Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Review
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is Codemaster’s sequel to 2001’s original made by Bohemia Interactive. It drops you into the boots of a Marine fire team dropped on Skira Island, a fictional Russian territory taken over by China for its oil assets. The story is minimal, and most of it is played out over radio while hiking through the island.
The first thing you will notice when booting the game up is the draw distance. You have detailed vision over about 2 kilometers, and you can see landscape beyond that. Detail can be hit or miss, as your weapons and vehicles look good, but textures are repeated and explosions leave something to be desired. This all flies out the window when you experience one of the games many glitches, both graphical and A.I. related. You may see the PLA army half a kilometer away, but the ground they are crawling on? Also, weapons can spawn to high in relation to the camera, leaving you blind until death.
The A.I. issues are offset when playing CO-OP… mostly. You still have the occasional mission where you must command others, and they will only listen to about 3 / 40+ commands. If you play singleplayer, I pity the experience you will have with your squad mates. The A.I. sadly also play a role in multiplayer, with the console version being knocked down from 8v8 to 4v4 (with A.I. under each sides control). This is just a small fraction of what makes the online an un-enjoyable experience.
To start, there are only two game modes to pick from, and two maps per game mode. While the maps are large, you will already feel like you have seen too much of them within the first hour of playing. Add onto that the fact that enemies take more shots than any other online game I have played (something we weren’t supposed to worry about, according to the developers) and you just have a clumsy, frustrating experience. The one bright side to online is that you can choose your weapon load out, unlike singleplayer. So for instance, if you would like to try out the games great sniping mechanic, with a spotter at your side, you can.
The singeplayer portion of the game will take you about 11-13 hours, depending on skill and difficulty. I wouldn’t be worried about playing it on Hardcore mode, as this makes you die in a hit or two, with no checkpoints in the level. When you play through a 45 minute level to die at the end, it gets frustrating. Also don’t expect the online portion to last too long, as people will undoubtedly move over to Call of Duty, or if a diehard tactical military fan, go back to Ghost Recon.
6.8 - Presentation: One of the buggiest games I have ever played. It is a wonder how it got past Quality Testing.
8.9 - Graphics: While the lighting was great, it was of put by the explosions. Weapons and vehicles were modeled nicely.
8.2 - Sound: Menu music will grate your nerves when waiting to find a match. You will have to listen to both comrades and commanding officers bark the same thing twice.
8.4 - Gameplay: A game that needed more time in the cooker to be fully enjoyed. There are awesome moments, but a lot of design choices leave you scratching your head.
7.0 - Longevity: About a medium length singleplayer, and lack of any substantial online has this one over with quickly.
Overall: 7.9/10
Afterthoughts (no effect on final score): Rented the game for a week, and that’s about as much as I can recommend anybody doing with it. Not a $60 purchase, especially with the competition to be available in the coming months. The achievements are all singleplayer (and none are glitched, surprisingly), a plus in this game for sure.
