as bullets are deadly. A new entry is coming around the end of the year. **Metro** is similar, but more of an action shooter. **Death Stranding** is my wildcard suggestion. It involves a lot of realistic travel as you try to deliver supplies between different bases in a wasteland. It has combat, but you aren't really a soldier and guns aren't that easily available. Despite that, it might be worth checking out.
Apparently Foxhole has a really toxic player base, what are your thoughts?
Not OP, but I left Foxhole years ago. Felt like a game where only the veterans have fun as they tend to gatekeep the cool stuff from newbies. My favorite role though was logistics driver. I took important war materiel from the backlines to the front. Again, because unless you're in a squad and buddies with someone relatively high rank, you can't do the cool stuff. I pretty much just borrow a truck lying around and deliver whatever is needed to the front. After I'm done, I leave the truck unlocked somewhere safe and with a tank full of gas. Last time I checked they had problems with alts sabotaging either side.
That’s a shame. I hear there’s very little moderation too. The game has lingered in my Wishlist for a while so maybe I’ll grab it one day, but I cbf with gatekeeper-y players when I’m just learning. I managed to get my head around Hell Let Loose and enjoyed it but that’s another game with a similar player base unfortunately, and it seems now they’re even less patient that the GamePass players can cross-play with Steam users haha.
Lol I also quit Hell Let Loose! It was fun, honestly, my main was the machinegun. But goodluck getting the sniper role or being in a tank when you're not buddies with the server owner or the clan that owns it. You could probably play those during downtimes where there's only like 50 players on that server, but where's the fun in that. There's also this graphical exploit where players turn down their graphics to remove environmental obstacles. So, for example, you're crawling in the middle of a field of tall grass. If your enemy has lowered graphics, they literally don't see the tall grass. You're just a dumbass crawling in the middle of nowhere and get immediately shot. Lame.
You just need to be willing to join a Regiment (Clan/Guild) and play in their style as you learn about the game. If that Regiment doesn't work for you, keep looking until you find a good fit. Most MMOs require joining a guild to progress end-game content, so I don't know why people expect Foxhole to be different. As for gatekeeping, there is a lot of experience required for keeping a battle tank (second largest tank class in the game) or battleship (largest ship in the game) alive, and those represent hundreds of hours of player time to build, so of course no one is going to let a brand new player hop in one. As a new player, you can still typically find medium tanks to take out for free, especially mid to late war. Any player can do anything in the game, including building a facility to build their own battle tank. It just takes a ton of time/grinding, which is why you need to be in a regiment.
Closest thing is probably ghost recon wildlands
I really liked this game but the multiplayer issues were awful. Only get this if you don’t care about coop.
I played it with my friends a bit recently, no problems in 10h of gameplay so far
I honestly think not. It would be an extremely boring game that i think wouldnt sell. From experience, youll spend most of your time doing one of two schedules. 1) wake up, gym, chow, shower, walking sim for 8-10hrs, shower, chow, video game/spades/board games, call your girl friend on whatsapp, sleep...a couple time in a year span you might have fun. 2) be bored out of your mind for a year straight
I honestly think it could work if you skipped the most tedious and repetitive stuff. I guess what I'm really looking for is a war game where you get to chill out once in a while and actually get to know your squad. Random no-name faces fighting by your side mean nothing to me. I feel nothing when they die, because some other randomly generated soldier will replace them.
Thats one thing thats hard to convey in a game. I mean, my mates....weve slept together, froze together, sweat together, bleed together, showered together, we did everything together for years. You had people you loved and people you hated. But still its hard to condense that to 8hrs. But yeah, deployments early on were crazy. Then it just turned into coin ops...so walking sim Then later years were just hanging out in a tent for a year.
Mass Effect does a great job of establishing bonds between characters. It's three full games, each clocking in at anything between 30 to 60+ hours. You spend a ton of time on the protagonist's warship, just talking and getting to know your crew and squad. By the end of the third game you know those guys inside and out. I'd definitely give the Shepard trilogy a go if you're into sci-fi. It's Star Wars, Star Trek and Gears Of War combined.
