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Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis Review
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis
The game is set during the height of the cold war, and revolves around a conflict between NATO forces and a rebel Russian military group. You take on the role of lowly private, David Armstrong. At first, youâre simply obeying orders, however you can work your way up to flying aircraft, driving tanks and controlling platoons. Itâs a hugely ambitious project, trying to accurately portray a realistic war experience without the worry of complicated controls, but theyâve just about done it.
âOperation Flashpointâs developers should be of the highest calibre; theyâve done it all before but in the real life. Bohemia Interactive are a small team based in Prague that consist entirely of ex-members of the Czech Army.
These values shine throughout Operation Flashpoint; whether itâs the huge landscapes that range over kilometres, or the little details such as over 500 motion captured movements by an ex-army instructor. Operation Flashpoint will have players acting as though theyâre really caught up in the middle of a war.
A good Flashpoint player will have to spend time crawling through bushes, ducking into cover and poking a tentative gun barrel around deserted street corners, making sure to seek cover before attacking, planning assaults, using every inch of the terrain to your advantage. Thatâs no mean feat as the landscapes that youâre going to be covering our huge, thankfully thereâs jeeps, trucks, helicopters, tanks, planes, boats just about anything to save on the walking, the scope is huge.
The problems with most games like this is they get so caught up in the realism stakes, that the end result is over-complicated and ruins the game, having to memorize a command for every key is something that most people donât want to do. Thankfully Operation Flashpoint keeps everything down to a bare minimum and yet manages to make one of the most authentic war games ever. The depth is there for enthusiasts but so is the control and playability; it doesnât take long before youâre diving for cover, launching grenade attacks on tanks, taking a four-tonne truck for a ride. Ok so itâs never going to be as instinctive as a Tomb Raider game, but itâs miles ahead of Rainbow Six and others of that ilk.
Like Deus Ex before it Operation Flashpoint is a completely non-linear affair, youâre free to explore anywhere at anytime, without any barriers or restrictions.
During one mission youâll have to take control of a small village, simple enough but then youâll hear the noise of tanks, can you withhold the attack? Do so and itâs honours for you, die there and your legacy goes with you, turn around and run like I did and youâll get branded a coward!
Itâs this open ended approach that helps to immerge yourself in the game. Of course the game gently pushes you in the right direction with mission objectives and should you choose it advice from your superiors, but you always feel that youâre a part of the game, that your monitor screen is the view of a battlefield.
The AI is superb throughout; you can see it right in front of you, how both sides respond to the ever-changing situations on the battlefield, most of the time itâll be you looking out of place and not some dumb NPC. Little bit of advice to start off with follow the leader.
The graphics may not be stunning compared to what weâre used to, but remember this engine is rendering levels equivalent to 14km², so the textures may not be up to Castle Wolfensteinâs standard but Iâd like to see how big the levels are in that.
Comments
Operation Flashpoint is a hugely ambitious game, however theyâve succeeded. The sense of immersion is superb, whilst the scope of what you can actually get up to is unparalleled. Thankfully this realism doesnât come at the cost of the gameplay, as the controls are instinctive but comprehensive. Hats off to Bohemia Interactive for managing to bring such a project to realisation.
