Operation Flashpoint is awesome!

W

WabeWalker

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Sep 3, 2007
Messages
4,508
I bought Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising impulsively, after being frustrated by Arma 2, and man am I ever glad I did. I got into it on the weekend, and now I'm really enjoying this game.

I completely disagree that Arma looks better than OF. No way, José! Codemasters has a beautiful engine on its hands here. The terrain is one of the best I've ever seen in a game - the way that the land undulates, creating these little dells everywhere, is uncannily realistic... you almost have to see it to believe it. The grassy fields stretch out as far as the eye can see, and for the first time in a game like this when I look around there's no texture pop for the grass, which you're almost always knee deep in.

While playing this game I keep on thinking that this engine could be used to make an RPG - if only Oblivion had looked half as good as this.

The gameplay itself is not nearly as simple as some people have claimed. It's not as bad as Arma 2, but it's far more difficult than GRAW. Honestly, some people would have you believe that OF's difficultly is just a step above Call Of Duty's, and that just is not so.

I'm finding combat to be exceedingly fun.

It's vital that you use your squadmates effectively - your survival depends on this! But when you're shooting at the enemy, most times he's more than just a little dot on your screen - you can actually see the guy as a real person. When the firefights take place, tracers will be flying left right and center, and you'll hear the sound of the bullets whizzing past you and over your head.

It's just feels incredibly realistic - but it's fun as well. And, again, graphically speaking, just hugely impressive. The terrain in particular is just so well done.

I'd have to say that Codemasters has got a winner on its hands here. I don't really agree with most of the reviews I've read. OF is a very good game.
 
I'm a fan of the Tom Clancy series and I really like GRAW2 for single player/lan gaming. That said, I have really enjoyed OF myself. Graphics and sounds is excellent. Love the huge maps and interaction. It reminds me a lot of GRAW2. Fans of this series will like it. In the end it's a good single player game.
 
It's interesting. I recently caught up with and bought GRAW 2 from Steam for $20. I liked the first one and I just never got to the second one for who knows what reasons.

I played it, liked it a lot, finished it and then fired up OF: Dragon Rising and I definitely feel like OF is a close cousin to GRAW, all told.

There's some things that one game does better than the other but I definitely can endorse OF: DR to anyone with that GR or even a little RB6 itch. You could do a lot worse. If you need a fix, this is it otherwise you go super hardcore with Arma II which has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Incidentally...when the hell are the next GRAW and RB6 games coming out?

I think OF: DR could stand at least one good patch to iron out a few things but it's a pretty solid game IMO. I like it!

I think a patch and that first price drop will see a lot more people buying it.

This one of those games slipping by people's radar right now but I think Even as is, I don't feel bad about buying it on Steam at its present price. I really had that itch for a new tactical shooter pretty bad. ;)
 
Last edited:
XpediencY said:
Exactly. Most of those who ever did play the original ofp were quite disappointed to see how this game turned out. They shouldn't have used "OFP" as the game name.
Click to expand...

Whatever it's called it's pretty good on its own merits IMO.
 
I played the game for about 5 minutes before I realized what a crock of shit it was and fired up ARMA2 instead.
 
I have both ARMA 2 and OF: DR. Each has their strengths and weaknesses:

ARMA 2 Strength:
+ Complexity of interface (there are more in-game commands than keyboard buttons)
+ Inventory menu (for gearing up)
+ Graphical fidelity (more game objects than OF: DR, more variety of environment)
+ Dedicated servers
+ 40+ Hours to beat the game
+ Developer's support (lots of patches)
+ More realistic than OF: DR (Injuries are more serious, the enemy will detect you from hundreds of meters away! etc. etc. etc.)

