First Level: Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
One shot, one kill, one level.Published 09/10/2009 at 16:00 by djhsecondnature
First Level: Bioshock 2 [17]
First Level: Army Of Two: 40th Day [14]
First Level: Avatar [15]
There I was, crouched and prepared to defend the LZ from the wave of combatants that were inbound. Poking my head round the side of my cover, I could see them advancing over the hill; I stepped out, let of a few rounds before my vision was obscured. Some sort of bright shining light blinded me, before a cloud of smoke totally clouded everything. My vision was blurred, something devastating had just happened, a teammate was down, it was too late for him. I remember him screaming out before he met his cruel fate, but I was still disoriented, I hadn’t a clue what had just happened, that was, until I turned around. The cabin that I was standing in, was now just half a cabin. The entire rear has been destroyed from an enemy rocket. It was that rocket, that flew past my head, close enough to blind me, but failing to hit me directly. This was the single most exhilarating moment so far.
The colour washed out, a contrasting yellow provides a striking boldness over the stylised greyness of the moving imagery. The menu oozes that Codemasters quality; a system with class, gorgeous design and eloquent ease of use. The mixture of delicate harmonies mixed with some unusual throat singing, provides a truly epic opening score to gear you up for the engagement ahead. This is war. Not the annihilation experienced in Killzone, not the scripted nature of Call of Duty, just bone-shuddering combat. This is not for the faint hearted. I physically jumped twice at being flanked and shot in the back by the cunning enemy, and they are cunning. They will flank you, team up on you, call in support, whatever it takes to eliminate you.
The game is really focused around two things; first and foremost it is a shooter and as such the game works wonderfully. The controls are solid whilst being quite different, having the realism of a solider, but without that added weight of a double size armour suit. Picking enemies from range is testing, but when you finally get that killing blow it feels all the sweeter. The second is realism, which for the most part, it does extremely well. Mashing the reload button whenever I run low on ammo is a habit I need to kick, especially when engaged in close quarters as they will just pull out a pistol and take you down. The animation sequences are generally fantastic and really affect the way you need to think about combat. Health wise, there is no magic regenerating health or poorly disguarded medi-packs lying around, if you shot, you will bled out. Either by patching up your own wounds to stop the bleeding – which doesn’t actually heal you – or calling over the medic to do a proper job are the only ways to survive. However, if you’re running down a hill without a care in the world, expect to be shot in the head from a well placed sniper; and trust me, there’s no second chances when sniped in the head.
The game is not without its faults though. Not having a jump button may have freed it up for something else, but when you can still vault over a fence or a pile of sandbags with a quick click of the ‘action’ button and not traverse a slightly raised pile of rocks, something’s gone wrong. In such a vast and lush terrain, the frequency of getting stuck next to a pile of shin high rocks was frustratingly high. After a while you begin to just not go near them, but it feels more like a workaround bad design than anything else. The tactics menu halts all other functions yet insists you use the d-pad to select commands, which just adds unnecessary difficulty. For a game prided on the authenticity of the models and animations – which are superb – why is it, that when I enter a vehicle, I am not greeted by a first person view of a solider climbing into the Jeep, but a fade to black screen before magically appearing starting out of the front with my hands on the wheel.
Having played the first mission both single player and multiplayer, it’s a easy choice. This game was meant for co-op; playing single player is fine, but filling a squad with your mates is truly the way to play. Headsets are a must so don’t even try without, you will each need to call for help and inform the rest of your team what’s happening from your perspective to achieve the goals. A strong team leader, determined to utilize tactics makes it all the more simple for the remaining squad members to work effectively as a unit. Flashpoint impressed on its first outing, now lets see if it continues to do so.
Stay tuned to TheSixthAxis.
Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.
scion_tc1 | 09/10/2009 16:03
Member
80 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2009
Hmmm no jump thats kinda silly. and i cant wait to play this with my friends and have thos epic moments shouting to one another.
IdiTheSpiv | 11/10/2009 00:17
Member
22 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2009
Yep like all the screaming and bickering like we did in past games (rainbow six, battlefield, call of duties, killzone and resistance) and still do my friend! You would have thought we would have got used to it and become quite good by now. But i`ll be there beside you as any cannon fodder “Shield Boy” should be!.
Flaming Turkeys | 09/10/2009 16:07
Member
312 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
Looks like a great game, but the reviews arent overwhelmingly good, might be one for the ‘will get if it is 13p list’ with haze, great game btw lol
BetaGhast | 09/10/2009 20:43
Member
552 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
don’t you know? reviewers knock scores off of games because they get pissed at the difficulty.
if they complain, and bitch, and moan that its hard but its an overall decent game, its probably a very good, hard game.
Boomshanks | 10/10/2009 11:35
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1305 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
Then why did WipEout get good reviews
BetaGhast | 10/10/2009 23:41
Member
552 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
Because it’s not a hard game?
Sheesh, nobody knows what the word “difficulty” means anymore..
RocketSOL | 09/10/2009 16:09
Member
544 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
I was thinking of getting this, but just not yet.
The problems with it, although minor look like they can get quite annoying.
bajere | 10/10/2009 10:27
Member
1068 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2008
i rented this last night.and i would advice EVERYONE to do the same befor buying!
