Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis

PC review by Terence Gage, published on Thursday 3rd April 2008

War is a terrible thing, isn’t it? Of course, I’m sure the vast majority of people reading this will thankfully never experience the brutality of war (just watch Apocalypse Now; you can get the general idea), but games insist on ever striving forward and telling us how bad it is and how we should make love not war, whilst somewhat ironically revelling in the source material it delivers.

Operation Flashpoint is a different beast to most first-person shooters out there. It’s without doubt one of the most realistic and oftentimes unnerving shooters in existence, creating tension and a sense of fear like no other has managed. You see, what makes Flashpoint so different to all the Call of Duty and Battlefield titles out there is that here you are not a Rambo-esque killing-machine-come-bullet-sponge; you are a vulnerable soldier who will die or, at best, be badly injured if shot. The first time you play the game you’ll probably quickly die and question what just happened, before the camera pans across to reveal your executor in a half-informative, half-mocking manner. It may take some getting used to, but it is such a different and fresh approach for the genre, and one that really differentiates the game from its contemporaries.

Theme WeekThis review is part of our inaugural “theme week” of content. Please click this link for more information!This encourages a slower pace and a less gung-ho attitude than most shooters, and you will need to rely considerably on allies to get through fire fights unscathed. Blindly rushing into a combat scenario will almost certainly get you killed – the game requires that you pace yourself, take your time and assess the situation from afar, as opposed to rushing in and getting dropped by an unseen enemy soldier from two hundred yards away. Much of the fighting is done over medium or long distance, where you will hit the dirt and look down your iron sights to efficiently try and drop enemies before you are spotted (shooting whilst moving is horribly inaccurate). Closer-range combat can be extremely nervy and fraught, as you frantically try to shoot enemies before they can shoot you. The potential and likelihood of death after just one bullet lends the game an incredibly prevalent level of anxiety, as literally every encounter could easily spell doom.

The plot sees you as a soldier in the US Army fighting communist Russians in the latter days of the Cold War, 1985, in a bid to avert an impending World War III. The plot is never really expanded upon save the pre-mission briefings and occasional mid-mission conversations. The overall narrative is fairly routine stuff that you’ll have seen elsewhere before, although voiceovers are done to a fairly high standard and the soundtrack (which has echoes of communist Russia) is fitting, understated and excellent.

Graphically it looks… well, like a high-end PC game from 2001. It’s still adequate and functional enough, with a nice horizon distance and some decent up-close detail. Animations are a bit false – your soldier runs like he has bowel problems (maybe he does – it must be frightening out there…), although these are superficial complaints, and absolutely understandable given the age of the game. The sound effects, however, are simply superb. Whilst in combat alongside your allies you get constant chatter on the radio, updating you on their status and that of the enemies. Weapons sound fierce, giving off barks and cracks which echo across the levels with a chilling finality. Loading is brief and you get sporadic checkpoints in each level, as well as the capacity to quick save once per level. It’s a good balance which doesn’t make things too easy for you.

The missions are generally of the ’secure this village/destroy this convoy’ variety, and although many maps feel a little samey due to a lack of notable landmarks on the landscape, they tend to be comparatively large and offer a fair degree of freedom – if you think outside the box, you can approach objectives in all manner of ways; the gameplay and maps are designed as such to allow for different methods. What also helps prevent missions becoming repetitive is the solid enemy AI. They provide a tough and varied challenge and they can often be crack shots, successfully and consistently making things unpredictable and keeping you on the offensive. They often exibit realistic reactions, such as running back to their comrades or seeking cover, and generally present themselves as a worthy and challenging foe. You can also control over 30 vehicles – some by choice, others in mission-critical situations. They mostly handle okay, although can feel a little awkward. Still, it’s good to have the option, and after running around as a vulnerable soldier for hours on end it’s an occasional but pleasing change of pace to finally get some heavy-duty machinery and blow some shit up.

In many ways Operation Flashpoint is almost as far removed as a FPS can be from recent big-hitters like Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4, in that it is relatively slow-paced, terribly unforgiving and you are not a one-man-army. If a realistic, measured and unique take on the war FPS sounds like an appealing prospect, you could do a lot worse than pick this superb title up.