Customer Reviews

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

First, to let you know where I am coming from in this review:
1) I was a US Army Platoon Leader for a M1A1 tank platoon and then a light Scout Platoon during OIF 1 and then OIF 2. I like to think that lends some credibility to my case.
2) Love GRAW 2 multiplayer and Coop campaign, but hate the campaign mode
3) Enjoy COD campaigns (despite the more arcady moments), but dislike the multiplayer and its olympic sprinter/high jumping capabilities imparted on players.
4) I love Halo and the Halo universe, though the XBOX live crowd is inarguably one of the most obnoxious pack of mountain dew fueled 12 year old brats ever assembled. ODST is brilliant by the way if you haven't tried it.

So here we go.

Positives.

PLAY / GRAPHICS- Probably the most realistic game I've ever played as far as weapons, tactics, underbrush, movement, command of AI, and whatever else you want to throw on there. As stated, I love GRAW 2 (1, not so much), and will continue to play that for years to come, but this game has moved it to the next level. Will you see the grenade rotating in mid air when you throw it? No. That is my first example of some things that may be observed by many players and find frustrating. Yes, its cool in World at War to see the stick grenades pass head over tail as you chuck them into German positions, but don't forget about what you miss out on and what makes this game so remarkable. SIZE and SCOPE. COD and even GRAW limit you greatly on what your left and right limits are either by barbed wire/terrain, or by simply killing you should you venture from the acceptable path. This game is mammoth, and leaves all options on the table for the player to decide where, how, and when he wishes to conduct his operation. The mission profiles are literally boundless, with the exception of drowning in the ocean (which is honestly not an option I have tested now that I write it), and the environment is fantastic. You will find more graphical detail in some games, you will find some more beautiful (as Modern Warfare 2 looks to be by all accounts) ,but as of yet, you will never be as immersed in an environment like this so large and so grand. The sacrifices for some of the trivial are more than made up for by the playability and realism provided by the size and scope of the world you are injected into in this game. No game can be all things to all players, the current technology in a home system just can't support it yet, but this game made great decisions on what to keep and what to ignore.

I like that my boys call out enemy locations for me to plot on my map, and that map stays set until the enemy positions are updated or I find them absent or destroyed already. Not radar, just as close to Situational Awareness as the game makers can give us (though granted, your character is THE MAN if he can really track his squad, fight his fight, and update the map all at the same time to this level of perfection) and maybe the developers assumed we would have some FBCB2 or better capability to rely on in this FUTURE conflict. That "Future" word is important and worth remembering.

AUDIO - If you don't have a surround sound system, I would look into it because of games like this. In a creepy sort of way, I loved hearing the battle going on a few Km to my flank and actually remembering the tension of knowing that over there was something very real that could impact me, but was out of my hands while they were plenty full of their own tasks. I like that enemy positions are radioed to you to help you keep track. Sustain: X talk. You know what I'm talking about.

NEGATIVES- These affect my "fun scale" more than the overall scale because they are little things some people can get past.

AUDIO- I don't know where the grid coordinates came from, but the developer picked some weird stuff. Its called "MGRS" or Military Grid Reference System, and the Marines use it as well. This alpha numerical stuff is just weird. I don't like that the grid gets called out everytime i tell my boys to move, just say "Roger" like everybody else and get your duff moving.

PLAY- Love incorporating vehicles, but they are a bit touchy. And realistically, it's tough to use some of these things and that's why there are different MOSs in the military. Unless you have the certificates and training like Corbin Dallas from the 5th Element, an expert in all weapons and vehicles you may encounter during this mission, you may be less than polished in your skills. It's not really a negative, and maybe there are negative factors applied against you like they did for GRAW when you grab a system you are unfamiliar with. The command features are pretty in-depth. Bigger than Ghost Recon ever was (not bad) but at times its just a bit cumbersome. I think Ghost Recon 2 got it down by giving your boys a ROE and telling them where to go, after that it gets a bit too into the weeds sometimes for some players. As a military man though, I love this attention detail and being able to guide my guys like that.

Some of the more "Hoo Rah!" (Hooah! if you're Army, and "Errr!" I suppose if you're that kind of Marine) moments are...well...stupid. Never have I experienced these moments in the service, but the understood image of the military for a normal person has been skewed by hollywood and...I don't know, but it's a bit silly at times.

Some, probably the same who complain about GRAW, don't feel the game should be so realistic and difficult. I agree. It's the players money afterall. This was not designed for the aforementioned 12 year olds though. Don't think you and your 12 year old will appreciate this game. Let people blow through a rediculously easy game if they like, and if they grow up and want to stay with the game community, they can mature into it, but give them the choice. It takes patience and intelligence, and at times, yeah, it's boring. Thankfully not as boring as the real military sometimes, but its not you slaying 500+ jihadists while you run through their town like its the suburbs you grew up in.