Yeah but for that realistic military experience, its gotta be just boredom for like 60hrs. Inventory a couple of connexes, maybe go to a meeting
Get yelled at by another grown man for having your hands in your pockets.
ITS UNPROFESSIONAL *literally drools into a cup* Also, dont forget having to do all those mandatory quarterly online trainings at the same time as everyone else on base, and they only work on internet explorer from like 2002. And theres only 6 computers in the library
Agreed! This was said to perfection and I just wanna add that Mass Effect 2 is one of my favorite games of time. Flawless.
Why don't you just enlist?
Metal Gear Solid Phantom Pain for single player, like they’ve said. No one is soulless. Multiplayer? Try Helldivers 2. And for what others have said: the real military experience is excruciatingly boring 99% of the time, and “biggest event of your life” 1% of the time. Boredom is the most dangerous thing in the US Military.
If that’s your criteria, getting to know people and caring when they die… then you absolutely have to play DayZ. More of a post apocalypse sim than a soldier sim, but it’s the only game where you can meet a random person in voice chat, go on hours long adventures with them, and then watch them die after you let your guard down for a bit having not seen or heard anyone in hours. That moment of silence following their death is haunting in the best way possible. It sinks in like holy shit, I just watched my friend die and I will never see them again. That is of course as long as you only stick to game chat and not exchange discords. This game truly is second to none in so many ways, but the struggle to survive and the such high stakes of death make it a standout. I think you’d really enjoy it based on this and other comments you’ve made throughout this thread. There’s a bit of a learning curve but just starting out and not having a clue is really an incredible experience.
Literally every ARMA campaign is like this to some extent, with briefings and ruck marches included. I'd say ARMA 3 should mostly satisfy this desire, since it has extended sections at basecamp.
I think you will like Stalker and Metro series. Besides that Mount and Blade, Kindom Come Deliverence are RPGs, but they might deliver what you want.
Second stalker especially with mods. Anomaly is really hardcore but it's so immersive.
Down time in the military eh. Take those things, carry them over there. Wash that. Clean this. Fix that. Sit there and don't say a fuckin' word. As a game dev now who was in the military, I wasn't aware there was a demand. I'll get started.
Half-Life begins with a long train trip just to get to work, and when you get there you have to do some menial tasks before the main story begins. I just love little details like that. Makes me feel like more than just a floating gun running down a shooting range, you know?
yeah that's effective storytelling 8) great game.
I'm in the same boat, race you to release. I need you to take these two 10 gallon water jugs to Motor Pool. After a Mile walk to Motor Pool: we don't need these, take them back. 🙃 Roja Sarnt 🫡
Metro Exodus might be a decent stand-in. You have lots of opportunities for optional interactions with your comrades and can chill with them for quite a while. The levels are semi-open world so you can choose when to come or go from camp and can also meet up with them at various posts around the map. Edit: I would absolutely recommend starting with the first two games before moving to Exodus. I only listed Exodus bc I think it best fits OP’s criteria
Came here to say this. These games seem to fit the bill.
I've been meaning to give the Metro series a go. Will do!
Absolutely should even if it doesn’t fit your criteria it’s a fantastic trilogy in general
is Metro Exodus good to play without playing the previous games? I played a bit of the beginning and had fun with the gameplay itself but the characters seemed to be referencing things that had happened in previous games (I think?), especially in regards to the main character's previous accomplishments and I felt a little out of place not knowing the full context
I would definitely start with the first game. They’re not very long and they’re probably my favorite story-based FPS (or just story-based games in general) The only reason I listed Exodus instead of the whole trilogy is that I don’t think the first 2 match OP’s criteria as well as Exodus does
thanks for the response, I'll do just that! heard lots of great things about the series, good to know the story is remarkable as well!
The first 2 aren’t long but not a second gets wasted imo, top tier games I think about them all the time
I didnt even think of it, but youre right. Plus, the games just fucking awesome
As others have mentioned, Squad and Hell Let Loose are multiplayer FPS games that align with what you describe. You'll end up joining a squad of teammates where you fulfill a role (gunner, medic, etc) The gameplay gives A LOT of downtime as your squad/team travels across the big map, builds bases, construct defenses, make supply runs, etc. Almost everyone is running a mic for communication and some of the best moments in the game stem from just shooting the shit with your teammates. Also, when you get a GOOD squad leader who communicates and knows what they are doing, it can be one one of the best gaming experiences still out there. The effectiveness that 1 squad can have with good comms is insane. Very rewarding.
