| Operation Flashpoint |
|
| Developer(s) |
Bohemia Interactive Studio |
| Publisher(s) |
Codemasters |
| Composer(s) |
David Lagettie |
| Engine |
Real Virtuality
Cold War Crisis: 1.00 - 1.46
Resistance: 1.75 - 1.96 |
| Version |
1.96 (April 21, 2004) |
| Platform(s) |
Microsoft Windows, Xbox |
| Release date(s) |
EU June 22, 2001
NA August 30, 2001
|
| Genre(s) |
Tactical shooter |
| Mode(s) |
Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) |
ELSPA: 15+
ESRB: M
OFLC: MA15+
|
| Media |
1 CD-ROM |
| System requirements |
400 MHz CPU, 64 MB RAM, 16 MB video card RAM, 8X CD-ROM drive, DirectX 7.0, 450 MB available hard disk space, Windows 95 |
| Input methods |
Keyboard, Mouse |
Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis, sometimes shortened to Operation Flashpoint, and abbreviated OFP, is a tactical shooter and battlefield simulator video game developed by Bohemia Interactive Studio and published by Codemasters. This game is the base of the virtual military simulator VBS1. It was released on June 22, 2001 in Europe and August 30, 2001 in North America. Set on a group of fictitious islands in 1985, Operation Flashpoint puts the player on one of three sides in a hypothetical conflict between American and Soviet forces. The Resistance is the third playable faction. Two expansion packs were released; Gold Upgrade, which included Red Hammer, a campaign from the Soviet perspective, and Resistance, which introduced various new features and improved graphics and sound effects. Operation Flashpoint was praised for its attention to realistic combat.
In 2006, Bohemia Interactive released a sequel called ArmA: Armed Assault. It is based on an improved Flashpoint engine and it was released under the title ArmA Combat Operations in the United States on May 1, 2007. ArmA: Armed Assault's successor ArmA II was released on June 19, 2009.
An unofficial sequel not developed by Bohemia Interactive (as Bohemia Interactive owns the exclusive right to develop sequels, but Codemasters owns the name "Operation Flashpoint" itself), Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, is being developed by Codemasters. It is due for release in the fall of 2009.
Gameplay
Operation Flashpoint's gameplay varies significantly depending on the player's role, but the game is best described as a tactical shooter with significant vehicle elements and minor real-time tactics elements. OFP's gameplay is largely team oriented and the player spends much of the game with a squad of up to 11 AI controlled members, either as a member of the squad or as its leader. On-foot gameplay and the vehicle elements are blended seamlessly and the player can get into any available vehicle at any time, orders and mission conditions permitting. Whether on foot or in a vehicle the player can view the action from both first and third-person views, as well as an additional 'command view' available to squad leaders which gives the player a limited birds-eye view of the surrounding area. At the start of each mission (after the intro cinematic) the player is presented with a briefing explaining the situation, describing the player's goals in the mission and, often, providing further information in the form of notes. Once in-game the player is provided with a map, compass, watch, and a notebook (which contains the aforementioned briefing for reviewing). Depending on the mission the player may be required to participate in and complete a variety of tasks, from simply driving a truck or guarding bases to attacking or defending various objectives (whether on foot or while crewing a vehicle), patrols, reconnaissance and sabotage behind enemy lines (as a special forces soldier), air support (as a helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft pilot), or any combination of these and more.
Once the player is given command of an AI-controlled squad, they can issue their men a large variety of orders, either via a series of menus or simply by selecting the soldiers and clicking a place in the world or the map. Besides advising them how to act (e.g., don't fire and stay low), players can order their men to fire at specific targets, move to a certain location, get in or out of vehicles, watch certain directions, man fixed weapons, and even some 'special' actions such as repairing vehicles.
Multiplayer
OFP's multiplayer features a wide variety of game modes including:
- Deathmatch - In which the players spawn in an arena and fight each other with a variety of weapons and vehicles found in the map, the player with the most kills at the end of the round wins. This occasionally comes in the guise of a paintball match.
- Team Deathmatch - A game mode similar to deathmatch, in team deathmatch players join one of two teams and must kill players of the opposing team to earn points. This game mode is uncommon as team vs. team games usually have some additional objective, see below.
- Capture The Flag - In Capture The Flag, players must steal the flag and take it to a designated location, while preventing opposing players from doing the same. CTF may be team vs. team, or everyone vs. everyone with no alliances (dubbed a flagfight).
- Domination - In Domination, one objective (occasionally more) is marked with a flagpost. The two teams must war for control of the location. Whichever team holds the objective for the longest amount of time gains the most points and wins the round.
- Demolition (also known as Search & Destroy) - In which one team must protect an objective (such as an ammo dump or a vehicle) from the other team, which must destroy the objective. Whichever team prevails in their goal wins the round.
