New signing Rob starts off with a review of Operation Flashpoint : Dragon Rising. Please be nice to him, he’s only little!
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Operation flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a somewhat unique game in that although other titles have claimed to push the boundaries of warfare realism, OF actually does. Forget glitzy Hollywood visuals and set pieces, lightning quick weapon changes and the somewhat ridiculous ability to “throw back” grenades, OF drops you head first into what US marines would call “the suck” and expects you to scramble over its steep learning curve like a road runner with a coyote up its arse.
The original game released back in 2001, received lukewarm reviews and was mostly praised for its aforementioned sense of realism. Thankfully granny’s cookie recipe has remained intact in the last 8 years, and the sequel holds true to what set the original apart from the rest of the crowd back in the day. The hauntingly identifiable introduction paints a picture of a microcosmic confrontation between our buddies; the dick swinging, high fiving, “Hoorah!” yanks, and the “rising” military power that stems from the Chinese. Simply put, the Chinese run out of oil, and in turn decide to “nationalise” the Russain occupied island of Skira, fittingly oozing with the black stuff. The Russians receive assistance from the UN in the form of US forces and the premise for the game is set.
The game itself does well to mix in different aspects of infantry combat. There is a good sprinkling of “special forces” ops among the standard Spielberg esq. adrenaline fuelled assault missions. A shining example would be where your “spec ops” team is inserted to destroy a radio mast under cover of darkness. After inserting, your team reaches a ridge to set up observations and an opportunity shows itself in the form of a high ranking general dropping in for a surprise inspection and some people’s liberation noodles. Although far from the run and gun action of Modern Warfare 2, the way in which OP conveys each mission, coupled with its gameplay reveals a believable taste as to what a soldiers battle might be like, albeit as close as we can come to one sat in an armchair and chewing a Twix. The environment created does provide a challenge in that a simple charge from point A to B usually ends up with you hearing the “pitter patter” of some people’s liberation bullets, leading to screams of “medic”, followed by “you are dead” and in turn followed by some white knuckles and a new found racism towards anybody of an Asian ethnicity. You are encouraged to use cover and go prone the moment you find yourself in some Chinese crosshairs, hastily barking orders to your team (more on that later) to return fire and organise some sort of counter attack.
Spotting enemies is another challenge entirely, as although on lower difficulties a handy HUD displays the direction of any potential enemies, it can be another job entirely actually spotting your foe, often leaving you confused, and in the worst case scenarios, send you straight into the jaws of a waiting ambush. There is an impressive array of authentic weapons from the much loved M16 all the way to contemporary Chinese weapons such as the anti armour queen bee, without a “pimped” gold plated desert eagle in sight. The weapons are very much seen as tools for the job, as opposed to fashion accessories, and each can be customised for various jobs such as night ops, assault and silenced, and can be genuinely useful for each task they are designed for. The gameplay does set you up for some genuinely rewarding moments. There is nothing more satisfying short of relieving yourself than finding an enemy MG emplacement, laying down suppressive fire, popping smoke, and flanking mister Chan from places he never knew existed.
Visually the game does not make full use of the systems it’s designed to run on, with terrible grass textures, and static trees. Although the whole game takes place on the island of Skira, which is indeed massive and a joy to explore; a lot could be learnt from Far cry in my opinion, and although the visual element doesn’t affect gameplay directly, it would have been nice to hunt enemies in an environment as realistic as the combat itself. There are some nice additions in its physics engine, in that when shooting at range, bullets drop short of their targets, forcing you to actually make use of those previously useless markings on your sniper rifle. The physics in other respects however is remarkably poor. Shooting down a helicopter for instance is like watching a fridge being dropped from a top floor window. Again, not a write off, but it would have been nice to see Skira and its combatants in all its glory.
The other major aspects to the game are your team-mates. The enemy AI provides a challenge, outflanking you in helicopters and using woods as cover, which is a lot more than can be said for your moronic team, often ruining your best laid plans by standing up and exposing themselves to the enemy, and getting killed. Then, of course, you discover your inherent racism towards thick American marines. Considering the whole game is based around squad combat, the team AI is genuinely lacklustre. The orders menu is clunky and no where near fluid enough to issue commands in the heat of a fire-fight, and the whole experience sours the campaign mood. On top of this, the audio from your team is particularly frustrating. Although I respect the fact that verbal confirmations and orders must be flexible enough to adhere to every type of order to each part of the island, the audio system could surely be cleaned up. Stephen Hawking springs to mind, and again with the terrible friendly AI really breaks up the flow of an otherwise enjoyable mission, often leading me to carry out the mission alone. That said, simply because I cannot understand Chinese, the enemy audio is well done. I will never forget the instance just before I stormed a house, hearing Chinese on the other side, before communist bullets tore through the adjacent window.
The final aspect of the game, and perhaps its strongest feature, is its online mode. Here players can fill the boots of their hapless squad, and either partake in the traditional styles of play (deathmatch etc) or have a crack at the campaign missions. This is really when the game comes into its own, giving rise to countless instances of “epic teamwork” and “cover me, I’m goin in!”. The already well designed missions are simply playgrounds of creativity and experimentation, with the human element obviously infinitely superior to the fools who get you shot in the campaign.
In all, the game is definitely worth the purchase if you have a measure of patience, can stand going back to somewhat dated graphics, and have an internet connection. The game is a refreshing break from the at times tedious monotony of flashy shooters out there, and although sometimes lacking in the single player campaign, the multiplayer definitely rewards enough to justify a good few weeks of your life to your games machine. With authentic settings and weapons, well thought out missions and rewarding realism, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is time well spent on your own, and an experience not to be missed with friends.
Buy Now from Amazon from £12.93
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