The speech in the campaign is mostly sampled, with reasonable voice acting, but when giving orders with the menu system (and receiving orders from others) the voices are badly synthesised. Overall though, Flashpoint is visually excellent, and the scale of the terrain is very impressive. When an A10 crashes into the sea, embarrassingly, it will bounce out again, crumpled and smoking. The movement and animation of the soldiers is generally good, though it could benefit from work in some areas - when boarding a truck, for instance, they just climb upwards and disappear. Once you're accustomed to Flashpoint's muted colours and flat vegetation, the effectiveness and realism of the graphics is fine, if slightly bland at times. They can, however, be ludicrously accurate with grenades. Sadly, the enemy soldiers aren't quite as smart as they could be, and can be slow to react to you appearing out of cover close to them, making life a little bit easier than perhaps it should be. Commands can be issued to friendly squad members with a hierarchical menu system. They will scatter and flee under fire, advance intelligently to avoid exposing themselves to incoming fire, and seek cover to lie low when appropriate. But there are only a couple of missions that require this, and it makes an entertaining diversion if you're in the right mood.įlashpoint's troops move and act extremely convincingly. Though the engine is well suited to infantry and ground vehicle assaults, it doesn't have the draw distance to make zipping about in an A10 particularly satisfying, and the control system for both this and the helicopters are a bit odd. You can even command your own tank, and issue orders to a gunner and driver.Īirborne vehicles, though, are a bit of a different kettle of fish. They can be crewed by more than one man often you'll be transporting your squad in the back of a truck, or riding a jeep with three others.
The game includes a decent range, from jeeps and trucks to various tanks, anti-aircraft vehicles and even helicopters. The vehicles, too, have an air of authenticity about them. Leading a moving target with a sniper rifle is crucial - sniping is much more of a skill here than in other games. Most conflicts take place in expansive outdoor areas, so there's always plenty of space for the enemy to utilise. Reloading takes time, and careful aim is the key to success. As in Counter-Strike, firing while running is inaccurate to the extent where you might as well save your ammo and resort to bad language. Bohemia, the game's developers, have all served in the Czech army, and brought their real-life experiences of eighties warfare to the game. We won't give away the plot twists, but there are plenty of them.Īs the plot advances, the game keeps in close touch with the political (and technological) realities of the 1980s - no microwave guns to be found here, and at one point a squad mate asks, "Are they going to nuke us, sir?" Thankfully, the answer is no there wouldn't be much of a game otherwise, but the nuclear undertones make an effective and convincing backdrop for the action.Įqually convincing is the weaponry modelling. Missions cover tasks like training, patrols, guard duty and vehicle driving, at various times of the day. Though you start the game having to follow orders closely and do as you're told, as you gain in experience you gain in responsibility, and eventually you'll have your own squad to command. In the campaign game, you are cast as a grunt in a squad of Marines. Normally occupied by friendly US troops, the pastoral tranquillity of the region is spoiled when an army of renegade Russians attempts an invasion. The action is set on a chain of islands that, although not specifically placed at any geographical location, bear a marked resemblance to rural France.
Operation Flashpoint has several - its uncompromising realism, its range of driveable vehicles, and its eighties cold war theme to name but three.
#OPERATION FLASHPOINT COLD WAR CRISIS PC#
Is there any genre in PC gaming less innovative than the first-person shooter? Relying as they do on a very simple formula - looking through the eyes of your game-world alter ego, run around and shoot things - and with control systems evolved to near-perfection, every new FPS needs a new gimmick to be noticed.
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