Have never played Squad, but Hell Let Loose ticks *some* of the boxes while being a fantastic game. While there isn't really a downtime and you won't really "feel bad when they get shot" because they'll be back up within a minute, you can certainly play a logistics style gameplay, driving supplies to the front line with a passenger or play as an engineer building up defenses while talking shit with your fellow engineers. Where the game really shines is its voice chat. You can chat, strategize, complain, joke and RP within proximity, your squad, or command chat
Foxhole has a lot of "behind the front lines" work for players to do, such as logistics.
I would also argue that when you're holding down a trench for sometimes hours with voice comms it starts to feel a lot like war, you get to know your squad mates, celebrate the good, hear randoms scream for help as their character dies. It's a wonderful social experience, as well as being a great game. I think hell let loose is a good stand in as well for more fps oriented gameplay but there's nothing quite like foxhole.
Just avoid the Femboy camps on the warden side.
I’m so ootl and it’s probably for the better ☠️
Part of Foxhole is the propaganda. I’ve only heard things. lol.
Arma 3 if you want the idealized version of infantry life However, punching yourself in the sack repeatedly would be the more realistic option
I literally almost made this same post over the weekend. Currently rewatching Band of Brothers and want something that captures the life of a soldier in all regards, not just battle after battle. I want a game where I get assigned to watch a line and may have activity but maybe not - not a guaranteed shooting gallery every mission. Where I have to act as a runner into enemy territory and deliver a message, or go on a recon patrol. Not “Rush to A and shoot everything that moves”. The only ones I have found (but admittedly have yet to try) is All Quiet in the Trenches and Invasion Machine. All Quiet in the Trenches seems like a management game that had you balancing the needs of your men with the orders of your higher ups. Invasion Machine is more modern setting and looks like it had a lot of potential, but may be abandoned due to solo devs health problems. In my weekend search I found Brother’s In Arms: Hells Highway and think that could fit as well? Older game I missed when it was first released and need to do more research but it mentions going on patrols and being at CP so here’s hoping it could work.
You should check out Squad.
If you wanna live the life of a soldier you could always play This War of Mine. If you wanna feel happy maybe don't play This War of Mine.
Lol Google Finnish Army Simulator
There's perhaps some of this in [E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy](https://store.steampowered.com/app/91700/EYE_Divine_Cybermancy/), although it's more simulating being a WH40k space marine with the serial numbers filed off as opposed to a generic soldier. Although, you don't really have a squad per se.
An old one but totally what you are searching (I think) and really good one " brother's in arm"
Stalker Anomaly (and GAMMA which requires a PhD to install), if you play Warfare Mode you get missions to go out and take territories. On downtime you're either stressing over maintaining your guns until your brain explodes, scavenging for crafting stuff, grab a smoke with the comrades by the fire as someone plays a guitar, go out hunting and get your ankle chewed on by a blind dog, or taking up sniping positions and guard your base (which is 95% boredom and 5% HOLY SHIT THERE'S LIKE 50 OF THEM). You also get assigned to go out and kill certain individuals (assassinations, if you will) only to come back and the person who gave you the contract is shot dead so now you're 300 rounds down, broke, and ain't getting paid (just like the real military!). If you feeling really ambitious then follow the story which involves a lot of radiation and dying. Also the game is free, just need a decent rig. Another is HBS's Battletech or Roguetech mod. You control a mercenary outfit and do war crimes for the highest bidder for a living. On your down time you fix and modify your Battlemechs and vehicles, actually resolve frictions between your employees, upgrading your ships, negotiating contracts, etc... Another similar game is Wartale, but I don't have that much playtime to conclude anything.
Anomaly and gamma are really the best options I could think of.
Not sure, are there any shooter video games that also involve people trying to sell you a muscle car at an absurdly predatory annual percentage rate?
