Okay, that's not exactly what the developer is saying, but it's certainly implied. ARMA II, the sequel to ArmA: Armed Assault, released earlier this year with more than a few terrible bugs and glitches. While Bohemia has been releasing patches on a regular basis, I'd say the players still playing are definitely in line for some congratulatory downloadable content.

Patch 1.05 brings that content to players, with a brand new "Eagle Wing" mini-campaign that puts players in control of the new AH-64 Apache attack helicopter on a mission behind enemy lines. The patch also ups the scale of ARMA II's warfare mode with the "When Diplomacy Fails" game type, which allows for 3 sided diplomacy across all factions. Warfare mode is a combination of real-time battles and strategy, letting players fight on the front lines or issue tactical orders as a commander.

"At Bohemia Interactive we make a continuous commitment to support our products. This latest update 1.05 reaffirms our commitment to ARMAII2 and our community at large: it includes the free downloadable content as our way of saying thank you to all those who buy our games and provide us support and feedback from around the globe. We continue to be amazed by the many ways our community is constantly expanding on our game with add-ons, mods and usermade missions. With this level of continued activity surrounding our game it's our pleasure to be able to support it this extensively post-launch." said Marek Spanel, Bohemia´s CEO.

Patch 1.05 will be released later this month. Congratulations, ARMA II diehards. You've earned it.

Built on Bohemia's proprietary engine - the same one powering ArmA II - it looks set to excite anyone who can remember the original and imagined then what it would like in the distant future.

It's out next year, and is due for PC and "next generation consoles". More screens over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

First Images: Carrier Command [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Called Operation Arrowhead, it's set three years after the events depicted in ARMA II and takes place in an all-new region, the tastefully-named Takistan. Yup, an all-new region. Not new missions on an existing map, a whole new place to run around for ages in then die suddenly without warning.

That's about it for the info, because the game won't be properly unveiled until next week at Gamescom in Koln.

While the sequel to the spiritual successor of the original Operation Flashpoint hits Steam this week, many of us still prefer the unique smell of a freshly opened game box, and Got Game Entertainment has us covered. July 7th marks the date we'll be able to purchase the game in stores, because North America is all important.

"North America is one of the most powerful and important markets in terms of a game's marketing and distribution," said Marek Spanel, Bohemia's CEO. Spanel continues "We were looking for responsible and credible partners who will focus on ARMA II with the kind of drive and enthusiasm that this huge project deserves. We feel Got Game Ent. will be the right partner for us and I believe together we will make ARMA II a success in North America."

He's probably just talking about Canada of course, but those of us in the U.S. are used to riding them coattails by now.

They've got to be much too busy dealing with the sad situation in the fictional country of Chernarus, where Western forces have been called in to help quell a civil war, with the player first stepping into the shoes of a member of a U.S. Marine Corps Force Recon company. I suppose that makes it okay for Europe to get it first, as those of us in the states could just go enlist if we wanted a realistic simulation of the life of a Marine.

ArmA II, which I am dangerously close to just calling Armed Assault II because it sounds better, releases on Steam in North America on June 26th.

Those aren't scripted sequences. Or cutscenes. Or background objects. That battle going on involves hundreds and hundreds of AI soldiers going about their business, and you're just along for the ride.

You see, Bohemia flew the Codemasters coop a long time ago, and came up with their own, newer version of Flashpoint, called ArmA. Which is what they had to call it, because Codemasters owned the rights to the name "Operation Flashpoint". It was...OK, but never really hit it big like Flashpoint did. Bohemia are going to release a sequel, ArmA 2, later this year.

Meanwhile, recognising the pulling power of the OF brand name, Codemasters will this year release Operation Flashpoint 2, which they've developed in-house. Same name as the original, yes, but totally different development team. Still with us? Great.

Because Bohemia have - despite Codemasters announcing Flashpoint 2 many, many months ago - only now decided to speak out against their former publisher. Taking issue with the fact Codies are marketing Flashpoint 2 as the "return of" Flashpoint, Bohemia's CEO Marek Spanel has written a lengthy tirade basically going to town on Codemaster's claims to the franchise's legacy, which concludes with:

"We can't stop Codemasters from releasing a game using the words ‘Operation Flashpoint,'" acknowledged Spanel. "But it is not right to promote this game as the ‘official sequel to the multi-award winning Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis' or the ‘return' of Bohemia Interactive's ‘genre-defining military conflict simulator.' The awards were given for the game created by Bohemia Interactive - not to a name."

Legally, it all means squat (SQUAT), and Spanel knows this. Bohemia's original contract stated that Codemasters owned the rights to the name, and that's that. He's just obviously upset that his own company's work is being overshadowed by these "imposters", and would like the world to know.

And now you know. That change anything?

New "Operation Flashpoint", Codemasters' Marketing Creates Confusion [Bohemia, via Big Download]

Either way, the screenshot certainly looks nice. Bohemia went out of their way to make sure we knew this was in no way doctored, though I suspect those logos might not make it into the final game.