Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Review PS3

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a first person shooter that revolves around tactics rather than arcade style shooters, ala Call of Duty and Battlefield. The series has a cult following and has sparked spinoff mods on other games, such as the Unreal Infiltration mod. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising takes place on the fictional island of Skira where the Chinese and Russian forces battle over the control of a newly discover oil reservoir in the year 2011 after a Global Economic Crisis has crippled the world. The U.S. army is called in by the Russian government to assist in retaking the island from the Chinese. The game consists of a single player campaign and a multiplayer mode rife with bugs, which launches this game full on into the bargain bin of shovelware. It is a shame to see a series so highly regarded in the past for its realism, reduced to horrible AI and glitches that only a beta tester could love.

Graphic and sound:

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is modeled after the island of Kiska off the coast of Alaska. The game environment looks like a massive wasteland from afar and only gets worse with closer inspection. Textures are pixelated up close, and character models are devoid of life or emotion. Water does not interact with the shore line and the texture maps are horribly tiled to the point of looking like a grid. Trees and other vegetation use planar objects with opacity turned on for the leaves, which looks horrible. Clipping occurs everywhere, between weapons inside of characters, characters through building, and any other odd arrangement that a player can imagine. Visually, Dragon Rising looks like a game that should have came out in 2003, not 2009.

The sound effects and voices in this game are on par with the visuals, lackluster. Weapons sound more like paintball and BB guns rather than actual army issued weaponry. The only sounds that come close to realistic are artillery rounds that can be called in as support. Voiceovers from the main character and teammates sound as if they were recorded in someone’s basement with a PC microphone. Instead of evoking emotion of conflict and urgency, the voices in the game sound more like they are constipated trying to push a turd, which in reality they are, it’s called Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising…

Gameplay and controls:

If the plot, visuals, and sound don’t persuade readers to avoid this game, then the gameplay surely will. The game is split up into a single player campaign and a multiplayer game. The single player campaign provides 11 missions to run through either independently with 3 AI teammates or online with 3 other players. Multiplayer also includes modes such as Annihilation and Infiltration with others promised as downloadable content in the future.

Artificial intelligence in Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising falls flat on its head in terms of teammates and enemy forces. On the player team, friendly AI will have trouble following orders, reaching destinations, and hitting not only moving enemy targets, but also stationary ones as well. Apparently the AI were given blindfolds prior to engaging the enemy. The enemy AI on the other hand will land shots that are simply impossible as line of sight in real life would prevent the enemy from even seeing the player. The enemy AI does have some faults of their own though. As the player begins to kill enemy AI players, some enemy forces will be oblivious to the fact that their nearby companion was shot down or even that artillery shells just rained down in their vicinity. The enemy AI will just stand in its place and do absolutely nothing. The AI in Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is broken.

Overall thoughts:

The Operation Flashpoint series was an innovator back in 2001 with its initial entry, but fast forward to 2009 Dragon Rising and it seems the series has fallen apart. It could be that the original developer is no longer involved and the fault lays on Codemasters for dropping the ball. The game’s AI is completely broken and unless a player enjoys pain and a lot of it, it is recommended that this game be avoided at all cost. Do not even rent this shovelware, because not even rental stores deserve a dime for purchasing this trash heap of a game. Even if one ignores the ugly visuals and sound, the AI of teammates and the enemy forces will bring untold frustration upon the player. Games like Dragon Rising should be thoroughly tested before going retail, especially a game that tarnishes a well known and respected name that will now have to be redeemed if another game is even ever produced. Do not rent this game, just pretend it never was created.