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And that’s what impresses me the most about Operation Flashpoint. This is not a game which jostles with its peers be the Next Big Thing. It makes no effort to be a glossy, no-holds-barred shootathon. It doesn’t need to. Codemasters have realised that if you break the mould with ... Read review
As close to war as you ever want to get. In the depths of the Cold War, the unthinkable ... more
happened when Soviet renegades invaded the Malden Islands and the USA answered the plea for freedom. For the first time, all three campaigns of the Cold War's darke...
Advantages: Realistic, soldier-istic, and almost fantastic Disadvantages: Frustrating, high system specs and lacks oomph
...impresses me the most about Operation Flashpoint. This is not a game which jostles with its peers be the Next Big Thing. It makes no effort to be a glossy, no-holds-barred shootathon. It doesn’t need to. Codemasters have realised that if you break the mould with style, everyone forgets that the mould ever existed.
The first thing that must be understood about Operation Flashpoint is that this is not a game for the trigger-happy. ... ...reason for this is that Operation Flashpoint is more of a simulation than anything else. Instead of the confined corridors of most FPS’s, the firefights are set against a backdrop of open grassland. This in itself results in a different style of play from other shooters. Most of the duration of a gunfight is spent crawling along the ground, trying to spot distant targets; by silhouette or by the muzzle flash of their weapon as they open fire. more
In an ideal world there would be no wars. But then, in such a peaceful society, what sort of PC games would we play? Because although there are hundreds of sports and suchlike presented in the medium of computer games, the most popular subject by far is war.
What is it about killing that keeps the punters coming back for more? There is nothing that the average teenage boy enjoys more (except perhaps the obvious) than a violent, bloody, state-of-the-art first-person shooter.
The games producers and publishers have of course latched on to this and we (the PC gamers) are inundated with new FPS’s on a regular basis. Games such as Half-life have enjoyed huge success, and each new FPS that is released is called upon to be bigger and better than the last.
And that’s what impresses me the most about Operation Flashpoint. This is not a game which jostles with its peers be the Next Big Thing. It makes no effort to be a glossy, no-holds-barred shootathon. It doesn’t need to. Codemasters have realised that if you break the mould with style, everyone forgets that the mould ever existed.
The first thing that must be understood about Operation Flashpoint is that this is not a game for the trigger-happy. Approaching this game in the same fashion as a run of the mill FPS will only result in failure and frustration. The reason for this is that Operation Flashpoint is more of a simulation than anything else. Instead of the confined corridors of most FPS’s, the firefights are set against a backdrop of open grassland. This in itself results in a different style of play from other shooters. Most of the duration of a gunfight is spent crawling along the ground, trying to spot distant targets; by silhouette or by the muzzle flash of their weapon as they open fire.
But Operation Flashpoint doesn’t stop at infantry combat. During the course of the game the player experiences war at every angle, from being in it up to the neck as an infantry grunt, to soaring overhead as the pilot of a Thunderbolt.
Operation Flashpoint certainly looks the part. The game engine is good, and well suited to outdoor environments. Although the system specs for optimal performance are quite high, the game runs well on lower end systems with texture detail turned right down and still looks fine. All the vehicles are accurately represented, and although I can’t personally vouch for the authenticity of the weapons, they feel good enough for a civilian such as myself. It also includes a third-person view as well as the standard first-person, something that is becoming more common in FPS’s. This view is especially helpful when driving a vehicle such as a tank, when visibility is all-important.
The in game sound is suitably dramatic, with realistic sounding engines and gunfire. The radio traffic, which is integral to the gameplay as a whole, sounds very authentic, complete with phonetic coordinate readings.
The idea of Operation Flashpoint to allow the player to fight as a soldier, a driver, a gunner and a pilot, not to mention a squad commander, is vast and mostly implemented well, but there are many things which are far from perfect. The level of difficulty becomes very high even for an experienced gamer, and the style of play takes a good while to get the hang of. Early on in the game, a large amount of time is spent simply moving from place to place and this may irk the more impatient gamer.
The game plays in a convincing fashion, as though it considers itself to be above the antics of its peers. Whether you enjoy playing it or not is down to what you look for in a FPS, action or realism. While Operation Flashpoint scores well on realism, it lacks the bite that makes a truly great FPS. There are no really great bits to this game, but there are a large amount of good ones, which is more than can be said for most games.
