"Target: FPS gamers... Hit successful!"

Whether or not you can tell with the title, this game is definitely a hit with FPS fans and FPS simulation games. I have always tried to play Tom Clancy games but found that they played too slow for me and were too difficult. Operation Flashpoint bridges the gap between First Person Shooter and First Person Shooter Simulation games. While being realistic, it is not too hard yet too unrealistic like Soldier of Fortune.

GAMEPLAY: Gameplay is just... so great for this game. The AI, I feel is very well for a FPS. Of course, there are some things that could be improved upon. The game isn't frustratingly difficult. Various different ways of vision in the game make it interesting. Such as a Weapon View (view from the barrel), 3rd Person View and 1st Person View.

The game has two ways of play, single missions or Campaign. Single missions is exactly what it sounds like. A mission and the menu will give a quick overview of what the mission is like. Some of these are fairly easy and the others can be a pain.

Campaign is a series of missions and has a storyline. So basically the missions keep on continuing. Some of them are boring and aren't interesting.

A unique thing in Operation Flashpoint is to fly planes, helicopters, drive cars, boats and tanks. I will explain that later with the mission editor.

One gripe I have though is when you are the commander of a squad, I have trouble understanding how to order my squad around.

STORYLINE: Simple storyline. The Soviets invade 3 small islands and NATO sends some troops in. A Resistance force put together by citizens of the island help battle the Soviets. You assume the role of a young soldier. Simple enough, like I said.

GRAPHICS: Appealing graphics. The character models and villages look good and from a helicopter, forests look good. Bushes and small things aren't very great looking, but that's fine. A good thing about the game is it's not too demanding for a good videocard. I can run it excellent on a integrated graphics card (which I hope to change soon). Tanks and vehicles look good as well and weapon models look pretty accurate.

SOUND: Sound isn't anything spectacular. The weapons sound good and so do the vehicles but it's not stellar sound like Medal of Honor. One sound bit I find very interesting is the sound of the helicopter blades rotating. Voices sound good, but if you aren't very close to the speaker, it is difficult to hear them so that isn't too good. But overall, I can't really complain. It's good.

CONTROLS: Controls can be customized, which is a must for any game. I like the original controls. They are simple enough. At first some controls can be confusing if you aren't used to a slower paced shooter (although you can sprint by holding down Shift). Aim is accurate and aim will change if you have been hit in the arm. Just regular FPS controls I guess.

A unique control aspect is to change what weapon you have by dropping your current weapon and taking the weapon from a cold, dead body. You can also take ammo and other things too.

MISSION EDITOR: This ensures replayability. If it wasn't for this, I would have gotten bored with it a lot quicker. All the mission editor is, is to make your own mission by placing troops, vehicles and other things onto a map. It looks complicated at first, but read the tutorial with the game and you'll see how simple it is. I just love making some simple mission with me going off on the plane and flying around the island for fun.

That's my whole review. If you can, try the game before you buy it to make sure you liked it. I would have reviewed the multiplayer but...

... I borrowed this game from a friend for a week and a half and only played multiplayer for about a half hour total so I can't really make it part of the review.

If you're looking for a break from a regular FPS or a realistic FPS, try this and you shant be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/07/02, Updated 12/07/02