21.10.2001

The first thing that put me off was the fact I had to try and install it four times before it worked. Apparantly it needs Direct X 8 to work properly. So I choose to install that in the installation procedure. Bad decision. 99% complete and it crashes. So a tip for anyone reading who may experience this problem; don't choose to install Direct X 8 during the installation. Do it from browsing the disc afterwards.Now we get started. Good opening screens. However. This game runs in Direct 3D or Glide. I have a Pentium 4 1.7ghz, 256Mb Ram and a 64Mb Geforce 2 MX 400 graphics card.......And to my horror in 1024x768x32 resolution it was Jerky and unplayable!!!!!!It seems that one of two problems were in occurence; 1)My computer is no good. 2)The game is badly programmed. Well my computer runs all of my other games fine. And in the Read Me file on the game disc it just happens to support my very graphics card. So I had no logical explanation. So i experimented with the settings and finally found it ran at a resolution of 512x384x32 without jerkiness or slow down.So now we are into the game. Good start off mission that is a tutorial, gearing the player up for what is ahead...........My first 'real mission':-I die, die, die, die, die and die some more. When I bought this game I was expecting something a little like Rainbow Six, Rogue Spear. Where you could actually see who shot you. No Sir!! Not here. Basically you will die. Then the game scrolls across the map to show who killed you. It is some enemy who is a spec on the horizon. You often find that your crosshair on the screen is bigger than your target, making it extremely difficult to kill them. "OK" I said. "They will have difficulty shooting me too". I was wrong again. Because the game uses a hit location system you get blood appear where you hit them and they hit you. So imagine my shock when that speck on the horizon keeps killing me with head shots! Ohhhh. It clicked, he is a sniper. So I manage to kill him. Ran to his position and was very disappointed. He was doing head shots from over 400 metres with an AK74 Machine gun!!!!! (Yes that is right, it is an AK74, not an AK47, you get those later on.)I was getting fed up with this. I eventually worked my way through the missions and used various weapons. There was one mission that took me over 6 hours to accomplish because I kept dying. And this is another problem. You can only save once per mission. So it makes the game very hard indeed.There is also no command over who your team is and what they are equipped with. If you ever get to a high enough rank to be a team leader you can choose what you take, but your team and their equipment is automatically assigned. So no fun there, then.Right. Enough bad points (there are more). Good Popints now:-The game is very detailed graphically. You can use the 'v' key to have a 'sights' view through your weapon. It changes for the different weapons. Additions such as recoil from machine guns, which makes aiming more realistic, means you have to be more skillful and predictive in your shooting. As mentioned, there is a damage location system, so you know where you, the enemy and your team have been shot. So you have been shot huh? No problem, radio your leader that you are injured and a medic will scramble over and heal you. Providing, that is, there is one still alive. There are constant radio updates, so you know who is injured, who is alive/dead, and where the enemies are and who is supposed to engage them. This is good but I often found it meant I felt unattached to the action, not being able to make my own decisions on who I shot because I kept being reprimanded by the leader to "get back in formation" The obvious way to get promoted is to bag as many enemies and officers as possible. Not an easy task, especially when trying to identify them. But there are a couple of good options that puts a green descpition tag on friendly units and an orange one on enemy units, stating how far away they are, and what they are. Very helpful. There is also a nice, realtime map at your disposal, that you can make notes on for your reference later on. For example, locations of good hiding places and ammo caches. The interesting thing that amazed me was that the environment is realtime too. I was on a mission where it got darker as it got later. Very impressive.But one of the biggest plus points for me is that you can disregard your leaders messages and do what you want. And another point to note is how MASSIVE some of the levels are. I was running around a map and wondered into a village I just played the previous mission in!Plus the sheer variety in weapons, locations, combat styles etc makes up for the previous flaws. Another useful inclusion is being able to play the game from 1st or 3rd person perspective, meaning it caters for more gamers. Nice one Bohemia.Next up is Vehicles. You can drive or pilot anything you can get your hands on. From tractors to Hind Gunships. From mad Skoda esque cars to Abrahams battle tanks. All have their own individual cockpits/ interiors for you to feast your eyes on. A lot of research has gone into this game. It would not surprise me if the places in the game look as they do in real life. Even the road signs are readable!!Overall; pretty good effort, with some horrible flaws that are balanced with other aspects.

