Reader Reviews

Operation Flashpoint (PC)

by Whizzo

Seven words typed on the EG forum back in September 2003 have completely changed my gaming habits; I've bought games and not played them (one of which took a lot of tracking down in Las Vegas of all places), many TV programmes I've wanted to watch have been forgotten, I've spent hours looking at maps of non-existent places, downloaded more freely available add-ons than I thought could possibly exist, lost sleep, been scared silly while hiding in plants, hosted games for many EG regulars, sat in a bus with Darth Maul, Arnie and the Invisible Man and used my PC's joystick for the first time in ages. What were those words? Well as the first two are the title of this review above this paragraph you've got part of it: "Operation Flashpoint: Does anyone play this multiplayer?", as asked by regular reader FWB.

Operation Flashpoint (OFP from now on) has been around since 2001, it was my favourite game of that year. A first-person shooter in genre but very different from anything available before and since. Rather than go over the basics again I refer the reader to the already comprehensive review that Eurogamer has already produced. What has happened since that was written is the release of two official campaigns, several patches and the aforementioned free add-ons from the rather talented OFP community. There are so many mods that radically alter the game it would be impossible to describe them but if you want to fly a biplane from the deck of the USS Nimitz and attack fully animated clucking chickens while avoiding gun fire from SA-19 Tunguskas and men wearing jetpacks, then your dream can be realised with some downloads and about five minutes work in the game's editor. Just don't send me the mission!

The game's editor is one of OFP's greatest strengths; anyone can create a mission in a matter of minutes and it works. Obviously with a bit of learning you can make missions so complex and involving they make most commercial FPS releases look like someone has thrown units on a small map that leads you down one attractive corridor to the next gunfight and repeats itself. Map size is another of its highlights too, how many games allow you to play in an area about the size of the Isle of Wight and is detailed enough that you can wait at a timetable-equipped bus stop if you want?

One aspect the original review didn't consider was multiplayer. Until I discovered the joys of OFP MP, having not played it multiplayer before FWB's question, I thought Battlefield 1942 was the peak of team based online gaming. Well I couldn't have been more wrong. OFP is so much better! Deathmatch, CTF and other PvP modes are fully supported but OFP is far more enjoyable playing co-op with other people. The AI is pretty capable, can put up a good fight and depending on how the mission creator has set things up can be very, very difficult to beat. Some years ago Spectrum Holobyte, then Microprose when they merged, had plans to build an electronic battlefield that would link up their flight sims with ground-based tank games, I really wanted this to happen and dreamed of the day I could be flying close air support in an F16 while friends were fighting below me in M1-A1s. Obviously it never happened but OFP did. Now you can be in a pub in a busy town, drive your sports car to an airbase, jump into a Cobra gunship and provide air support to friends on the ground involved in a fire fight in armour or on foot many miles away from your starting location all in one game with no loading pauses. Its MP isn't perfect, not being able to join an in-play mission can be a pain, but the inconvenience is a small price to pay for so much entertainment and will be different in OFP2 when it arrives sometime this year (fingers crossed).

OFP isn't the best-looking game in the world, yet it can still produce some lovely effects, the weather can be amazing for example, sound is superb, more of those lovely add-ons make things even better, gameplay is king after all and OFP has more than you could possibly want. Any PC gamer who likes first-person shooters but feels a bit "so what?" about most new releases owes it to themselves to invest in a copy and get ready to be hiding from bad guys and losing hard drive space from all the great stuff you can download! The "Game Of The Year" edition of OFP (the game plus the two official expansions) can be bought for less than half the price of one rather expensive BF1942 expansion packs. For those chicken-hunting biplane pilots with bugger all money there's no excuse!