- Cooperative - In which one or more teams of allied human players (or, often, a combination of human and AI players) work cooperatively to accomplish a variety of objectives.
- Capture The Island - A popular player-devised game mode, Conquer The Island (CTI) is a mode in which two teams of human players, or alternatively one team of humans and one team controlled by AI, have the ability to build their own bases complete with basic defences, train AI infantry units, build empty or AI-crewed vehicles and clash in large-scale battles. This mode was later officially included in OFP's de-facto sequel, Armed Assault.
The game mode is determined by the mission chosen by the server host (each mission fits into a different category).
Operation Flashpoint also includes an in-game mission editor which can be used to create anything from single missions to entire campaigns.
Unlike other FPS games in which the aiming reticule is set in the center of the screen, and aiming moves the whole body's position, Operation Flashpoint's aiming reticule is movable around the whole field of vision and only moves the player's body when the reticule is pointed near the edge of the screen. And for hardcore realism players, there are options to completely turn off the aiming reticule in the difficulty menu in the options, forcing the player to aim with only the ironsights. In addition to using preset difficulty settings (Cadet or Veteran), they are both customizable by a difficulty menu located in the options menu, delivering a very large variety of customizable gameplay elements.
Weapons
Operation Flashpoint features a large collection of weapons available to the player. Each weapon in the game is accurate to its original specification, with correct sights, characteristics and handling. Reloading can be done at any time though if the current magazine is not empty, it will be preserved for a later reloading; this means that the player will eventually find himself having several partially loaded magazines.
Assault rifles
- M16A2 - most common weapon wielded by NATO troops. Unlike it's Soviet equivalent, it is unable of full automatic fire.
- AK-74 - most common weapon wielded by Soviet troops.
- AK-74 SU - smaller version, wielded by Soviet vehicle crews and Spetznaz troops.
- XM-177E2 - early version of the M4, used by NATO vehicle crews.
Submachine guns
- MP5 - the only silenced weapon in the game, wielded exclusively by NATO BlackOps soldiers.
Sniper rifles
Light machine guns
Note: machine guns and heavy weapons are mutually exclusive.
Heavy weapons
Against vehicles:
Against tanks:
Against aircraft:
Other weapons
- M203 - underslung grenade launcher attached to an M16, wielded exclusively by NATO grenadiers
- GP-25 - Soviet equivalent of the M203, mounted on an AK-74
- Rifle grenades - carried by Mortar soldiers for indirect fire support
- Hand grenades - both explosive and smoke grenades are available
- Satchel charges - used by BlackOps and Spetznaz troops for sabotage; detonation can be done through timer or remote-control
- Mines - carried by Engineers; will not explode unless an armored vehicle drives over it (e.g. jeeps can't set it off)
Vehicles
The player can use a wide variety of vehicles throughout the game. The player can take the position of driver/pilot, gunner or commander. The interior and exterior of the vehicles are visually accurate to the original specification. If no commander is present, the gunner orders the driver; in aircraft, the pilot orders the gunner.
Tanks
Note: Tanks can choose from three types of attack: coaxial machine gun and HEAT rounds against infantry as well as Sabot rounds against vehicles
- M1A1 - most powerful vehicle in the game
- M60A3 - lesser NATO tank
- T-80 - slightly weaker than the M1A1
- T-72 - lesser Soviet tank, superior to the M60
- T-55 - can be used only in user-made missions, vastly inferior to every other tank
Armored personnel carriers
- BMP-1 - superior to the M113 due to the presence of an anti-tank weapon
- BMP-2 - added in a patch
- M113A2
- M163 - added in a patch as rebalancing (NATO had no anti-air vehicle)
Other vehicles
- ZSU-23-4 Shilka - extremely effective against aircraft
- M939 truck - carries 11 soldiers, has four variations
- M151 A2 - has a variant with a mounted machine gun, carries 3 soldiers
- UAZ - carries 3 soldiers
- Humvee - added in a patch, carries 4 soldiers
- Ural truck - carries 11 soldiers, has all variations of the M939
- Various civilian vehicles including a Praga V3S truck
- Mark II PBR with a Soviet equivalent
Air vehicles
Note: combat aircraft has three options to attack: 30mm machine gun turret, unguided FFAR/57mm missiles and guided TOW/AT-6 missiles; transport aircraft has FFAR/57mm only unless otherwise noted
Operation Flashpoint features dozens of guns and vehicles, and pioneered the use of realistic vehicle and aircraft combat in FPS games. While Operation Flashpoint cannot provide the same level of vehicle realism as a dedicated tank or flight sim like Steel Beasts, or Falcon 4.0, it is nevertheless impressive because it is both able to simulate aircraft, tank and infantry combat with higher levels of realism than other games in its class, and also accurately simulate the complex relationships between these elements in wartime, (for example, the penultimate mission has the player commanding an infantry squad with the option to call in a tank platoon and air support if needed).