The checkpoint thing is VERY long, so you need to keep your head on straight. There is no rushing to cross some magical line that will autoload you when you pass it in the middle of a firefight. Each objective is a mission to itself, play it smart.

I think that is enough. Rent it, appreciate the size of the game before you bad mouth it too heavily, and if you like it, make the buy. The game is blinding, absolutely great and I can't wait to get more friends into it to run the campaign coop because it will be great to talk instead of search through the buttons for a (admittedly great)AI to interpret. If you liked GRAW 2 or the other Ghost Recon games, I think this will make you happy. If you enjoy overshields and think it won't hurt when a 7.62 slams into your body armor, or being shot in the leg will negatively impact you, keep on walking kiddo. We don't want to hear you cry in-game and you probably have to go study for that big algebra test anyways.

I've played through the first 6 missions in single player and only died once, and that was because I did somthing stupid. I don't know how these other people are playing but they must be doing somthing wrong. Like I said the only time I died was because in the first mission I was leading a Special Forces fireteam and had an objective but got myself caught up in fighting with a superior force, I died quickly. When I reloaded the game I simply used terrain to retreat away from the fire fight and move around the enemy to my objective, very easy. I think most of these people are trying to play on the harder difficulty levels and it is HARD. As for the enemy taking multiple hits, i havn't found this to be true, i have seen that your weapon doesn't fire a perfectly accurate laser like shot like in COD, you can be prone and fireing through a red-dot and still miss, just like in real life. I've found that the weapons in the game are just as accurate as thier counterparts i've used in the real military.

The key to this game is, use terrain, if you are attacking somthing from the front, you will die, always flank. Another is use your team, if you want to be the one making all the shots and taking out the entire PLA by yourself, your going to die. A lot of the missions I hunker down somwhere and issue orders while my fireteam is fighting. This doesn't subtract from the excitment though as I often find myself taking out many enemies as well. Though not hundreds like in COD, I'd say almost 5 or 6 per mission. As for glitches, I havn't encountered any.

Ok, first of all, this game is NOT supposed to be another arcade FPS game like Modern Warfare 2 or Halo!! This game is an actual war simulation that requires THINKING and skill. I love COD 4 and Modern Warfare 2 games (I even have the MW2 Console) but when I'm tired of just running and gunning at my enemies, and want something a lot more realistic, I pop in Operation Flashpoint 2. I am a HUGE fan of almost all military based games, and being that I'm an Army brat, I look for military realism in my games.

In MW2, and even GRAW 2, you're on a pre-determined path in which to follow. Operation Flashpoint 2 is totally the opposite. Each mission you go on you can choose ANY which way you want to execute an objective. I read one official review of the game in which the island that you're fighting on, Skira, is so massive that it will take you nine (9) hours to walk across - I think it's the first game for 360 to have such massive space to explore. You can easily give your squad mates orders (WIHTOUT HAVING TO USE THE MAP - which comes up when you press the "back" button) by using the RB (right button), and scroll through orders. For example, you can order your squad to cease fire, fire on your lead, return fire, or fire at will. I absolutely LOVE having those choices. I'm not sure why some of these reviewers are saying that giving orders to your squad members is so difficult to do - it's not difficult at all. Just explore all the commands, try to remember them and you're good to go. Once an order is given, they have NO trouble at all following it. Tell them to engage a specific target and they will concentrate fire at that specific target. You can even all in Artillery/mortar/air strikes when allowed!!

Some have also talked about having to hit your enemy multiple times in chest or belly to actually kill them. Well duh, they're wearing body armor just like you! To kill your enemies with one shot, aim for the head!! It's worked for me throughout the game and I'm almost done with it. That goes for all FPS shooters really, aim for the head and they'll die. The military emphasizes two to the chest and one to the head; I'd rather get it over and just aim for the head. I like the challenge, personally.

Graphically speaking, this game is AMAZING. Weapons are realisitc; you have both a flashlight and a laser attached to your rifle, which the laser is also switched on or off and can only be seen through your night vision. The terrain, the smoke, the explosions, are all photo-realisitc.

Overall, I think most of the reviewers who said they're frustrated with the game or that the game was no fun at all are either looking for something easy to play or don't really know how to play an actual war game in the first place. I'm a military buff and I personally would recommend this game to other military buffs who want a realistic, make-you-think kind of game, and not some typical run-and-gun arcadey game like MW2 (though I do like the COD series.) I bought it for $60 and I believe I got my money's worth.

This should be an amazing game. It has great graphics, the audio is exceptional, the storyline is compelling. The problem is this - it isn't fun. I started out very excited about this game. I'm former US Army and enjoyed the realism. It didn't take long to realize that I would have to play each mission many times in order to move on. That is fine, but so frustrating.