Six Days in Fallujah is def the route the go if you are looking for a superior realistic military sim. This game is based on a Marine who partook in the battle and recreates true stories from the Second Battle for Fallujah. It’s not easy, as is the same with war. Helluva game IMO.
Spec ops the line
Not exactly a soldier, but metro puts you in the boots of a real feeling life and world. Amazing series.
For multiplayer I'd recommend Squad, you will have to build up fortifications, hesco bunkers and drive truck for supplies, but there are plenty of shooting and swearing and other bullshittery going on, a really fun experience. But be warned that it's a game where your experience will heavily rely on people that you'll end up playing with, but this game is also immersive as fuck, every firefight feels like a PTSD inducing scene from a brutal war movie. For single player, Arma 3 is still good option, there are plenty of campaigns in there. If you don't mind graphics that are dated, then Operation Flashpoint original series of games might be for you, you literally play as a private in the first game, you do basic missions, patrols and whatnots, something pretty boring but eventually a conflict erupts and you are a part of it, slow burner type of game but like I've said it's pretty dated. The cool thing about flashpoint (especially operation flashpoint resistance) and Arma 3 is that you will have these islands of calm where you can get briefed, hang around at the camp/base and choose side missions before you opt to go for main mission. For example you can be tasked to sneak into an enemy military base and sabotage a tank or other armored vehicles in the middle of the night, and if you do that youll end up having less tanks to worry about once the main mission starts. Or you can choose to do weapon smuggle missions, which would result in better gear that you can equip yourself or give some to your squad members.
Hidden and Dangerous 2 was a truly low key gem that can easily be overlooked due to its average aesthetics and generic military sim. However, it is unique in that it’s the rare WW2 shooter with Rainbow Six style squad controls. Not military life per say but very believable squad based stealth approach military simulator that allows for pretty open freedom :)
I wish that franchise was continued..
Tarkov let's you play as a PMC.
Get out of here, Stalker.
Not exactly a “soldier” game or realistic, but Perfect Dark allowed you to knock about the Carrington institute between missions, do training in the firing range etc.
Maybe not exactly it but the CoD Infinite Warfare campaign has downtime inbetween missions where you can walk around your ship, speak with crewmembers, check out your fighter, watch news reports of recent events, and choose which main/side mission you embark on next. Very solid single player that a lot of people overlooked and didn't play.
Battlefield bad company 2
If you can handle multiplayer try foxhole
Terminator resistance kinda fills that role I guess
I eould say try Enlisted or a paid option The Division
Planetside 2? You are nothing but a cog in a war machine. In larger 200+ battles or three way battles it's frantic and crazy but I like it.
Arma 3
Splinter Cell?
The Arma series
aside from the real life boredom, Aliens Dark Descent. you'll care about your team. you \*don't\* want to your teammates to die or get PTSD. But they will. oh yes they will.
Foxhole maybe?
The division (1 and/or 2) Ghost Recon Breakpoint (you take your own brakes at camp or at base OR you take a slow hike with your team and enjoy the view.) Ghost Recon Wildlands (but breakpoint is better in many ways but some)
Buy a treadmill and a big backpack. The closest thing you can get 😂 play a soundtrack of an officer shouting at you as you play the walking simulator and you are set
Metro Exodus
Wolfenstein the New Order has you spending some downtime in the resistance base, I guess. If we're doing dark horse recs, maybe something like **BATTLETECH** (the PC game, not the tabletop game) that has you making administrative decisions about how to keep your space PMC solvent. But some tabletop games do a good job with this! Armor Astir Advent is a game about magical giant robots and the irregular soldiers piloting them, and heavily inspired by Mobile Suit Gundam, Vision of Escaflowne, and stuff like that. There is an entire codified phase of the game for downtime between sorties, where you bond with the crew, try to process your increasingly manifold traumas, or do groundwork for the next mission.
Will you be interested in a 2D top view shooter that invokes nostalgia in you?
Vietcong 1 You chill in your barracks in between missions listening to the radio and reading stuff like Intel, debriefing, a handbook and your journal that gets new entries after every mission. You can also go to the firing range. Many missions have your squad and yourself silently patrolling the jungle looking for the enemy. Great game if you can get over it being 21 years old.
