Operation Flashpoint
Owen
A virtual soldier simulator, even with the boring bits.
A sense of space and time.
Fight or flight!
Operation Flashpoint stood out like a saw thumb when it was first released, and there really hasn't been any other games like it to date. The game comprised of mainly 3 life size islands populated with all the vegetation and towns you would expect. In the single player campaign you were a single army cadet dropped into a full scale military operation that takes place through a series of missions. Operation Flashpoint really does give you a sense that you are just a drop of water in a bucket. However a small drop in relation to its size can make some large ripples and in this game you make no exception. You have pretty much everything at your disposal, tanks, helicopters, planes and even tractors. If the mission designer has put an vehicle in the mission there there’s a good chance you can use it. So, what does this mean for COOP gamers?
Cooperation is not an alternative.
Plan your attack well
It isn’t difficult to see why they added COOP to this game. There are parts of the single player where you work alone but most of the time you are performing a role within a squad. So, to add the ability to open another squad position up to your COOP buddy (apart from the network overhead) wouldn’t be too difficult. Sadly this ability wasn’t fully exploited and a COOP run through the single player missions was not implemented. What BIS left for the COOP players with was a hand full of single COOP missions. These missions ranged from assaulting towns, laying ambushes and rescuing hostages. Although the missions where designed well it did leave you feeling a little short changed in the COOP department. Fortunately BIS has built a very powerful mission editor and soon the Operation Flashpoint community was a buzz with new COOP missions to play.
Plan your attack well and stick to it.
Chooper to chopper
One of my favourite missions was an ambush on a convoy as it passes through a small village. The mission starts at night, you take on the role of a special forces soldier given to execute this objective. The COOP setup before starting the mission, shows you the available player slots. If you only have a few friends to play with you can either leave the empty slots blank or fill your squad with some AI squad members. Before you start the action you are presented with a map of the island you are on, here you can actually add icons to advise friends what the plan of attack is. Voice communication is highly recommended, however when the game came out this was quiet a rare ability and typing in text chat did make things a little less spontaneous. Once in the game the outcome is of your making. The above mentioned mission we never completed but each time we played was completely different as we kept trying different approaches. This open ended game play makes this game a COOP classic.
Rambo never wins in this game.
Watching the enemy
If memory servers me correctly in the film Commando, Arnold Schwarzenegger seemingly takes down almost an entire army with a single automatic weapon. However, don't expect to wade into this game like that or you'll die trying. Many times I have lain on the top of a hill with my binoculars, watching the base below, discussing with fellow COOP players how we should attack. Working as a team is the secret of success in this game which is why it is excellent fun in COOP.
Highly recommended and still works in Windows XP, however expect an updated version soon under the guise of Armed Assault.
