Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis

"Excellent Cold War FPS; a must-have for any hardcore gamer"

In Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis, you control Corporal David Armstrong, a NATO soldier. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has placed forces on three north Atlantic islands and you are sent to stop them

Graphics:

7/10

- The graphics in Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis are pretty mediocre. Character faces are bland and tasteless, explosions have no fire to any extent (it's just smoke and dust). The animations don't look to realistic. Hands are blocky. Trees, bushes, and houses are quite two dimensional looking. You can shoot the windows of buildings and but they fail to shatter...

+ The character models are good, if you don't count the face or the polygonal hands [that you see in the first person view]. Vehicles look exceptional. Wounds show up on bodies where shrapnel or bullets entered. Weapon models are good, too :)

Sounds:

7/10

+ The explosions in OFP:CWC sound very realistic. Communication (during battle) is done over a radio, which creates a fuzz effect (more realism!).

- During the campaign, your fellow soldiers will talk (obviously). Unfortunately, they almost never change their tone and speak with a lack of emotion. This sorta ruins the whole reality of war. Gunfire is relatively quiet compared to other sounds, such as voices.

Gameplay:

9/10

+ Campaign is fun to a certain degree. There is a mission editor which allows you to deploy units (friend, foe, and civilian) to any area on a map (and then you are able to play that mission). Single player missions are unlocked as you progress through the campaign. You can command squads of up to twelve units, including yourself. Buildings are destructable. You can fly planes, drive tanks, cars, etc, and can run around on foot. When your legs are injured (to a high degree), you will no longer be able to run or walk, and you will have to go prone.

- The campaign is extremely linear. The artificial intelligence has extremely good aim. I've been hit in the head from 200 meters away while lying prone (and this was on the easiest mode, cadet). The commander view is pretty weak and doesn't allow for full function of the commander position. Not enough (if any) sway on the guns when you look through the ironsights.

Replay value:

9/10

+The mission editor is always fun to play around with, but I recently found out that you can only have up to 12 units per side (NATO, USSR, civilian, resistance, etc). Many a single player mission. A few expansion packs. Many mods (modifications) that you can download.

- There is indeed a multiplayer mode in OFP:CWC, but unfortunately, less than 100 people a day usually play it, and unfortunately, deathmatch is one of the more popular gameplay modes (the OFP:CWC engine just does not seem made for a DM).

Overall:

8/10

I recommend you go purchase this game due to its low price of $10-$20 (which features both expansion packs, Resistance and Red Hammer). A demo is available if you wanna try Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis before you decide on purchasing it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/29/05