ARMA 2 Weakness:
- Complexity of interface (this can be a strength and weakness)
- BUGS (even after four patches, some bugs can still be game breakers, in the sense that you can't complete your mission without restarting because of the damn bug)
- System Requirements (even with my signature specs, I cannot even get close to maxing out this juggernaut of an engine)

OF: DR Strength:
+ Simplicity of interface (when compared to ARMA 2)
+ More intuitive to pick up and play
+ Runs smoother than ARMA 2
+ Better art direction (the feel and look of the game is more consistent than ARMA 2, despite lesser graphical fidelity)
+ Less buggy than ARMA 2 (They are still there, but I haven't found any game breakers yet)

OF: DR Weakness:
- Stupid enemies (their accuracy sucks, their detection range is questionable; I believe this is the consequence of watering it down for console ports)
- 10 hours to beat the SP campaign
- The game environment is more or less one theme: Grasslands and hilly knolls
- No dedicated server? FUCK YOU CONSOLE PORTS
- No leaning? FUCK YOU CONSOLE PORTS

I found both games enjoyable and even more so in co-op. OF: DR is easier to pick up and play than ARMA 2, but ARMA 2 is far more epic in terms of complexity and level progression than OF: DR. In terms of the total gaming experience, these two trade blows.

The thing that irks me in most reviews concerning these two games is that they are conducted by gamers have no appreciation of the subtleties of the genre. They would often complain about things like difficulty (one-hit can drop the player) and game design decisions like taking 20 minutes to cross from one objective to the next, when it is a crucial part of the experience of a military sim. I think in this regard, the ratings on Metacritics often underappreciate OF: DR, and that I myself would give this game a 9 for what it is, at the very least.

Yeah, OF: DR is awesome.
 
ARMA 2 is garbage, too many bugs and looks like vomit most the time. I love this game too.
 
OFP2 is really not a step up from the original game at all, after all of this time the AI is just as shitty and the vehicles still feel like they are on ice skates instead of using a real physics engine. I loved OFP but I'm not a graphics whore so I tend to focus on things that effect gameplay, they should've taken more time with this one.
 
Capfarland said:
OFP2 is really not a step up from the original game at all, after all of this time the AI is just as shitty and the vehicles still feel like they are on ice skates instead of using a real physics engine. I loved OFP but I'm not a graphics whore so I tend to focus on things that effect gameplay, they should've taken more time with this one.
Click to expand...

Agreed and yet I still am having fun with it, especially the Mission Editor.

I think one robust patch would go a long ways for this game. I hope it happens.
 
Eagle156 said:
I played the game for about 5 minutes before I realized what a crock of shit it was and fired up ARMA2 instead.
Click to expand...

Wow, you must be gutted about spending your hard earned cash for a game that gave you 5 mins of gameplay :rolleyes:
 
mr_zen256 said:
Wow, you must be gutted about spending your hard earned cash for a game that gave you 5 mins of gameplay :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, sometimes I'll spend no more than an hour or so with a game, and then give up on it - there are so many great titles to experience, and such little time, that when something doesn't work for me I'll get rid of it pretty quickly.

It's not something that I was happy about doing, but yeah I bailed on ARMA 2 pretty quickly (after spending $25 on it). A few people at this forum were extremely helpful in providing me with some great links to articles in which the basics of combat and movement were explained - but it all seemed so tedious. I just couldn't get a grip on the thing.

The James Bond game, Quantum of Solace, which I paid $20 for, also sits on my shelf, pretty much untouched. And believe it or not but I spent literally fifteen minutes playing Prince of Persia, which I paid $30 for! (The graphics were a huge turnoff, although in the back of my mind I feel that this game deserves more attention than what I gave it.)

That said, Operation Flashpoint, is nowhere near as forgiving as Call of Duty (to say the least!), nor does it seem to be quite as hardcore as ARMA 2. I guess it might work for you if, like myself, you're looking for some middle ground.

But wow is it ever a visceral experience - and to repeat my comment from above, I would love to see a fantasy RPG created with this beautiful engine... the terrain is just so realistic, with all these dells everywhere... it makes the landscape in Oblivion look phony in comparison.
 
Can someone actually explain how infantry combat in ARMA2 is more realistic than OPFDR?
 
Chombo said:
Can someone actually explain how infantry combat in ARMA2 is more realistic than OPFDR?
Click to expand...

Beats me. Glitches aside, I respected a lot of what I saw in the Arma II demo but I just couldn't get into the gameplay all the way.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top