Operation Flashpoint - Game of the Year Edition
Developed by Bohemia Interactive Studios
If I had to name my top 3 personal favorite games, Operation Flashpoint just made it near the top of that list. Operation Flashpoint is a first-person shooter that requires strategy, teamwork, patience and discipline. At first glance, it seems to be very similar to all the other FPS/Combat Simulation games out there. But that was only at first glance.
The version of Operation Flashpoint I picked up was the Game of the Year Edition. This package contains 3 CD's and includes the original "Operation Flashpoint : Cold War Crisis" as well as the "Red Hammer" and "Resistance" expansion packs. The setup was simple and nothing to get excited about, it is a rather hefty game install which includes almost 100MB of movie files for OTHER games in the "Promo" folder.
The traditional single player campaign started out pretty well. Although I will say I didn't spend too much time on single player as my interests were more in the multiplayer aspects of the game. The storyline seemed good, although I did find it rather difficult. Don't expect to be able to easily just walk through the single player campaign on your first try.
For Multiplayer the first thing I would HIGHLY recommend is to pick up "
OFP Watch" and use it as an alternative to Gamespy or All Seeing Eye for
OFP games.
OFP Watch allows you to find
OFP servers and automatically download and install the mods and add-ons required to play on that server without even having to launch the game.
After clicking on the ";@@ browser" and selecting your server, it will make it's own connection to that server and check to see what mods are installed. By using a configuration file placed on the server,
OFP Watch knows where to obtain those mods and how to install them. It will notify you when you need to install new missions via the "Manager" button. The Manager will allow you to make a single click to download & install all the required mods.
Another fantastic feature of
OFP Watch is the status change notification. If you are familliar with Ghost Recon then you will have an instant appreciation for this feature. Often times a co-op mission will take quite a while to play through, up to 45 minutes. During that time new players are unable to join the mission and they must wait in the lobby.
OFP Watch monitors your servers and will notify you as soon as the server is ending the current mission. You can also configure
OFP Watch to launch
OFP and connect you directly to the server as soon as it becomes available. All of this is done without even needing Operation Flashpoint running in the background.
You can
Download OFP Watch Here
The Multiplayer Setup screen is fairly traditional. You select what side you're going to play on. In some cases there are actually civilian roles you can play, but I have yet to try any of those. Being a civilian in the middle of one of these battles doesn't seem like a very fun role.
If a player is voted admin rights, they have the ability to make changes such as the time of day the mission takes place, the type of insertion vehicles you can use, and what slots can be used by AI players, if any. The vehicle choices vary based from server to server depending on the mods they use. The Tactical Gamer server has a couple helo insertions including the Apache, KLR250 on/off road motorycles and armored personnel carriers. And yes. You get to drive these things, not just sit as a passenger. KLR250's are my favorite as they are quick and usually everyone will get their own and get to drive.
Vehicles can play an important role in this game, as the size of the maps are beyond anything i've ever played on. You can get in a Jeep and drive for an hour at 50MPH and still not be at the other side of the map. In total, there are well over 40 vehicles and aircraft that you can drive or fly. With countless others available via mods. Having three people all in the same tank working together makes for a really fun experience.
There is no uber-compass or radar in this game, so you are given a more realistic compass you can pull up when needed and a rather detailed terrain and structure map for navigation. It is fairly easy to get lost in the game, but once you get basic abilities with the compass and map, you'll be getting around just fine.
Since your insertion point can sometimes be 50Km or more from your first objective, be prepared for some fun rides. In several missions there were random patrols in the woods miles outside of the towns we were travelling to and usually lost a couple of soldiers off the bikes before we were able to dismount, get cover and return fire. Responsible vehicle usage is also important as you can damage your vehicle beyond operation by crashing into trees or rocks or just going through terrain too rough for whatever you're driving. Only being able to turn right while driving in reverse makes for a tough commute.
Leaving your vehicles a fair distance away from your objective is a smart idea, as the enemy is easily alerted and seems to rally up the troops and even call in their own tanks and artillery support once they realize where you are. I found that the game made VERY good use of all of the player classes and was very pleased to see that they provided an environment where a sniper truly can be a sniper. No more of this 400yard kills being something to brag about. If you equip yourself with an M4/SOPMOD with a decent scope, you still get good range and abilities.
Your objectives will vary widely. From open desert-like terrain and dense forests to small villages and large cities. The buildings are fairly well constructed and the textures are well done, but the models have EXTREMELY low polygon counts so expect them to be fairly square most of the time. This does not detract from the gameplay, however. It gets pretty exciting when you start getting into engagements and your attentions will hardly be how many polygons exist in the steeple on the nearby church.
Communications and orders take place via a "Command" box in the upper right hand side of the screen. This window opens when you press any of your F-keys, which correspond to the members of your team. The menu structure of the command system is rather complex, but the common commands and combinations are easy to remember as they tend to repeat a keypress. For example, when you want to find out the status of another player, you would select the player and then press "5" for status. There are a lot of things you can request a status report on, but the most common is a general location and SITREP. This is done by pressing the "5" key again. The simple "5 5" makes it easy and quick.
After moving in to one engagement, I was pleased to see that when we encountered a column of T72 tanks we were able to call in a couple Apache helicopters to dispatch the tanks and other armored vehicles for us.
Once we called in for the air support, they patroled the skies around the town and took out any vehicles that they encountered. They also took down a few buildings as well, all 4 pologyons of them.
Back to the topic of objectives. There are a lot of community created works out there that seem to vary all OVER the board in regards to your objectives. This seems to be a very open eneded thing that Bohemia Interactive built into their mission editor. Between the flexibility I have seen in the mods with the versatility of the engine and editor, this game can go a REALLY long way.
Upon completion of a mission you get a relatively simple debfrief screen that allows you to show who specifically you took down during your operation as well as any team casualties, objective completion/failure information and an overall player leaderboard.
If I could pick one game to serve as the benchmark for all future Combat Simulation / First Person Shooters, this would be the game. I would highly encourage you to RUN out and pick this game up if you are a big fan of Ghost Recon. It takes what we experience in GR to a whole new level. This game DOES have a time commitment to play, you're not going to get in a quick 7 minute round or two before dinner. But you can get a really good 45 minute operation in with your heart pounding 90% of the time.
The audio and sound effects in the game are also very close to top notch. There was some anomolies once in a while, but nothing that would be upsetting or even noticeable unless you were really looking for that type of thing.
Two very big thumbs up to Bohemia Interactive Studios. The attention to this game after it's release in patches and dedicated servers for both Windows and Linux score major points in my book.
Operation Flashpoint: Game of the Year Edition
Recommended Requirements:
- Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
- DirectX 8.1 or higher
- Pentium or Athlon 700 CPU
- 128Mb RAM
- 16 bit DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
- Compatible 3D Card with 16Mb RAM minumum
- 24x CD-ROM
- 1.5Gb Hard drive space
- 500Mb Free hard drive space after installation
- Minimum 56kbps Modem
