"Not a First Person Shooter, But a Battlefield Simulator"

Operation Flashpoint is one of a kind. It's unlike any other first person shooter. You and your squad charge at a town, under fire. You quickly crouch behind a tree, where you have a good firing position. The Reds are 100 meters away. You aim, fire. They shoot back. You hear bullets hit the ground next to your head. You get up, and run to a better shooting position. But you don't last long in the open. A bullet hits your leg, and you crawl to a medic, desperately trying to avoid getting shot, occasionally returning fire. But it's too late. A bullet hits your head. You're dead.

Graphics: 8 The graphics are great in some ways, not as good in others. The movements of the 5 ton trucks and jeeps are very convincing. The character body models and the character's movement are all very nice looking. The appearance of a Black Hawk soaring through the air is magnificent, and the view from the seats is stunning. However, once you land and get out, the ground looks somewhat ordinary, and the trees don't look that detailed. The explosion effects aren't that great either. And the reloading sequences of guns make it look like you're only touching the weapon. Don't get me wrong. The graphics aren't bad. Hell, sometimes they're simply stunning. However, other times, they aren't so spectacular.

Sound Effects: 8 The battlefield sounds are impressive. You can tell who's winning the battle sometimes just by listening to the gunfire. And the sounds vehicles make are excellent. However, the explosions tend to sound the same after awhile. That's really my only complaint.

Music: 10 Excellent. Just excellent. The music fits the mood of war very well. Sometimes it's intense, other times more mild, and often it's dark. It matches the given occurrence of the game perfectly. One of the games highest points. There are also a couple of specially composed rock songs in the game that are played occasionally. The music score is definitely among the best ever to be in a game.

Gameplay: 10 Definitely the game's strongest point. Unlike most shooters, where you can take 10 hits, and you fight in closed environments, you engage the enemy at least 100 meters in Operation Flashpoint. And it's not world based, like so many other shooters. In Operation Flashpoint there are three different islands where the game takes place. Each mission takes place at a various point on one of the islands. You can run the length of the entire island in some missions. You can also steal any vehicle in the game. While it may seem unrealistic to just jump into an Mi17 and fly off if your character isn't a pilot, the game never actually gives you the opportunity to be unrealistic. Some people won't like the game's one save a mission feature, either. While it can get frustrating, the game does have auto-saves, and frankly, I think it adds to the intensity. There are times, however, when the missions are simply too hard. In one mission, for instance, you need to break into a building to steal documents. To do this, you must infiltrate the base by sneaking past the gate, and quietly making your way to the building in question, and then make your way out. The briefing suggests you can do this all without being seen. Didn't work like that for me though. After I snuck into the base, I just shot all the guards near the building, and ran inside, since the building was just too guarded to sneak in. By this time, the alarm already went off. So I had to sprint out of the house, hoping that the infantry and tanks would miss me. Took me countless tries, and I won mostly due to luck.

AI: 9 The AI tends to be very effective. For one thing, there's no way in hell you'd be able to complete a mission without your squad. The enemy AI is very effective at hunting you down, and your squad's AI is very good at protecting one another from the Reds.

The only fault is that in some rare situations, the AI isn't as good as you'd expect. For instance, say you're on top of a hill, with an M21, looking down at an enemy base. You start sniping the enemies, yet instead of taking cover, the enemies just go prone, making them easier targets.

However, those situations are pretty rare. For the most part the AI is superb.

Plot: 8 The game takes place in 1985, towards the end of the Cold War. A rogue Russian general, without authorization, invades a small, independent island. NATO forces respond by counter-attacking the island. Over the course of the game, you play as one of four American soldiers: An infantryman, David Armstrong, a black op, James Gastovski, a tank commander, Robert Hammer, and a pilot, Sam Nicholls. You proceed to fend off a Russian attack at another, NATO controlled island, and the battle is eventually taken to the Russian controlled island of Kolgujev. For a game of it's type, the plot is quite well, especially when you consider the depth which is revealed in the expansion packs.

Overall

Operation Flashpoint is a great game, but due to it's extreme realism, this game is not for everybody. You might prefer games like Half-Life and Soldier of Fortune, which contain more ''in your face'' action. And this game is not without it's flaws, but once you look past them, there is a great game underneath. Hell, I'd give it a 10, but due to the flaws, I had to bump it down to a 9.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/14/03, Updated 02/04/04