You mentioned wanting something more modern feeling than Arma, Squad is a great milsim, much faster pace and you work with a squad of other people in game.
Stalker gamma
Maybe Tarkov will be of some interest to you. In Deep Rock, you can run around the base and mess with random stuff - same with Hell Divers.
No such thing.
Not out yet but Trench Tales looks promising [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/trenchtales/trench-tales/](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/trenchtales/trench-tales/)
The old americas army has tutorial as session of lectures and tests, trainings before going into game. Other than that, i really dont know any.
Helldivers 1 and 2, makes you feel like you are really contributing to the wars that are going on and it's casual enough to play
The operation flashpoint games are a bit old but they are still my favourite open world military games A more modern answer would be ready or not/Insurgency sandstorm
planetside, if it is still running
Older, but still good imo is operation flashpoint dragon rising. Worth checking out.
The old WWllOnline used to be like that if playing with the right clan/squad. In between many awesome experiences playing it, I remember once expending a whole real time night on duty guarding an advanced camp along other squad members by requirement of the HQ. We chatted about life while patrolling the area walking, scouting for enemies that never came. We didn’t shoot a single shoot in like 8 hours but I still remember that night as one of my best and more realistic ever game sessions. The fear, the friendship, the feeling of being on duty with the life (virtual) of others depending on you… we all became good friends and ended meeting in real life a few times after that. For what I have read, Hell let lose could be a similar experience with the right people but at my 49 I’m too old now to be able to join a role playing squad and be able to commit that much time to a game as used to do 20 years ago.
Closest you'll get is making friends in ARMA or Squad or some kinda multiplayer military shooter where you can actually get to know your teammates and work cooperatively towards objectives. Any single player military game is going to be Call of Duty style cinematic campaign. Maybe the Brothers in Arms games might work?
Im not horribly familiar with these in particular. My husband and our friends are a bit. From what I’ve seen? Stalker anomaly? apparently. Maybe Tarkov? I dunno. Tarkov gives me palpitations lol
I played Ready or Not. It's kinda like what you're looking for, but you're an HRT team leader. It's got high stakes room to room cqb, pretty realistic. You can manage you and your team loadouts for ops down to the pound. You hire, fire, and manage the mental health of your team between missions. Multi-player is supposed to be good but I haven't tried it yet.
Foxhole could scratch your itch? Its a persistent world, where you dont have to be a soldier. You can manage factories, mine resources, take care of logistics (boat, truck, train), build forts or just do whatever! My favorite thing we did with my friend was partisaning; where you would take little resources, and get yourself by a small boat near a road that connected logistical centres and the frontline. Then you just dig a trench and wreak havoc
Squad, kinda
Try one of the newer Ghost Recons. Kinda what you might be looking for.
>non-isometric Just say you hate Foxhole
I haven't played a lot of the games mentioned here, but I can vouch for MGS5 getting you at least part of the way there. You can go back to your base and wander around, along with having administrative control. Downtime is not all that interactive, unfortunately. The gameplay is amazing overall, however, and really makes you feel like you're Big Boss building up your own independent army.
Chivalry 2 and/or Mordhau
why has nobody mentioned Battlefield
Honestly The Division (I and II) gave me those vibes when you could hang at safe houses with other people, and at base, etc, before going into missions.
British army would be "hurry up and wait" simulator 2024
The division is pretty much what you’re describing. You play as an agent tasked with working to rebuild civilization. It’s a 3rd person cover based shooter, it’s pretty grounded and you’re constantly going on missions.
Escape from tarkov has the most immersive and realistic fps experience but it’s going through a bit of a moment right now. Not sure how recommendable it is in its current state but take a look.