This game is a very aquired taste, its not jst a guns blazing fps like killzone or cod. Its a liitle closer to the 1st rainbow6 years ago. U have to take things steady, use tatics,be paticant. So far i have only done level 1…and i really enjoyed it. It gave me a real thinking challenge,not jst the usal kill everything-then-move-along challenge most fps give you.
The graphics should of been worked on a little,as the enamy can see you but due to poor graphics,you cant see them!?!
But so far id give this game 7/10 personally…being able to jump over small objetcs,better graphics,and a few cinematics wouldnt of gone a miss though
Erroneus | 09/10/2009 16:29
Wanted "Trophy Hunter" but was too late.
2981 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
To mediocre in a market full of AAA titles.
BadBoyBoogie | 09/10/2009 16:32
Let There Be Rock
2689 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
I’ll be getting this at some point, though not straight away as there are too many other games coming out at the moment that I want to play more!! Looking forward to playing the co-op mode, which sounds like it could be superb if you have a good squad.
rht992 | 09/10/2009 17:22
Member
2860 TSA Points | Member since: Apr 2009
Gameplay sounds a lot like the stalker games on PC
And not having a jump button seems like a massive mistake in a FPS
This is one of the games thats been added to the, ever growing, list of games that i have to try out but simple can’t because i have no money
Vandix | 09/10/2009 18:36
Member
1199 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
Trust me when I say if this game would have had a jump button, and you’d jump, you’ll be dead before you land again….
Mick939 | 09/10/2009 23:43
Member
895 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Agreed
gazzagb | 09/10/2009 17:25
Master of speling mitakse
2760 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
Just had a go on it and i totally agree with everything you’ve said. The tension and suspense is simply brilliant. Ive only tried it single-player and cant wait to get stuck in with Co-op. The orders for your squard are hard at first, but easy to master. I agree with you that the game was designed for co-op, the AI in your squad just dont make the game feel as good as it is. Not having any HUD is deffinatly something that takes a while to get used to, but really does immerse you in the game. Cant wait to get playing co-op, hopefully see some of you there!
G_The_Enemy14 | 09/10/2009 17:40
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783 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2009
Might get this game, hopefully will go down in price soon
Dar-Kaus | 09/10/2009 18:49
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161 TSA Points | Member since: Apr 2009
Check out the price @ Asda just £27 for the next week
Mick939 | 09/10/2009 23:45
Member
895 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
My mate picked me it up at that price as a late birthday gift, great gift
Ro6afc11 | 09/10/2009 18:03
Member
1062 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
Amazingly Lovefilm say they dispatched this to me yesterday but unsurprisingly it didn’t arrive today. Hopefully tomorrow though. I fear I may be cack at this though but happy to be giving it a go.
gazzagb | 09/10/2009 18:13
Master of speling mitakse
2760 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
Mine arrivied today from LoveFilm! Could be the postal stikes affecting your area…
Ro6afc11 | 09/10/2009 18:26
Member
1062 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
More than likely, certainly can’t rely on the post at the moment. Fingers crossed for tomorrow and may see if I can embarrass myself online a bit.
gazzagb | 09/10/2009 18:40
Master of speling mitakse
2760 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
Its insainly good! Add me (gazzagb) if you want to do some co-op!
Ro6afc11 | 10/10/2009 13:30
Member
1062 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
Cheers I will do, although Postman has been but didn’t have a Lovefilm envelope for me! Bloody post.
forevermacin | 09/10/2009 18:17
Member
259 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2009
It reminds me allot of the previous operation flash point just with a little more polish. Single player I found it was best if I did the driving or got the ai to stick to the roads and get out 300 metres before the objective. I agree that the use of mics for online being a must to indicate your actions and the action around you during play. This game does take a fair amount of time to get through a mission, you have to be fairly calculating about what you are going to do and how you want to leave if things go pear shaped. Would really be interested in a TSA op flash point community springing up so that I could do some co op with some folks now and again.
SpikeyMikey23 | 09/10/2009 18:23
Member
901 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
i really enjoyed my first 5 hours, havent been able to try online yet due to bb issues, cant wait to try co-op out with some tsa-ers, im hoping that my new equipment turns up tomorrow, as the mrs is working all day and i have nothing to do = of2 day!
iNsAnE_gAmInG | 09/10/2009 19:05
* Banned *
-1930 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
I really want this, if I can get if for the £27 I will but I know it is inevitable it has sold out just like Fifa 10 and COD5 did.
SpikeyMikey23 | 09/10/2009 20:40
Member
901 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
i dont think it will be anywhere near as popular as those two titles, so you should be able to pick it up at that price
skibadee | 09/10/2009 19:43
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3919 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2009
defo on my list to get
TheDeathAvenger | 09/10/2009 20:18
Member
1654 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Got this in today, just going to try it out.
bigmac175 | 09/10/2009 20:57
Member
50 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2009
Just done a few missions but i keep on dieing its so annoying
Norvek | 11/10/2009 14:39
Member
30 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2009
A few reviews stated that it was advantageous to of had military training !! lol