14.6.2001

If you're reading this, chances are you're one of the millions who've downloaded the demo from one source or another.So you know that to play this can be confusing, the enemy difficult to see (near impossible on hard settings), it's easy to get mown down if you're up for too long, no accuracy when shooting on the move, and that you're tank fodder if you get spotted. Combat occuring at 150 - 250 yards is damned hard, as you looking for muzzle flash (monitor resolution a big factor), and letting rip with LAWs or rockets near guarantees pinpoint return fire from the enemy unless you manage to relocate within 5 seconds.Pretty much how it should be, I reckon.Playing Op Flash was a totally refreshing experience that left me yearning for more, and thankfully that's been delivered in the interim by a host of mod writers who've churned out missions that run off the demo engine. If you haven't tried them out, go find them.My overall impression is that this is the next level of team-based computer gaming, best suited for LAN parties and hi-speed internet connections. I'm sure that the single player stuff will be great, but the real deal will be getting 10 of your mates together and running the gauntlet while shouting down the voice over net feature. A word to house-bound computer geeks - get out there and make friends coz this game will be most fun when you're all together in one room on a LAN, with someone's mum making the tea.In game graphics are very good, but suffer from tearing and glitches, giving you the impression that more could hav been done on this. I got it to run ok on a PII 350, and have since upgraded to PIII 750 in anticipation. It is a pretty power hungry beast, be warned. Ground based vehicles seem to handle OK, choppers are a bit ropey, though I didn't try using the joystick. The sense of freedaom if fantastic - the only limiting factor to how you succeed when in command is your imagination and tactical awareness.I thought the command interface was a little cumbersome, so I hope they've improved it for the full game, but I guess practice makes perfect. AI seems to be very good, with enemies being seriously tough opponents and your buddies easily capable of handling the battle should you find yourself cowering in a shell crater.This game will make you rethink your style of play, because it's not really an FPS. Impatience and rushing into an engagement will get you killed and leave you frustrated. When you hear that you buddies are down, there is an emotional tug there - seeing your team slowly get whittled down spurs you on to fight harder, particularly if you're a machine gunner with the responsibility of laying down suppressing fire.I could go one, but hell, what's the point? There are plenty of online reviews for this baby our now, and if you haven't played the demo by now, you'll need to get the sand out of your ears. Buy this - it'a definitive piece of gaming & sim history. Fingers crossed that patches and mods will bring continuous improvement to a mighty fine beast of a game.

19.7.2001

If there is one game that will have you joining the anti-war campaign this is it! I have never experienced real combat and after this im soooo very glad- make no mistake this IS war!! The most terryfying pc experience i've had..it will make you pee your pants as you fumble with the controls. The early missions see you as a grunt who follows orders from your troop leader as you strive to make sense of this war thing. Your total sense of being inadequate is overwhelming..bullets fly from lord knows where and your comerades fall as you hug the ground desperately scanning the horizon for ANY trace of the enemy.SUPERB!

5.9.2003

I am trying to pick up a copy of this game whilst i wait for the xbox version to be released, i played it for quite some time about a year or so ago having borrowed it off a friend and was EXTREMELY impressed. firstly id like to discuss the failings of the game which are mainly graphical, textures are crap and the soldier appear to have floating limbs, the environments are fairly sparsely populated and lacking in polygons BUT still give the impression of being in a warzone better than ANY other war sim ive ever played...however these minor issues soon become moot points, the storyline sucks you into the role of an infantry soldier and is well played out through intermissions between the action,

10.7.2003

Operation Flashpoint really does put other games to shame, largely due to the huge focus on substance rather than flashy graphics.If your looking for a game to go back and play again and again, this is one for you. Because of the free-roaming nature of the missions (3 islands of total realistic proportions), new ways to defeat the enemy are possible. You can pick up weapons, drive trucks, jeeps, tanks, helicopters, armoured personnel carriers, planes, everything you would expect in a normal military arena.Secondly, there is the commanding element, initally I thought this was quite hard, but after a week commanding came very naturally, OK the AI isn't fantastic but its a hell of a lot better than any other game AI I have seen.

24.9.2001

This really is an excellent game. I saw the reviews and tested out the demo and I have to admit that after about 30 mins playing, I was really put off, because I kept on getting killed about 5 mins - like a real war one or two shots will kill you.However, I couldn't believe that it was getting such good reviews, so I thought that I must have been doing something wrong and actually bought the game. Wow!The game really is excellent. There is huge depth to the game play and it is so realistic. I'm a great fan of Half Life / TFC / Counterstrike but this game blows them away in terms of depth and realism. Like real life, you have to crawl around everywhere once you get close to any enemy (anyone who has played paintball will know that this is true).

20.10.2001

As long as you take your gaming seriously and allow yourself to become fully immersed, this atmospheric game can be a fantastic ride. It takes a few missions to grow on you, but once you allow it to drag you in and you adjust to the slow pace, it becomes hard to pull yourself away.I recommend that you play the game as it is supposed to be played - stick with your troop, follow orders, patrol realistically and Be The Best You Can Be - and you will throughly enjoy the game. So far I have commanded tanks, defended a structure from saboteurs, helped take out an armoured convoy with mines and rocket launchers, led a small special forces patrol by night, and basically lived out any military fantasies from the comfort of my chair.