Spec Ops: The Line
this isnt really fully a "shooter", but have you looked at valkyria chronicles? its technically a turn based strategy but the way the combat works (very rough description incoming) has you actually moving the soldiers yourself within a set amount of movement, having to perform your turn optimally to avoid enemy fire as you move around the battlefield, and you have to be the one to take the aim yourself. additionally the game is about half gameplay and half cutscene, with lots of side content where your soldiers interact with each other and bond and such. might not really fit what you're looking for but been playing it recently and thought id throw it out there
I was gonna say foxhole until you said non-isometric
Microsoft powerpoint
Ghost recon breakpoint might fit the bill. Read a recent review or watch on YouTube. It started out rough but it now has so many great options to play just how you want to play. And, it has a lot of downtime, cutscenes and dialog if you want to immerse yourself. There’s a base where you can chill and see other players and talk to NPCs.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint is the best military power-fantasy any game can offer. With its immersion settings, the game is transformed, and if you're willing to engage in a bit of roleplay, the experience is stellar. Arma Reforger is an amazing and deep militar simulator(-ish), while also being an accessible and a polished version of all its predecessors. The servers that mimic the war in Ukraine are amazing, and the experiences you'll live through will be unforgettable. THIS, is the peak of military life simulation. Ready or Not. Not about soldiers, but if you're willing to roleplay a bit, it's a pretty convincing tactical shooter with a decent management and preparations for tasks in between all the missions. Also have to put here the first Ghost Recon. For some maybe outdated, but in MANY ways it's still unrivaled. Rocket launchers have a backblast... Need I say more?
Sniper Elite 5 is a pretty solid third person milsim lite. You begin each mission at a form up point or observation post with your comrades where you can assign your equipment, have a chat with the mission stakeholders and get a briefing or some Intel. The pre-mission areas aren't expansive, but it does sell the narrative that the characters have been in place for a while. Also call of duty black ops 5 had a safe house hub that let you chill with your comrades and research story lore and Intel between missions.
Helldivers a little bit. You can chill in your ship in between missions. Although there’s not a lot to do in your ship apart from stand around or upgrade your gear.
Spec Ops: The Line :)
MoH airborne is one of my favorites
Maybe squad, it isn’t super realistic and your focusing on specific game mechanics a fair bit however it has a great teamwork aspect
Why do you want to spend 90% of your playthrough doing paperwork, cleaning, working out, standing at a random spot guarding something, and redoing the paperwork because you either forgot to sign block A, or because the kids in the office lost it? And I didn't get to your actual job yet which only 20% of which would be engaged in direct combat? (Not 100% on that figure) I work behind a desk all day, for example. Now if you want, an RPG, that is about a deployed troop, I do have a few recommendations but they're not what you're looking for. 1. Sid Miers: Pirates! Is an RPG where you're in command of a 17th century ship in the carribean, if you choose to be a merchant, pirate, navy vessel, smuggler or whatever is up to you. There is quite a few elements that would encapsulate the feel of being a CO (I would assume) from deciding where to go, who to attack, resource management and politics with both troops morale and seniors above you, but it's Navy and 400 years off from what you're requesting. 2. Skyrim and Way of the Samurai 3, are both RPGs. I have to assume you know Skyrim and WotS3 is what it sounds like. Both give you the opportunity to join one of either army, hang out in camp, and go on combat missions. 3. Any party based RPG such as knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire of BG3 would theoretically give you that same vibe of going on missions with downtime in camp. But again they aren't necessarily military in nature. Mass effect is probably the closest? 4. Any story intensive shooter like Halo, Call of Duty or medal of honor should at least give you an idea of the brothers in arms vibe you might be looking for, but you're not going to get much time in camp. Halo Reach, CoD Big Red One and Medal of Honor Rising Sun I feel like have pretty good stories that focus on more than just the main character.
If you aren't wanking in a Porta potty are you really living the real life?
Spec Ops The Line. Only trouble is that it's been delisted from Steam. Not sure if you can get it elsewhere legally. Otherwise Battlefield 3 or 4
Black one blood brothers Made by the OG devs of ghost recon. Have a 9 man squad plus a dog on your mission Operation flashpoint dragon rising Basically the OG arma before arma but alittle more simple. Really cool game Combat mission black sea military sim RTS Give vibes of OG ghost recon but has a campaign where you dont get to have vehicles of solderies respawn.
Sarge’s heroes: real combat . . .
If you’re familiar with Garry’s Mod at all, there are military RP servers that kinda have what you’re looking for, though they can be a little scuffed. I’m not super familiar with them, but from what I do know there’s plenty of downtime interspersed with training, events, etc.