Plot
The year is 1985, and Mikhail Gorbachev has come to power in the Soviet Union. While his Glasnost and Perestroika reforms are welcomed by western governments, there are communist hardliners in his own government that are unsympathetic to his cause.
One of these men, a fanatic hardline general named Aleksei Guba, is determined to bring down Gorbachev and make himself the next leader of the Soviet Union. Guba commands an army on the island base of Kolgujev. Nearby is Everon; an independent republic, and Malden; another republic which has a strong NATO presence. Guba invades Everon, crushes the militia force there, and secretly plans to take the war to the Americans.
The NATO presence on Malden, under the command of the American Colonel Blake, moves in to investigate the loss of contact with Everon, and reports an invasion by an 'unknown hostile force'. When a helicopter of troops sent to investigate doesn't return, Blake orders a full scale invasion of Everon, not knowing about the Soviets, and the deadly conflict that would lie ahead.
Though the NATO forces manage to take control a portion of the island, the Soviets eventually counterattack, not only reclaiming Everon but pushing onto Malden as well. Blake receives an ultimatum from Guba but at the same time he is informed by Washington that a full carrier group is on route at flank speed to lend assistance. Time is of the essence as both the US and Moscow denied that hostilities broke out on the islands to prevent panic but at the same time the USSR began a full-scale mobilization, allegedly as a military exercise. As if the situation couldn't get worse, Guba's ace-in-the-hole is a nuclear-tipped SCUD aimed at Malden...
During the campaign players take the roles of one of four characters:
- David Armstrong - A determined Private in the United States Army who is training on Malden when the fighting breaks out, he lost his squad on Everon after a botched retreat attempt. Due to his performance, Blake promotes him to Lieutenant and assigns him to frontline combat, spearheading NATO advances.
- Robert Hammer - An inexperienced tank commander who has been called into service due to a shortage of tank crews. He is eventually promoted to platoon commander.
- Sam Nichols - A Black Hawk pilot who is called on to fly helicopter gunships, and eventually an A-10 Thunderbolt.
- James Gastovski - A retired U.S. Special Forces soldier, Gastovski is called out of retirement to carry out sabotage and scouting missions.
Also, the player gets to fight on four different islands.
- Malden - A independent island state which has a strong NATO presence.
- Everon - A independent island state which is run by its own militia.
- Kolgujev - Part of the Soviet union, a barren wasteland, no civilian population but a Soviet army base.
- Desert Island - A small desert island which you can only use in the editor.
- In addition to these four islands, one extra large island was added within the Resistance expansion pack.
Development
Reception
Operation Flashpoint has won critical acclaim for its realism of simulating military conflict situations on PC, even to the extent where the game's technology has been adapted for real soldiers to use as a special combat training application VBS1.
Partial listing:
- PC ZONE Classic Award
- IGN Editors Choice Award
- Simulation Headquarters Best of E3 2001
- Gamespy: Best of 2001 (PC Action)
- Computer Gaming World's Editors Choice Award
- The Adrenaline Vault: Seal of Excellence Award
- ECTS winner
- The Wargamer: Award of Excellence
- Gamestar.de Award
- PC Gamer Awards
- COMBATSIM.COM: Best Integrated Battlefield Simulation 2001
Add-ons
An add-on campaign Red Hammer, which was developed by Codemasters, depicts the same conflict, but places the player in the role of a Russian soldier, Dmitri Lukin, rather than an American soldier. During the course of the campaign, Lukin switches from his steadfast fight against American forces to battling his own countrymen in order to pave the way for an American take-over of the island. There are a few vehicles added, including the AH-64 Apache, BMP-2. The save game system was altered significantly, making reverting to a previous level impossible. Lukin had been a Spetsnaz in Afghanistan but was demoted to Private and shipped to the regular army for insubordination. During the course of the Red Hammer campaign he is put in command of a squad, promoted to Sergeant, drives tanks, flies helicopters and eventually gets promoted to Lieutenant and assigned back to Spetsnaz.
Another add-on, Resistance, is set three years before the events of the two preceding games. The player takes the role of an ex-Special Operations soldier, Victor Troska, who has returned to his homeland of Nogova after years in exile serving with British Special Forces. During the first introductory mission to the campaign, the island is invaded by the Soviet Union. Initially, Troska refuses to have any part in the fighting and ignores the persuasion of the Resistance pioneers, despite feeling guilty and helpless as his countrymen are massacred by the Russian invaders. One day, a seriously wounded guerilla takes refuge in Troska's barn with Russian troops on his heels. Troska has virtually no choice but to lead a ramshackle uprising, and the player must use his/her resourcefulness to salvage weapons and ammunition from fallen enemies to supplement supplies which are continually available at later stages in the campaign. The expansion pack also updates the graphics, sounds, and multiplayer mechanics.
See also
References
External links