In short, Operation Flashpoint sneers at the hectic FPS’s that are so numerous these days, and instead treads the path of originality. The result is a war simulation both fun to play and realistic, complete with war quotes on the game over screen. Remember, war is not fun. But computer games are.
Advantages: Very atmospheric and realistic. Great graphics, sound and computer AI. Groundbreaking. Includes free editor. Great multi-player. FUN! Disadvantages: Will need a decent computer to run (see op). There are a few minor bugs. Campaign interface could be a little more polished.
...was a bit scared.
Operation Flashpoint is a complete simulation of war – from the officers barking orders to the sound of gun fire everything seems so real its utterly believable. One mission you might be escorting an officer on a routine patrol in a jeep. He orders you to disembark and next thing you know you and a couple of fellow soldiers are chasing an enemy Special Forces guy through the forest. Another mission you might be in command ... ...been playing a bit of Operation Flashpoint using GameSpy Arcade which is a good Internet program for viewing lists of games and chatting to people and arranging things before joining online games. You can get the program either off the game CD or from www.gamespyarcade.com.
You can play a few varieties of game. You might want to play an all out Deathmatch where everybody is killing everybody else or you can play a game of two teams against each ...
tendril- 13.07.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Operation Flashpoint (PC)
Advantages: Realistic Disadvantages: Realism denies the graphics somewhat
...thing that attracted me to Operation Flashpoint, was the alleged sheer realism of the game. I'm not one for wanton violence, but I do like to watch documentaries on war.
So naturally, I got this game. Was I disappointed? In a word no.
When you first start playing the game, the main menu screen pops up. There is a video of 'in game' footage running in the background and you are presented with: Single player; Campaign; Mission editor and multiplayer.
... ...yet there is a story running through them. It is a little confusing though, in that all of these missions are unlocked. You see, even though it is called single player, this is not the main part of the game. More like a place you can come to perfect your skills, yet a little more inventive than a training ground. There are quite a few different levels.
The campaign mode however IS the main part of the game. You start of at military camp, oblivious ...
Danbuckley5 26.10.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Operation Flashpoint (PC)
Advantages: Excellent game with great graphics and sound Disadvantages: None
I can safely say that this is the most addictive and also frustrating game that I have ever played. This game takes the role of a 1st person (or 3rd person) shooter. This game contains a mixture of both Project IGI and Rogue Spear, IGI for the stealth and Rogue Spear for the killing. But this game contains a new feature, this is that when on the battle field you may commandeer vehicles, these range from cars and trucks to tanks and choppers, you ... ...The overall plot of the game is that there is a renegade Russian general, who is fed up with NATO running the show around Europe. The General who is power hungry, blood thirsty and an all round nutter, decides that he will pick a fight with NATO, silly bloke. This general has got his own personal army from somewhere from existing Russian forces who are out there to finally show NATO that there are not an easy ride, using these fanatical troops he ...
robin_best 29.06.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Operation Flashpoint (PC)
Advantages: Brilliant blend of genres, realism, good multiplayer Disadvantages: graphics lacking in areas
Operation Flashpoint. This is a game that managed to revolutionise the entire PC shooting-sim market, and certainly for the better. Technically it’s third person too, but that’s the thing – Operation Flashpoint is the perfect marriage of multiple game genres. Want to fly a helicopter? You can. Maybe a plane? No problem. Or you could always just cruise around on one of the many ground vehicles, ranging from tanks to tractors. Operation Flashpoint ... ...The Gold Edition of Operation Flashpoint can be picked up for around £30 now, and it comes complete with the ‘Resistance’ add-on, a great expansion for the game, with new vehicles and missions. I’d take no hesitation in recommending this to anyone, and I’m not going to:
Get it.
Thanks for reading.
Minimum Specs required:
Windows 95
Intel Pentium II 400 CPU 64Mb RAM 450Mb Hard Disk Space 16 bit DirectX compatible soundcard 8X Speed CD-ROM Drive ...
Memorandum 29.07.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Operation Flashpoint (PC)
Advantages: Tough, gritty, realistic, vast. Disadvantages: No Information Minister! Can be slow, need a decent PC to run it.
...pumping.
There's more to Operation Flashpoint than just combat, although this is the major element. Stealth and cunning play a part in many missions, especially lone or Black Ops ones. Different skills are needed when sniping or evading capture than when involved in a mass engagement. You can also drive vehicles, which adds another degree of playability to the game, this variety keeping things exciting and preventing it from becoming a mundane slog ... ...be commandeered and utilised, as can civilian transport. Resistance and civilian units provide an added challenge, as you fight with or against them, or simply try not to kill them in the crossfire.