Get spec ops the line for the real psychological part of that life.
metal gear solid v. phantom pain.
Helldivers 2
Stalker gamma modpack.
I think sniper elite might be in the vein you’re looking for. You’re still going mission to mission but it’s technically the same mission just broken up into parts. Not all missions but some start you off in a camp like setting where you can load up and talk for intel on the local area. 4 specifically has a camp toward then end you can hang out in for a night and 5 has one where you pull up to a lil 3-4 person camp and they give you intel on the local area( if you walk away mid speech the guy will call you out for being rude ) It’s not day to day but it shows that Karl isn’t just the best sniper Britain has ever had, he’s also just a dude like anyone else. Deep rock galactic. It’s a indie title and you’re not a solider or even a human for that matter. You are a dwarf, you work for a mining company, and the missions are simply you doing your job. It just so happens your job takes place on one of the most hostile planets in existence. You will violate the Geneva convention nearly every mission. As a driller your starter weapons are a napalm-thrower, a nice lil pistol, some throwing axes, a pair of hand drills, and c4 that once upgraded becomes a mini nuke….. not to mention the actual nuclear bombs the engineer gets. In between missions you can kick back with your fellow co-workers for a few drinks, dancing, and maybe even a game of soccer all in the launch bay. You fight bugs and living plants and sometimes robots, and sometimes even a fellow dwarf. It’s a great little game that just got its biggest update ever on pc and it comes out at the end of the month for console. Ghost recon breakpoint maybe? There is a base but there’s not much to do there, however if you pay attention to the quest a lot of the side quests are you doing stuff for the base like gathering supplies or eliminating soldiers who may be close to discovering the base’s location. You’ll have to use your imagination a bit because from a gameplay point of view you are just going mission to mission. As someone with over 500 hours in it, it’s good but to get what your wanting out of it I’d suggest playing without gear score and tweak the settings to your liking- you can really dial in your personal experience to be truly personal. This last one is a reach but hear me out….. shadow of war. Are you a soldier? Kinda. Can you do normal soldier things? No, but you are the commander and can do commander things. You can order your captains to go hunting or go gather wild beast or go assassinate/ infiltrate an enemy captain. When you walk through your fort you’ll see your soldiers doing solider stuff like drinking or sharpening there weapons or casually torturing the captured enemy soldiers. Did I mention that your a dude using ghost powers to quasi brainwash orks? That’s important your soldiers are orks, the enemy is also orks…. But they can be made your orks. It’s fun, I dunno if it’s exactly what you’d want but it IS a game where your dude was a ranger for the black gate of Mordor ( so he’s kinda like ODST to a normal space marine from halo ) and now is waging wars. You have soldiers who you can observe going around the base living life and your captains will even make comments when they see you. I’ve got over 2,000 hours in that game and I still just love walking the streets of my own base seeing everyone as happy as orks can be. And I love it even more when i go to take over a fortress and bend the old commander to my will. Deep rock galactic is probably the closest to what your looking for as its the only game with dedicated mechanics for drinking beer and dancing n stuff, meanwhile everything else you’ll have to use your imagination with to some degree. If your on pc I know you probably have better options too. P.S: project zomboid. I use to play it on pc back in the day and it’s absolutely the most in depth zombie survival game I’ve played. If you can’t find something to scratch that itch as a solider this game is exactly what your wanting but for zombies instead of soldiers. You can even fine tune it so you can control how long clean running water last and electricity, how the zombies act and even how the virus spreads. You want 28 weeks later? You want classic George Romero? You got em and anything in between. You could play as a solider who got lost in Louisville during the initial panic or something along those lines. Just food for thought m8