In striving for realism, the developers have given the enemy the upper hand. You can shoot them center-mass and they won't go down. However, you can get shot from multiple locations and drop like a rock. It is often hard to really tell where the next step of the mission is. Missions are timed which makes you race around and be sloppy which ends up getting you killed. When sighting an enemy, you really can't see them. The developers warn, "if you can see them they can see you.." problem is, they always see you first. I could go on and on about the other frustrating issues I've encountered, but I'll leave it at this:

I wouldn't recommend buying this game... rent it.

This is my first review of a video game, and I have only been playing this game for nigh on 3 hours and I still have not progressed past the first mission. AND I STILL CAN'T STOP PLAYING. it is hard in a fun challenging way, not in one of those ways where the game is just hard for the sake of being hard and you get mad and want to chuck the controller. it is only hard because of all the other war games we have been playing. where you can just run and gun. you have to break all of those habits, and this game will break them for you. One Shot One Kill??? in most games you can kill the enemy with one shot one kill, but it usually takes 10 to sometimes 40 shots to kill you. not in the game. what is good for you, is good for the AI. if you can sneak up and flank them....they will do the same to you. you cant sit back and try to think of how to take someone out if they have you pinned down. and you cant just up and run away either. you will get shot in the back of the head and will be dead. you have to use military and survival tactics at all times. the moment you slip, your dead. but Holy cow who cares. it is that much fun. and for all of us former Jarheads, the weapons actually jam from time to time. how realistic is that. did you just hear it repeat in your head? Tap, Rack, Bang. i just wish there was a series of movements to simulate the tap-rack-bang motion. that would be friggin awesome! like i said i am still taking my time on this game. i want to savor it. but i did read about the multi-player and you can be a 4 man team that has to take on a large group of other players in the same fashion you would in the game. tell me that doesnt just add a whole new degree of difficulty to the same game i already love. instead of run and gun over and over again to see how many people you can kill and then try to keep your kill death ratio to a respectable level. (grant it we all love those games and they are still fun). i cannot and will not make a recommendation because i only make those to people i know and can judge if they would like the game or not. but i will say this. all of you Jarheads out there.....What makes the grass grow? this will be your favorite game of this genre. your gonna love it.

This game is super fun, if you're not into mindless FPSing around with other 13 yr olds. The strategy, the calculating way you need to accomplish missions, the realism, is what really got me to like this game. Its funny because you will find yourself commanding your player to dive to the floor as soon as someone yells "Shots Fired!" and you need to figure out where those shots came from. Sometimes they will hit you before you can figure out where they came from and, guess what, you die. That's what makes this game fun. You can't just run and gun. There's no super human jumping. You run out of ammunition and need to scavenge from dead bodies, etc. Reloading weapons is not something that's easily done in the heat of battle, especially bazookas, etc. Great game for the mature player. This game would totally turn off a Modern Warfare 2 fan... just like MW2 is boring as sin for me.

Im a 33 year old father of two and this is my review of OP Flashpoint DR:
First, let me say that this is not like modern warfare @ . Its not meant to be a action game. If there was a movie that I would use to describe this game, it would be saving private ryan. There is alot of time where you can plan, like in real war you don't just rush in to a battle. This alone bought me. I truly dislike Fps games because most of them are the same: run, gun, shoot, jump, kill, repeat... But this game has the whole package for me. Firstly, the weapons are great, think of GRAW on playstation 2 where it was one shot one kill(yourself included), you can adjust your rate of fire and you can even select multiple ammo types if available. and the idea of the free open enviroment brings back to mind a game I think was on the xbox where (don't remember the name) you were in a sand box and you could tackle the objectives the way you wanted (even the though the graphics were horrid on the xbox) and you could play through the game on coop and work as a team to acheive your goal. Secondly, the vehicles are also inspiring and give you a sense of wanting to master them. But, the only cons I can think of is very minor glitches like your vehicle getting stuck on rocks which to me is no glitch because, if you try to drive a vehicle over a boulder, it is ganna get stuck. Also, the game is subpar if your playing by yourself, because who wants to tell AI what to do all the time, I'd much rather tell human players what to do and get real feedback. This game is all about working together and it feels much more rewarding since the game is catered to all the aspects of a simulation, meaning when you get shot in the leg, you will bleed until you patch it up and you cannot run unless a medic heals you completely
(not realistic but hey, everything can't bu uberrealistic). But enough said, Everything from graphics to sound to replayablilty I would rate a 9 or a 10, this is a game where you can actually play the same stage over and over again and do things completely different and still have a blast.

Graphics - 9 (would have been a 10 if they included rain) has day to night cycle that is truly awesome, tip: put your graphic to 30 for a more realistic looking night.