Graphics and video are top quality,and the cut scenes in particular add a lot to the game, although they can become repetetive. Perspective is handled well, and the islands feel vast. You can pick out enemy soldiers, albeit specks, as the cross the horizon ...
Decoy 08.05.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Operation Flashpoint (PC)
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Advantages: immersive large environments, tactical team play, good graphics, realistic but not too much Disadvantages: poor AI in places, buggy multiplayer at the moment
OperationFlashpoint 2 : Dragon Rising came out just last week and I got it as an early birthday present from a lovely friend. Being naughty, I didn?t want to wait to play it so I tore it out of its packaging and installed it. My main goal was playing the multiplayer co-op with him, but I?ll get to that in a moment. I?ll start from the beginning.
I have never played OperationFlashpoint, but I had heard good things (and rave reviews) about the original. The developers had made a ?realistic? combat FPS, that was detailed and hard, but still fun to play. Those same developers left and went about making ARMA and ARMA2, games in a similar vein. I played ARMA and I have to admit, I didn?t like it. It was too realistic. That was my main problem with it. I found the interface clunky and I was dead before I could even spot an enemy. I was ...
Advantages: amazing game fun full of ation long lenghty game action packed Disadvantages: none
As you know, I play a LOT of First Person Shooters... But, however, NOT like this!
OperationFlashpoint 2 is a game about strategy, tactics AND manouverability... How you fight the war, is your decision; the game is absolutely HUGE! And requires you to have either a very good attention span, or an addiction to games wish lots of amazing features...
This game blows away ANY FPS game you've played, EVER! Well, ok, fine... Maybe not all of them, but most of them...
Graphics overally are amazing, astounding, groundbreaking and purely; look so realistic, that it feels like a real war right in the comfort of your own home! Or, just to put it simply, at your fingertips!
Weapons are simply... Amazing, from small arms, to heavy anti-aircraft weapons, you can fire your weapon at almost... anything, to be honest... RPG's right through to M249 ...
Advantages: Great Fun Disadvantages: There arent too many
I wouldn?t have bought Insane (it should be 1SANE, but I would rather just call it as it is pronounced) but for the fact that I got it free when I bought OperationFlashpoint. I was quite happy getting a 2 for 1 deal on two ?Codemasters? games, because they are usually quite good. If any of you want to get this deal, I got it in PC World (surprisingly) in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. I thought the game mustn?t be all that good since they were giving it away free.
~~~My Problems~~~
I had a few BIG problems with this game. The main one being that it was compatible with the driver I was using for my graphics card. This meant that every time I went to play the game, it just froze. Then once I found a driver that worked (the one that I got with Windows ME just to surprise you, probably because it works best with Direct X) the game would ...
tybalt2k 21.10.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Insane (PC)
If you thought that Operation Flashpoint--a cross between Hidden and Dangerous and Delta Force: Land Warrior--was packed full of realistic military action then think again. With Operation Flashpoint Gold you get 20 brand new single-player plot-linked missions, new vehicles and even an modest increase to your arsenal. Based in the first/third person viewpoint, you start as a Private in the Allied forces in 1985, sent on a number of missions against the imposing Russian forces. From here, following a campaign that takes you across many villages, forests and enemy bases, the idea is simple: stay sharp, stay alive and follow orders. But Operation Flashpoint Gold doesn't stop at being a first-person shooter in an army simulated world, for all the vehicles, whether it be a jeep or an Apache helicopter, can also be controlled by you. Set across luscious landscapes and rolling valleys, you'll soon start to think you're in a Chris Ryan book or army film as you and your platoon sweep a valley in extended file.In addition to the great eye candy, the AI for both your fellow soldiers and the enemy is very impressive, and at times you can soon be left behind in the battlefield if you don't pay close attention to what's going on. And the added bonus of a mission editor will allow you to continue with more assignments after you've finished the testing campaign and single mission levels.As with most games of this ilk, there's a heavy emphasis on multiplayer (there are 12 new multiplayer maps in the edition), without it hindering the single player game--and therefore the usual array of deathmatch, capture the flag and domination options are all here, with online communities around the globe already growing in vast numbers day by day. Make no mistake, Codemasters have come up with one of those games that'll be hard to beat in terms of sheer playability and open-ended gameplay, and if you've ever thought of donning that 58 pattern webbing then here's your chance to do so without getting too dirty. --Jason Denwood
