Lands Divided is another single-player campaign made by Apollyon, and from what I understand it’s set in the same universe as The Bay Of Hugeris. This campaign takes place in the fictional country of Locombia, a typical third-world despot state, filled with crime, corrupt officials, and murdering rebels. Things are not all bad, though – now, with the country of Vespaccia taking interest in the stability of the Locombia, helping it regain its footing. You play (at first at least) as a squad leader, part of an expeditionary peacekeeping force sent to the country to help the president and the local forces to retain control of the country. Things are going well at first, but as common in these regions, rebels will show their discontent in the form of extreme violence.
A few differences in this campaign compared to Hugeris is that now you have to equip the player-character yourself, which I think is a nice addition, even if I don’t mind forced equipment. Regular soldiers don’t get to pick and choose weapons, usually. The scenery has changed from Nordic woods to claustrophobic jungles, and instead of playing a part of the standard army, you play as either Vespaccian high-tech spec ops soldiers, or ragtag guerilla freedom fighters.
The story is well-written, but unfortunately, I don’t feel invested in this conflict, not even the guys you play as care about this hellhole. The spec ops guys are there just to do missions on behalf of their government, it’s not their country, they don’t care, and they don’t even find the local military any good. And while playing rebel/guerilla is fun, since you are on the receiving end of high-tech weaponry, and have to think outside the box, I don’t feel invested here either. These guys just seem like the typical murdering communist rebels, so it’s hard to find any sympathy and investment here. It’s not that I have any problems playing as the “bad guys” but you are not given much to go on here. As I said, well-written, but a bit thin. I need more motivation!
The missions are fine for the most part, even if I don’t like spec ops missions that much, at least in solo-play. I mean, I don’t mind them, but it does get a bit tiresome sneaking through the jungle after a while. Zero visibility with an extreme mortality rate takes its toll. Also, spotting AI in all this green is a horror of its own. The big battles are fun as usual, though. They got a nice sense of escalation since when the battle rages on new objectives get called out, platoons need rescue, etc. What I really didn’t like was the more sandbox-style of missions for the rebels. I felt it didn’t fit, considering how poorly equipped these guys are, and suddenly you have to take on fifty enemies with a small squad sporting old FN FAL rifles. It also felt absurd having my squad move around freely without retaliation when the objective guards have been killed. The army and the Vespaccians would be sending in everything they got, as they do when you play as them, so I found these missions to be weirdly disconnected from the general narrative/setting.
Still, it’s an entertaining campaign, especially if you are one of those crazies that love jungle combat, and playing as a poorly equipped rebel is always an interesting challenge. And it being a mod, it’s free, so you can’t really go wrong if you are in the mood for some high-octane single-player Arma action.
/Thomas
Tom's Gaming Blog 