Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis was one of my all-time favourite games on PC, so I’d be lying if I said I wasn't pretty excited over the prospect of a sequel.
Few games managed to achieve the sense of freedom and real warfare that Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis did, and few have managed the same since. Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis was a benchmark for war simulators which was revelled in by players around the world. That sets the scene for Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. Of some concern this time around for players might be that the sequel was not made by Bohemia Interactive, but rather by Codemaster’s in-house development team, so let's find out if this has had an effect.
Set approximately fifteen years after the events that occurred in the original game, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising will have you take control of US soldiers with your new found allies, the Russians. The game is set around the island of Skira (off the north coast of Japan), that has approximately 220km² of open-roaming sandbox for you to explore. Skira is a volcanic island with a range of terrain for you to traverse, giving the game an enormous feel.
A war has erupted over oil (as usual) on the island of Skira, and China has invaded Skira to claim it back as having been originally under its control. Russia and the US do not stand idly by, but in fact launch a counter-attack to take control of the island. The story-line and presentation makes the game and the missions appear very authentic and believable.
The missions you are sent on are divided into pieces, making it easier to partially complete them and return later to carry on. However the story progresses with you jumping in and out of certain units as you go. For example, not every mission will involve you being evacuated, and you will almost certainly come back to your unit at a later mission. Most of the missions involve you assaulting positions, with a range of secondary objectives being given which are entirely optional to complete, but which can change the course of the mission considerably.
How you go about completing your missions and objectives though is virtually up to you. Way-points are given to the player on the easiest difficulties, however these are often not the best route, and taking a glance at the map before heading into a firefight may well help you save your skin. This is something you will definitely spend a lot of time on.
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a simulation. It's not a hardcore simulation, but it's certainly not something that will have you running and gunning. Your squad is key to success, and you will need to utilise them 100% to be able to succeed. The problem here though is that the squad AI is one of the most frustrating aspects of the game. There is an order tree which is brought up with the RB button, and this is well designed and quick to use once you know where things are. The problem is more though that the squad-mates aren’t particularly good at finding cover, nor particularly good at covering each others backs. On one particular mission where I had to defend a village from a Chinese attack I found it exceedingly difficult to ensure my team stayed alive; despite trying to position them inside a building one guy would continually camp out in a different building, or out in the open. In a game which is a simulation and forces you to rely on your team, having a challenging AI is a pain. In their defence though, in normal assaults and flanking orders are performed reasonably well, laying down covering fire for their team mates as they each advance in true military style.
The game gives you an enormous array of real world weapons, vehicles and equipment to use. Sniper rifles, machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades, med-kits, night vision goggles, pistols, infra-red pointers, hummers, boats, helicopters and a lot more. There is very little in the world that is not drivable or able to be interacted with. Unfortunately, unlike in the predecessor, you now can no longer commandeer a farmers tractor, which certainly is a loss, but we can live with it considering what else is out there. And lets face it, it really was only for entertainment factor.
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising even includes a medic system, whereby as your individual body parts are injured you can stem the bleeding, but to be completely healed you will require your medic. In some instances too when you are shot to the ground you can still call for a medic, however usually you are shot dead quickly. The game is very unforgiving in this respect, and will require you to reload check-points a lot. Thankfully the game is generous with these check-points, and it's quite enjoyable to replay as you can try a slightly different approach immediately. Get ready to get messed up though, a lot.
The island of Skira is simply enormous. The possibilities here are huge and the ability to drive around a mission area only to come at it from an entirely different direction (often where there are no pillboxes) is very enticing. While it's not the best looking game out there, when seen in the context of the massive map and the incredible draw distance it really is a feat worthy of respect. The effects of bullets whizzing by or kicking up dirt around you as enemies attempt to gun you down is exceptional, and really adds to the immersion. The draw distance is something we haven’t really experienced before, especially not on a console game. The game allows you to see literally as far as the eye can see. Unfortunately the further things get into the distance the harder they are to shoot due to the real world ballistics that have been included, and the fact that they are sometimes not discernible from a piece of shrubbery. Textures become far less detailed however units will still be able to be spotted even when they are some kilometres away.
The fire and smoke effects too are very authentic and generally can be seen from a great range. This can often be the tell-tale sign of trouble, but it also can alert other enemies to your presence and means you need to be all the more wary of incoming units who will often go prone to avoid being spotted. Enemies will use clumps of trees and other things for cover, and it has to be said that they can be viciously difficult to spot. That is the nature of camouflage, and I am glad to see that it works, however in a game it can be a real nail-biter in respect to who pulls the trigger first.
A real let down though seems to be the vehicle physics. Helicopters fly well but the hummers, for example, feel odd. They slide out very easily and they just don’t feel particularly realistic. It's almost as though the vehicle physics were tacked on as an afterthought, and this doesn’t do the title any favours . It's a shame that an area where Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis came into its own is an area that Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a let down. That said, the most part of the game will no doubt be traversed on foot, and here movement is very well done. The ability to cycle through standing, prone and crouch is great, and also the realism involved with changing weapons. Equipping the RPG for example will involve a relatively slow animation where the weapon is first armed then equipped. When doing this it pays to take cover first to avoid being shot, but it again really adds to the realism. Overall the feeling of actually being there is quite well implemented, and on the higher difficulty levels removing the visual queues helps even more. In fact the difficulty itself remains the same regardless of the level, there are no changes to the AI or the damage. The changes are only to the GUI. This works to give you the full experience all throughout the different difficulty levels.
A great feature though is the inclusion of a four person co-operative mode, so you can get rid of the three AI team-mates completely and get together a bunch of friends. You still will need to fill the respective roles of your team-mates, and one player will be the commander who sets the pace and gives the order, but no doubt this is a real asset to the title as it's going to be a co-op players dream come true having an open world like this to roam with their friends in. Along with the co-op are two versus modes, "annihilation" and "infiltration". These games are great and support up to eight players. The problem though, as with so many games on the New Zealand market, is that it's painstaking to find a game that actually has a reasonable connection. It's certainly doable though, and a few of our games against Americans were easily playable. Your best bet though will be to join up with some friends in New Zealand or Australia and play against them.
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a serious title. The squad commands are well-implemented, though let down by a dodgy AI. The graphics and draw distance are a superb combination along with one incredibly large map. A wide range of vehicles will allow you to explore in many different ways, and you are not limited to the scope of your mission. The campaign is entertaining and the missions very realistic. What isn’t nice is that some of the missions are only available using online or pre-order codes. Developers certainly shouldn’t begin to think it's acceptable to leave out something as considerable as a mission for those who didn’t pre-order. Overall the entire experience is immersive and packed with realism. You will die a lot, but the check-points are quite well placed. Generally if you play well and are cautious you will do well in the game. A shame that the multiplayer connectivity isn’t better for New Zealand but you will definitely find some great games online, even with Americans.
It's not the complete package like the original Operation Flashpoint was, but there is a solid game here.
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