Operation Flashpoint Elite review

"Take a step back to the world of 1985. Two world leaders controlled the affairs of the globe. On the one hand there was the flaky right-wing actor that had seen too many episodes of Buck Rogers and wanted a giant laser beam of his own. On the other side of the world another leader struggled with the death of his nation's economy and sought a more cordial global situation where his motherland could collapse in peace. There were the usual wars and famines as the superpowers fought for hearts and minds but left nothing but poverty and death in their wake."

So began my review of Operation Flashpoint on PC back in June of 2001. I never would have guessed that over four years later I would be reviewing the very same game. Operation Flashpoint was, and is, a remarkable game - predating the Battlefield franchise, and perhaps offering a better representation of combined military operations than DICE's Unreal with Soldiers.

Swansong

An Xbox version of the game was begun a long time ago and most gamers may have been forgiven for thinking that Codemasters had completely given up on the game. There had been little word on the console version of Flashpoint for some time. And here we are just weeks from the release of Xbox 360 and yet right in front of me, here in a little plastic jewel case, sits one of the finest games to grace the Xbox.

But let's not get all arsey-versy just yet and give the game away, let's get back to the beginning. Operation Flashpoint Elite is set in 1985 during the last gasps of the Cold War. Rogue Soviet military officers have launched an attack on the small fictional Eastern European island of Everon. This comes as something of a shock to the bored and undermanned troops of the US Army stationed on the island.

So begins a conflict between the US and the Soviets that plays out at times like a Guerrilla campaign and at other times like a full-scale combined arms action. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the gameplay structure in Flashpoint is how, while the missions and your role in them varies so much, it never feels less than one complete whole.

Into Action

The bulk of the game is played as an infantry soldier, sometimes in a large squad, sometimes in a small unit, and for those times when only a covert operative will do, on your own. There's variety even within these roles, earlier in the campaign you'll be part of a squad where you'll have non-coms and officers giving you orders, telling you where to go, who to shoot at. But as the campaign progresses, this role will fall to you, and the lives of a squad of men will be in your hands.

If that's all Flashpoint was, an infantry game, it would still be great. But it doesn't end there, because Flashpoint implements vehicles wonderfully. Playing a mission as a tank crewman feels better than the last few tank games I've played and taking to the skies in a Bell Huey Cobra is certainly better than the last hurrah for Microprose's Gunship franchise.

Bohemia Interactive came out of nowhere and nailed the military shooter, nailed the implementation of vehicles and created a game that was so ahead of its time that not only does it feel fresh today, few developers have approached its scope.

Campaign

The campaign is pretty much the same as the original PC version, in fact, that's what you can say about most aspects of Flashpoint Elite, it really is a faithful conversion of that wonderful PC game. So early on you'll find yourself a bit bewildered, being ordered to fire on targets you can't see, wondering if you'll ever actually shoot at something and hit it.

Then as the war progresses you get more confident, to the point where leading a squad seems a natural thing to do. Or you'll be crawling into a Soviet base in the dead of night to sabotage some tanks knowing that the Russian guards should be fearing you rather than you being scared.

And once you've played through the regular campaign you can take on Resistance, a campaign that was an add-on for the PC version, which is a prequel, showing some of the events that led up to the Soviet invasion.

In Control

Translating the game to a joypad has worked surprisingly well. Yes there are a lot of controls to remember but at the same time, if Flashpoint ever feels clunky, don't worry - the PC original was just as clunky. Yes from the early rather poor obstacle course mission all that slight clunkiness is still there, but as it did then, it somehow seems to fit in with the 1985 theme.

For those players who don't like the default controls, there are many control schemes to choose from and you may find yourself selecting different controls when you try out new vehicles for the first time. For example, I didn't much like the default truck/jeep control and switched to one where the throttle and brake were on the triggers rather than the right stick - confusingly though it had the brake on the right.

First person shooters are always tricky with a joypad, but the more realistic nature of Flashpoint, with gunfights often happening over longer ranges than games such as Halo, present few problems for a joypad set up. I was surprised how well it all played with the pad.

Afraid to Shoot Strangers

Do you have Xbox Live? Then you have to get Operation Flashpoint Elite. It really is that good. There's so much choice in the way you play the game, from simple deathmatch games to full scale battles created with the game's powerful mission editor.

The mission editor is the dog's danglies, allowing anyone to create some epic battles quickly. However seasoned Flashpoint veterans will really get the most out of it. It's a flexible system too. I've been sat in multiplayer lobbies on Xbox Live while the host alters the actual mission while we discuss ideas for changes.

And it takes mere seconds to download missions from a host, the vast islands are fixed remember, so it's just a case of downloading where units are, their actions and mission parameters.

Visions of War

If you've played the original Flashpoint, with it's long view distances and go-anywhere approach, you'll be surprised to see how well this has been translated over to Xbox. There are no invisible walls in this game, you really can go anywhere. So, for example a mission requires you to enter an enemy base covertly, there's no reason why you can't detour by a few miles just to sneak in from another direction.

It's that kind of freedom and game size that has to be weighed up when one talks about the graphical qualities of the game. Yes there's some new lighting and better textures, but there's still a rather clunky look to Flashpoint and the animations still seem rather odd. It's a trade though, I'd rather have vast, gorgeous woodland to have a battle in, than a small copse of trees and Ghost Recon-like graphics.

The sound remains equally atmospheric, with distant gunshots being as menacing as before, as the bullets whistle by. Strangely some of the voice work has been re-recording and a lot of it is rather rubbish. The actors can't seem to work out whether they want to use an American accent or not.

Passchendaele

Operation Flashpoint Elite is an anti-war game. It seems an odd thing to say, given the violent nature of the battles on offer. But this isn't some blood and gore shooter, it's a very disciplined look at military operations - it's about soldiers, not super-soldiers. Most of the combatants are reluctant, playing a part in a conflict none of them wishes to be involved in.

Lying in the woods, with the echo of enemy gunfire growing every closer, it's clear that Flashpoint offers a tense and involving atmosphere like few other games. The sense of isolation on the large maps, especially when you're the last survivor of a unit, is remarkable. The famous quotes on the futility of war that are shown when you die add to the feeling you're caught up in something tragic.

Operation Flashpoint Elite is a game that's as much about emotion as it is adrenaline. It's been an utter delight to play the game again, especially as the conversion to Xbox has been handled so well. No self-respecting Xbox Live player should be without this game.