Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis

"The ONLY game in twenty five years that left detailed memories. This is the best game I've ever played!"

Picture this: You're a black op's scoping out your target at the edge of a forest with a pair of binoculars. There are BMP's, T72's and troop patrols passing between you, and the target. Rising from a prone position you sprint to a bush near to the road side and dive for cover.

Slowly, you edge yourself across the road and crawl up a hill hoping, and secretly fearing, the pounding in your chest hasn't caught the attention of the night patrol. You reach the safety of a farm house and continue to crawl, around the back, away from the danger of the road. This has taken twenty minutes so you pause and use your only save. Now you see two guards approaching: It wasn't apparent through your binoculars that there would be more guards in this area but it would be foolish to expect otherwise. Your intelligence is about as good as your patience, but since this is your first try at the level, you're willing to take a few risks. You duck behind a bush and pray they don't hear you breathing. They pass and you take them out; you set your suppressed MP5 on auto to do the job fast, then hide both bodies.

Now the target is moments away. Here you face another challenge. You have to reach an ammo dump and this involves crossing a well used road. You're alone but well armed. If you succeed there will be so much chaos and you'll strengthen the chances of an invasion on this heavily fortified island. Choosing your moment carefully you crawl across the road and under a truck. You plant two explosives under the noses of two guards and ready yourself for the climax of your efforts.

The moment is upon you; you climb into a truck, start the engine and race off across the road hoping the farmhouses will shield you from the threat of SABOT's and machine gun fire. An alarm pierces the night as several AK47's open up, and you feel slightly safer behind the wheel of your truck. The heat momentarily subsides as, from a safe distance, you trigger the remote explosives. You're doubly satisfied as you replenished your supply of explosives before destroying the ammo dump. Unfortunately A BMP has appeared on the brink of the hill; an explosive shell narrowly misses your ride and you're in big trouble.

Swerving right, you speed towards a forest and desperately crash against a tree, angling your truck to cover your escape into the trees. By now the frame is riddled with bullets and the enemy is breathing down your neck. You charge into the heart of the forest and carry on running far into the trees, until you feel your heart must be bursting. Now you're lost and check the map. It indicates the next objective is rougly one kilometre North west of your current position. That was only the prelude- now for the main event
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That's what I mean when I say this game left permanent memories. No other game has left such a specific impression of events as they occurred. In other first person shooters, you shoot things and move on. In THIS game you actually get a full impression of the freedom and you're solely responsible for the way you carry out the objectives you're given. The situations you can get into are amazing. At one point I realised I'd done the worst thing possible, which was to complete the objective at close range. The next thing I knew I was pinned down in a building under bombardment by allied air forces. Enemy tanks and troops rolled up and down the streets, and there was no way of getting out.

This game isn't for everyone. Some people I know hate it's graphics. It does look acceptable, and even nice for 2002- but it is raw. Character models are nice although the faces and hands seem like an afterthought, which is unsurprising. On modern systems the game will run extremely well, although you'll best appreciate it with at least 256ram, a good processor over 1.4ghz and at least a gfx card with 64megs.

Sound effects range from annoying and repetitive to extremely satisfying. Machine guns are monotone and not pleasant to the ear. The M16, M60 and Ak47 are acceptable. Most notable are the SVD Dragunov and The G36. I'm sure many of you will be pleased with the explosion effects, particularly when you fire off a round from an Abrams, or throw a grenade.

This game is extremely difficult, and definitely not for casual gamers. You don't fire weapons in this game to stop your enemy from firing back; you fire your weapon to stop them from firing at all. Your primary weapon will keep you alive. Charge in like rambo, and you'll soon realise this is not an ordinary FPS. You report a shot and any adversary within several hundred metres will most likely finish you in seconds. Fire, and then move! Know where the enemy is.

Despite the difficulty, this game becomes easier due to the Sniper Rifles, which happen to be rare. The G36 and Steyr Aug, in the expansion, are welcome additions as they both have a scope. Again these are rare finds, but you should cope with a standard M16. This game also works at close range, but not in the same way as any standard FPS. It is possible to flank your enemy and run around the streets with an M60.

This game is absolutely massive. What games do you know of where you're operating in the wrong town? Thats probably why the game comes in two versions- deep, and super deep! Thank goodness you get a map. In fact this game is so big you can get lost in a Hind! You know what one of those things is? WELL, find one, get in and start it up. Just feel the power of those rotors starting up, get your crew in the back, a gunner in the front and lift off.

This game is amusing: Sometimes the enemy will be blissfully unaware of the situation, as in this case when a 4x4 containing two soldiers came out of nowhere and drove into the front of my Abrams Tanks. I'm sitting there astonished, looking through the scope of my main gun, crosshairs poised over the vehicle. I watched the plastic expressions of their faces, and drew the moment out a little as the vehicle attempted to reverse and fired a SABOT at point blank. The 4x4 momentarily disappeared then emerged on the screen two hundred metres away, on fire, and flying through the air. Hilarious.

What's bad about this game? First of all the 'dots' are good at shooting and it's sometimes frustrating shooting back and missing because they're all so far away. Secondly, don't ever let one of your squad drive a tank for you. They do well as gunners, but will drive you crazy in the driving seat. Third certain graphics and sounds aren't brilliant, but that really isn't all that noticable.
Fourth, if you don't like crawling for kilometres, don't pick up. You will need patience to play, and quite possibly, a good imagination. Do not get up and run in extreme danger. Crawl away as fast as you can if you're in the thick of things. This is sometimes hard work, but satisfying.

I'm really not good enough at writing well to convey how much I enjoyed this game, but I've been playing games since 1978 and I have a passion regardless of the genre. Admittedly, my standards have changed now that I'm in my thirties. Where once I could complete Quake 2 five times and still love it, now video games are not only unimportant and unmemorable, but they take up a lot of time, and for that reason, I have to be very careful which ones I pick up and play.

With Operation Flashpoint, I found the best game I've ever played. The size, variety and depth of this game are outstanding. It's even funny sometimes. This title is certainly in a league of its own, it's very strange, and doesn't really need you, as you'll realise at first, there's a war on and you've been allowed in. While at first you will probably fail, after playing too many 'hero' First person shooters- that endow you with shields and amazing recuperative powers under rocket fire- eventually you'll realise there are much better ways to become a force to be reckoned with. In good time whole bases will fall to your actions.

In a word, this game is MEMORABLE. Absolute gaming heaven. If this is for you, do yourself a big favour and buy.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/21/05, Updated 01/23/05