Operation Flashpoint Cold War Crisis Is An Enjoyable Shooter That Offers Some Great Gameplay Elements.
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THE GOOD : Tanks, Planes, Helicopters and other driveable objects are completely awesome, gameplay is fun, sound is good.
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THE BAD : Graphics could have been more detailed.
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Well, I remember when I first played this game. I'm not going to lie, it's frustrating at first. There are many people who play this game for about 30 minutes before crying about how hard it is. In short, this is a real first-person shooter that will actually challenge you, unlike most shooters today, which are (for the most part quite,) stereotypical and boring.
Gameplay : As I might have said already, this game starts off hard and stays that way. This is most certainly not a game you will master in a mere 5 minutes. With that said.......
The controls will take a little getting used to, but after the introduction, you should be ready enough for your first mission. Whilst you are fighting the enemy, it's advised that you listen to your commander, and stay in formation with your troops. Sometimes, you'll score the most kills out of everyone in your formation, sometimes your role will be piratically worthless (remember, there's no 'I' in team kids.) This is a game where your teammates will actually do something, instead of moping around whilst you do all of the work. However, there are times that you command your troops, and sometimes, you have to go at it alone.
The part that blew me away however, was the fights themselves. What a (sadly) large portion of gamers don't realize is that war isn't fought at point-blank range. You will usually be shooting at enemies that are roughly 150-350 meters away. In reality, if you try to run up to someone and kill them in a gunfight, you'll die, which is what happens if you try it here. Also, the enemies are accurate, and the damage you take is faithful to what would happen if you were actually shot in war. If you are shot in the arms, you'll have massive trouble handling your weapon, if you're shot in the leg, you are reduced to crawling, and if you're shot in the head, you're dead. Unlike some games (which shall remain nameless) where you can get shot into swiss cheese without dying.
Graphics : This is the game's main weak point. The fact that the weakest part of this game gets a seven only shows how good it really is. Personally, I don't really care about graphics, for I'm more about gameplay (as you can tell by my lengthy section about it.) For the most part, the graphics are on par with other First Person Shooters from its time.
Sound : Nothing earth-shaking in terms of innovation here. However, the sound is clear, you can easily make out what your allies are saying (unless you stray too far away from them,) and you can hear everything around you in good detail.
I'll be honest, I haven't beaten this game yet. It's very hard, even on the easiest level of gameplay. There are also a large number of missions (for the exact number, you'll have to look somewhere else, sorry.) Either you'll love this game, or you'll hate it, there's very few that just....... like it.
All in all, this game has no real weak areas, unless you're a graphics junkie. Other than that minor detail, this game certainly didn't get the attention it deserves, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a realistic gaming experience in terms of gameplay. There is also a multi-player, but I haven't tried it yet, because I'm still busy trying to beat the game first. However, the single player mode is more than enough reason to get this very well done game.