27.7.2001

I agree with all the super positive reviews above. This is one fantastic game. For those that don't like this game - what is wrong with you?But to show how flexible and fantastic this game is I need to explain what I was able to do in two missions.In one mission you are a special forces soldier who needs to infiltate a Russian base and blow up tanks with satchel charges.Seeing an Mi-24 Hind not too far away I crept up to it and jumped into the pilot seat after planting the explosives.Instead of creeping away to the pick up point I proceeded to steal the Hind!Starting up the engine the Russians reacted firing machine guns at me, and as the Hind took off I exploded, remotely,

4.7.2001

This is an outstanding game. The non-linear storyline is presented in a remarkable Hollywood-type fashion.Graphics are some of the most realistic I've ever seen, the characters even smile and grimace. You can even choose what sun-glasses your man wears! The terrain realism is second-to-none, and the villages and towns make you feel like your in "Saving Private Ryan".Sound is frightening - you really get your head down and butt on the ground when you hear bullets fly past you, or the tracks of an approaching enemy tank.If feels sometimes that playability is bordering on limitless - you can do pretty much anything you like - get in a tractor and drive in to the enemy's base.

30.6.2001

This game breaks the first person shooter mould in many ways. The huge open maps add a sense of exposure on the battle field, forcing you to work closely with your team (who help to act as your eyes and ears), and use the landscape to your advantage. The front line can become blury, with the enemy often bringing in support to flank and confuse your teams attacks. The AI is very convincing for the most part, with few glitches that detract from gameplay - although I did pass a Russian soldier running though a forest without him detecting me (we almost bumped into each other). This may be forgivable though as I didn't spot him until the last minute. OK,I gave this game five stars,

4.8.2001

I've wasted a lot of money on games recently. So many have promised a full 3D virtual 'do anything' environment. None have delivered that promise - so when I bought this game I was ready to be let down. As it happens, the game has reached far beyond my expectations - the first game to do so in years. As an example of the range of things you can do let me give you - 1 - My Greatest Victory - After climbing down a mountain and taking out approx 10 soldiers and two tanks, I stole a Jeep and left the base. On my way out I spotted 4 soldiers on the road who had been sniping at me all the way through the misssion - so I ran them over!!

3.7.2001

Features a vast array of weapons and deterrants (rifles, mortars, mines and rockets), troops and vehicles. The underlying AI works well (most of the time) and makes for an atmospheric game.It works best from an infantry soldier point of view: The vehicles are a bit of a gimmick to control - steering is floaty and other controls are minimalist. However, as a grunt who's just fired his last LAW round at a seemingly unstoppable T72, the realism from the outside can be scary!The game tends towards simulator (e.g. you can be killed with a single headshot from an unseen enemy) and so may frustrate some Doom/Quake fans.Despite the obvious attraction of the graphics,

18.6.2001

EDGE gave it 9/10. I am close to being in love with it. But nah, i'm more of an RPG bloke. ONE scene will sell this game for you (and this is totally possible in the game). You take control of a plane with several team-mates in it. You are flying to rendezvous at an airbase (lets say for now you are online and playing against real people). Suddenly, the enemy shoots you down! In most games, that'd be it, you'd be dead. But this is just the plane thats dead now. You hastily organise parachutes and when everyone is off you eject. You land behind enemy lines... lost in a snowstorm... you stumble upon a village. You have to infiltrate the russians base using espionage...ALL of this is totally possible!

20.7.2001

As a game, Operation Flashpoint really is impressive. A lot of people havent really given much thought about what the developer has tried to acheive (more or less unbounded terrain filled with forests/houses/undergrowth etc).To all those who are giving this game 1 or 2 stars, i can see why you dont like this game. It is sometimes frustrating, whereas you like games where nothing shoots back at you and your basically invunerable.The mission editor is nice and easy to use, and there is a growing online community for this game (where you can download custom missions etc).Multiplayer is passable, although it could (and will) get a whole lot better when general balance issues and bugs are ironed out.

24.10.2001

I have had this game for the past week, and have not had a life since I opened it! Absolutely gripping.At first I thought, Oh no, it is too hard, controls are too complicated, I die too easily etc. But give it time and you will be rewarded.There is nothing more exhilirating than pepper-potting through an enemy held town, using houses as cover, sneaking up behind enemy guards who dont even know you are there, plugging them and then melting away to find the next target.You can follow your squad, follow orders, or go on suicide missions pitting yourself against masses of enemy armour and infantry, seeing how many you can kill before meeting your maker. The gameplay,

Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (PC) - Reviews

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