Sound - 10, very convincing ambient, weapon, misc & vehicle sounds (I was in the passinger area of the helicopter and I was thinking to myself, is a helicopter really this noisey?, it truly immersed me in the game)

Gameplay - 10, the best I've played on any system, me and my twin brother don't play our xbox's that much because of work, family and other activities but this game gave us the desire to take time to play it, which modivates me to play it because its such a great and fun game.

replayabibilty - 10, even after all the campaign is done I think this is one of those games I will keep like I've kept nfl 2k5, unless a part 3 is made and is superior, im not selling it because there may not be another game like it no matter how hard game developers try.

Summary: So if you like games that take time to plan through, you like taking a role (commander, medic, smiper, engineer, etc..) and you don't mind taking orders and working together as a team, and you also like realistic playing games, then this is for you.

Not very good at writing reviews, but I hope this has helped you. And if you get online look me up (adults only) my Gamertag is Kendall Frost..

This game is simply going to divide people into those who love it and those who don't. Those who love it are the kind of people that want to play a game that requires non-linear thinking, patience, tactics, open-ended map strategy, and an immersive realism. Those who don't are probably the kind of people who want a linear game that channels you in front of the enemy to yield straight forward resolutions of conflict by way of twitchy trigger pulling for a restrictive but almost cinematic experience.

Single player suffers from cumbersome control of the AI teammates because of the amount possible orders combined with some unpredictability/stubbornness of the units (only reason why the game isn't 5 stars for me). Co-op campaign mode is really where the game shines as it forces team work as the control issues fade. Control of your character is not any different from any other FPS. There have been reports of bugginess in the game, but I have witnessed little of it. No video glitches, no dropped teammates, no crashes.

The experience is well designed to make you feel the tension of the game from the back story cut screens to the in-game audio. Little details like feeling your heart rate after sprinting are a nice touch, and there are many of them. The game is challenging, but then again that's why there is an easy level. Even at this level that game will still punish frontal assault tactics. Re-Play value is high as the maps are so big that there are many, many ways to accomplish objectives.

I bought Operation Flashpoint last weekend, and I love this game. I played the original Flashpoint on PC and was happy to see a new version on the xbox. I see a lot of people bad mouthing this game and I think the problem is with the player's expectations and not with Flashpoint. Sorry everyone, this isn't your typical first person shooter. You don't have a shield, there are no health packs, and if you try to be a hero you are going to be swiftly humbled by a skilled enemy. To enjoy this game you have to put yourself in the boots of a marine. Think like it really is your butt on the line. If you go blindly charging across an open field you are probably going to wind up facedown somewhere in the middle. To get to the point you have to use your mind more than your trigger finger if you want to complete your missions. If you want to run around blazing away at everything that moves then you should probably look for another title, but if you are looking for an engaging, interesting, tactical shooter then you should definately give Flashpoint a look.

A lot of people have bad mouthed this game, from MW2 to ArmA 2 fans, but it is a good game. Not to say that I don't have problems with it (which I will get to), but this game is not anywhere near as bad as one would think with the high number of negative reviews. For MW2 fans, this game involves some level of tactics, it is meant to be realistic. You're not going to be able to run around with a 30lb machine gun and kill all the bad guys. If having some level of tactics doesn't appeal to you, then don't play this game. I however love both games, but I love OF2DR more because it allows me to actually utilize my brain more when developing fireteam tactics. This game doesn't have as steep of a learning curve as the first Operation Flashpoint, or ArmA 2, so if one would like to try tactical shooters this is a good transition. For milsim purists, I want to say that you should stop stoning Codemasters. Yes, they used the Operation Flashpoint name for a game that does not have the same depth as the original, but it is still fun, and utilizes the same realism as the first. It also has superior audio in comparison to the robots of ArmA 2, and is a more consumer friendly title that will utilize its simplicity to gain more milsim enthusiasts.
Now for the problems:
1. The console version has no mission editor, which makes it hard to justify the extra $10 for it
2. They should have used U.S. Army for this so one could have a 2 fireteam squad under the player's command (Marine squads have three fireteams, which I assume would be harder to incorporate, but if they could work this in, I'd be just as happy)
3. (minute) M9A1 Beretta should be sidearm for standard ground marines with MEU(SOC) pistol for MARSOC and Force Recon
4. some bugs
5. (minute) Special ops teams should have customizable gear
6. (minute) marine fireteam leaders are armed with grenade laucher (U.S. Army has Grenadier in possession of other team member
7. (minute) medics (corpsmen) should have navy ratings not marine ranks
8.(very minute) I wanted to be able to customize how the playable characters looked and what their names were.
And to sum it up, while this game is challenging, it makes you feel a sense of accomplishment when you complete a mission, and it is a very good tactical game.