I looked at Operation Flashpoint a few times before the release, but I was wary as to whether it would stand up against other FPS games. After hearing a number of people saying how good it really was, I chose to buy it. It’s obviously a big hit with gamers considering the first 2 shops I went to had sold out, been some time since that had happened.

The story of the game takes place on an island just off the coast of Japan in the near future. The Russians actually own the island, however, it is contested territory between the owners and China. Sparks start to fly on the island when there is a huge oil deposit discovered and China tries to claim it as their own. The Russians call in aid from America, and this is where you come in. You play as a soldier in the American Army and you have been tasked with re-taking the island from the Chinese invaders.

Although there aren’t a huge amount of missions, having 11 in total, you will get quite alot of time out of the single player campaign. The reason why is because the game is pretty damn hard. Changing the difficulty of the game doesn’t make a huge amount of difference, each difficulty simply changes the amount of information you get on your HUD and it doesn’t affect the capabilities and strength of your enemies.

The main reason why this game is so difficult is because it’s very, very realistic. One shot to any part of your body will either take you down, kill you, or make you bleed out. The bleed out part isn’t too bad as you have ‘field dressing’ which will stop you from bleeding and your immediate injuries, however, depending on where you were shot will depend if it effects your game. For example, if you had been shot in the leg, you will no longer be able to sprint, it’s that realistic.

Don’t get me wrong, the realism is great, it comes as a surprise to see an FPS game this realistic and without the ability to make it any easier.

The range of weapons are reasonable, there are the normal snipers, auto-snipers, machine guns and pistols, nothing special. But what is good is the amount you can carry. When you load each mission, you will get a healthy amount of weapons which consists of a pistol, a knife, a primary weapon, a secondary weapon, C4 explosives, field dressings and finally, grenades. Basically everything you would want during a battle.

The knife is a little pointless really because, again comes the realistic element, it takes quite a while to get your weapons out. So you would really already have to have the knife out before you plan to use it. This is slightly annoying, I would have rather had a knife like in Call of Duty 4 where you can just press the right analog stick and you lash out.

Just like pretty much all other FPS games, this one comes with a multiplayer. One advantage this game has in multiplayer terms is that you can play through the entire campaign with either random people, or your Xbox Live buddies. Me and Ryanogs have given it a try a few times, and you’d think as there are more non-computer players, it would be easier, but it’s not.

Shame it wasn't as good looking as the concepts

In the single-player campaign, if you die, you simply return to the last checkpoint. However, when playing through the multiplayer, if all the players die, you have to restart the entire mission. This does get slightly tiresome after a few attempts at the same mission.

The graphics of the game are a little disappointing. Everything seems to be a little big rigid and the environment doesn’t give as much freedom as I would have hoped for. Maybe it’s game likes Gran Turismo 5, which have fantastic graphics, and Far Cry 2, which gives the gamer a massive amount of control over the environment, that give us over the top expectations. Despite that, I still think that the graphics and environment don’t even match up to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Considering that game was released a couple of years ago, Operation Flashpoint does seem a little disappointing in graphic terms.

Summary

There is not a huge amount of excitement within the campaign of this game. Fortunately, the realism of the game and the advantages of the multiplayer do help it quite a bit. The disappointment in the graphics don’t really bring the game down that much, they are still reasonable, but I would have expected more.

Although the multiplayer is very good, overall, I don’t think the game can get out of the shadow of Call of Duty 4. Once the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, I think this game will disappear into the realms of the dusty shelf. However, until then, I will continue to enjoy it.

Good Points = The realistic element brings something very new to an FPS, the multiplayer is fun.

Bad Points = Graphics could be better, co-op games are annoying if you die.

I give this game a 7/10.

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