PVP= Squad. 90% of the time i get really chill dudes or make a buddy through a session. There are multiple modes but it’s about coordinating with a huge team to build up FOBs as you slowly gain objectives away from the enemy. My opinion, best mix of sim and actual fun gameplay Not going to fully recommend it yet, but if they keep updating it, 6 days in falllujah. Worth watching a few videos first before supporting the EA state of it right now. Story/singleplayer: MGSV, i saw someone else recommended it earlier. Just adding that it’s still my favorite sandbox game period. You can handle most missions quite literally however the fuck you want. Wanna be a sniper assassin? Go ahead! Want to be stealthy and extract pows to be tortured and interrogated back home? Go ahead! Get’s a little scifi-fantasty at times during story moments, but it tries to ground itself in a pretty decent pseudo-history world not that far off from our own. A bit more arcadey, but sniper elite 2-4 are pretty decent, with i believe 4 being the first to push the open sandbox levels a bit more then prior. (My buddies say 5 ended up being a bit of a step down from 4 but i’m just spreading rumors at this point) Metro series is ok, the story and themes are pretty nice but it is closer to a thriller call of duty with mutated radiation creatures if that sounds up your alley. Other than that, COD campaigns are just action movies but there are a few that stand out from the rest: Black ops 1-2 (peak imo) COD 4 and WAW at least did not shy away with how nasty war can actually be. (MW2-mw3 is an honorable mention. Great trilogy but no where near as good as the previous stated) Infinite warfare had my least favorite MP (spitting on the face of titanfalls gameplay, even black ops 3 felt better to me) BUT THE CAMPAIGN. Genuinely a fun time. I thought mw2019 and mw2022 had decent campaigns, but i refused to by mw3 as it seems to have all been for nothing with how shit the direction went. Didn’t really think mw2(the new one) was necessarily good, but i had some false hope because there was at least 3 missions that i replayed a few times (stealth island mission and the convoy one and the one at the cartels mansion) delisted now sadly (could find a key off a sketchy site potentially) but spec ops the line is a pretty wild take on war stories without spoiling anything. Whole game is seared into my head even though i must have played it 8years ago now. Idk, can’t think of too many single player games that aren’t just sims that play better for MP (like arma) Will be checking out stalker due to the previous comments as i’ve always meant to give it a try though
He’ll let loose is the most fun. Squad and arma comes next.
What was a game that actually lived the life of a soldier a s the whole time you're battling PTSD while in a war? Damn, I'll think of it eventually
Spec ops: The Line :) Thank me later
You should really try bullet storm remastered!
There is a old school game, named americas army This was also used as a training simulator for the US Army, like in 2006
Medal of Honour: Pacific Assault. From what I remember there's a fair bit of time between missions in the camp etc learning about your colleagues. Also consider Homefront.
Squad
The first few minutes of bf3 story
Vietcong https://youtu.be/iB-m7taJyGs?si=RHsEzcx00llJYMuD
You are literally talking about Foxhole
Arma 3, single player campaign, has many moments of relaxing with AI troops who sometimes have dialogue. You will load up supplies, drive them to another location, etc. And when the battles start, you have an ultra realistic and lethal war simulation.
Foxhole is 24/7 war simulation
Escape from tarkov but it isn't for the feint of heart
Metal Gear Solid of course.
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Division 2
red orchestra is great at depicticting battles. Otherwise try to find a good ARMA 3 guild/clan if you want realistic stuff missionbs and cmapiagns.
This is an old game but America’s Army. Made by the US army as a recruiting tool. It was a very fun shooter for its time but you legit had to take qualifying tests to be able to use certain weapons/classes in the game and even pass multiple choice tests to do medical stuff. It was free at the time. Not sure if it’s still available today
Closest thing, I can think of is Fallout New Vegas, but I think that’s just because of the Mojave Desert
Spec ops the line. Go insane with PTSD and commit war crimes
Hell Let Loose, just like Squad. If you prefer a survival approach Tarkov. That said, while Tarkov is addicting id wait to give them more money atm, they fucked up big
Maybe spec ops the line, pretty linear story tho.
why would you want to play this
[Call of Duty: Realism Edition](https://youtu.be/yuTkgi7scKo?si=jhuA0Du64FyUoZOW)
Squad
Planetside 2 is literally like old school Battlefield multiplayer but in the future. You play as soldiers with different roles fighting over objectives on a massive continent.
didnt the OG soldier of fortune have something like this
I don't think there is a wait in the que simulator.
The Tom Clancy open world games are decent for this.