I loved flashpoint (I also own arma, i do enjoy it but) They didn't fix any of the really annoying things that bugged me in flashpoint. Primarily being clunky animations. i.e. un-like other fps games, you can't move and reload, basically once an animation is in progress you can't cancel it and do something else instead. Like you start reloading your weapon a baddie jumps out, and your forced to stand still there and wait for your guy to reload. The AI (my favorite thing is creating missions, so this annoys me) is very inconsistent, sometimes the AI has the skill of a pro seal team other times, its like you handed a hippy a gun and he wont shoot anyone. Also with the AI, as far as entering structures the AI is a little confused, and just don't do it right. Another gripe is, with the realism of the ground warfare from the soldiers point of view, I wish they went that extra mile to "sim out" all aspects i.e. fighting from a tank, or air unit so the game would function great as a stand alone sim from any battlefield position such as armor air or infantry.
Now some positives, as far as simluation goes, you cant really beat it. I LOVE the mission editor and the great mods created by the community (Primarily new soldier types, countries, vehicles, air units, weapons, and full scale maps). But yes the game can be played in various ways, such as an RTS. say you have a squad, you can "order" them instead of leading them if you so choose, pretty precisely I might add. For the scale of the game the graphics arent bad. Overall my only big gripe is the clunky animiations that cause you to feel restricted in movement. Aside from that if your looking for a simulation give it a shot.