First some Media to get you intrested;
All ingame footage, those are actually un-moded.
Quick Trailer;
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ze6kmUnzTVgBlackHawkDown;
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mnQDvlqlsjghttp://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yLawzheGnzcI owned the game, played it for months, uninstalled it sometime, wantted to play again,but lost the manual, then searched for the manual (with the cd-key).
Didnt find it for nearly a month, finally found it, seems i lost the cd, but now i finally found that, too!
Yay.
To get started you will need the basic install, all the patches and for looks we propatly have to mod. There are many mods, actually, a whole fucking lot.
The one single mod that does most for the game propatly is XAM (Xtream Arma Mod)
Here is the Homepage;
http://www.armedassault.com/and here a nice community page for all your mod-ing needs;
http://www.armaholic.com/The Game itself has a nice singleplayer campagin, but its all about the multiplayer.
All in there is costume, d.h. maps all-a WCIII where the complete gameplay is chanced, the most played variation is "evulotion" where you "lvl up" in rank if you complete objectivs or just kill a whole lot. Each rank gives acces to better weapons (and there are many) and vehicles (and there are even more from a bike to a-10).
You have the most fun if you teamwork as a squad, its fucking awesome! If noone dicks off that is. Its a very very realistic game. One shot and your boned.
All buildings are destroyable, so are the trees, bridges and props. Just the ground does not get deformed.
Give it a try, close one eye if bugs come up and enjoy.