Conflict: Denied Ops - First Look Preview

Originally announced back at X06 for Xbox 360 and PC as 'Crossfire', Conflict: Denied Ops is the fifth title in the sleeper franchise, which has achieved sales of six million units to date. Since that night in Barcelona last Autumn, publisher Eidos has added PlayStation 3 to the list of formats soon to be 'denied ops', and pushed the release from the end of 2007 to an ambiguous early 2008 launch.

But with a small number of co-op Campaign shooters either already out or beating Conflict to retail, what does development studio Pivotal have up its sleeve? TVG recently sat in on a demonstration of Denied Ops to find out more...

For starters it seems that Venezuela has become the new Vietnam or Nazi Germany, the latest flashpoint for urban and jungle warfare in videogames. Following the example set by Pandemic's Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, which attracted some rather anti-US sentiment from the South American country, Conflict: Denied Ops' storyline uses Venezuela as its backdrop (though later twists lead to locations in Europe and South Africa). It seems that one of the head honchos in the country's military, a guy called Ramirez, has overthrown the democratic government and is now threatening the world with supposed nuclear weapons. Not exactly an idyllic scenario, though thankfully, the CIA has a secret branch called the Special Activities Division (S.A.D.) to save the world...

Dropping the four-man squad system - a trademark of the series from the very beginning - Denied Ops follows the actions of two S.A.D agents, Graves and Lang, as they trek through ten missions in a bid to topple the military-established dictatorship. Two very different personalities and skills to match, the duo are the contrasting youth versus experience, heavy weapon versus light sniper, and look set to offer gamers wider options during the operations of the game. The demo itself took place at a Venezuelan monastery, now converted into a Communications Base by the military, a cue for clips to be exhausted of their bullets and tanks to fire their shells.

Co-operative gameplay is at the heart of the Conflict: Denied Ops experience, much like another Eidos title (Kane & Lynch: Dead Men) and EA's Army of Two. But if you're a loner who shies away from gaming with a friend, Denied Ops' AI with be more than happy to jump in and come along for the ride. The AI character will also be more than happy to interact with the bodies of fallen enemies - standing on one of their heads in a post-shootout show of power happened at least once. Switching between the two is as easy as a button press, pulling players out of one character and 'bodysnatching' the other in a fashion that will be more than familiar to veterans of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat. Some contextual squad commands will also be available to use, along with orders to use suppressive fire, paving the way for flanking manoeuvres. As in past Conflict titles, both Greaves and Lang know how to handle a range of military vehicles, including tanks - something Pivotal demonstrated. In the example of a tank however, both characters are required for the armoured vehicle to both move and shoot at the same time, though players can order the AI to drive it and even come around to pick them up on the way to flattening the surrounding area.

Pivotal has been hard at work expanding its proprietary development tools, creating 'Puncture Technology' that mimics the physical destruction of materials including glass and brick. Beyond a layer of visual detail that should be expected on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the technology opens up some added depth to the gameplay - shoot a neat hole through a concrete wall, and you've got yourself a safe place to lob a grenade through. At the very least, Puncture should offer gamers interesting alternatives to just running out of cover and getting obliterated...unless your own cover is shot to hell by soldiers and mercenaries, that is. Whilst proprietary to Pivotal, Puncture follows a similar path to Digital Molecular Matter, developed by Pixelux and currently being exclusively used by LucasArts in both Indiana Jones and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

Beyond taking down dictatorships and allowing gamers to shoot holes in walls, a sense of morality is being built into Conflict, though how deep this will get will have to be seen next year. We didn't get to see it in action during the demo, however Pivotal did at least give an example of how morality is used in Denied Ops. At times gamers will be given the option save hostages, obviously a very nice thing for them do - it's something that would get them the Hostage badge in the Scouts. But whilst Graves and Lang won't be pushed into rescuing them, players that do could be rewarded - it turns out that some of the hostages know how to handle a weapon, helping the pair out with AI-controlled attacks on enemy positions.

Away from the Campaign and Co-op, Conflict will of course feature online multiplayer and the usual selection of gametypes such as Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Conquest, for up to 16-players. Beyond that, and news of the Multiplayer maps taking a nod from the locations, there's very little to go on for now. Hopefully the emphasis for Conflict's online functionality beyond co-op will be on trying to replicate the buddy/buddy gameplay of the Campaign - after all, the usual regurgitation of gametypes has already strayed beyond the description of 'over used'...generic comes to mind.

Oh, and what about Army of Two, EA's take on the buddy co-op shooter? Let's just say that Pivotal aren't holding back, as one member of the team told TVG, "We'll see them [EA] at retail...we're the ones to beat!" Looks like the battle lines have been drawn. Both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners will get to experience a teaser of the Conflict: Denied Ops action later in 2007, when a demo makes an appearance on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.