No mission editor for consoles
Pros
-Squad AI can be useful if used properly (although thats not always easy to do)
-Firefights can be intense
-Nice open environments
-Effects are realistic
- Very fun multiplayer / co-op
Cons
- People absorb too many bullets before going down
- AI gets confused in closed environments or towns
- Campaign story portrayed quite blandly (even ARMA 2 has a more colorful story)
- NO MISSION EDITOR
Alright, the MAIN thing about Dragon Rising is that for the console versions, save a couple of AI issues, the game is everything it needed to be and could have been. HOWEVER, without the inclusion of a mission editor for the consoles, its as if you are not playing the main game. Almost any player of either the original operation flashpoint of the ARMA series can tell you that the main attraction of either of those games is not necessarily the campaign OR the multiplayer. The main attraction of these games is the MISSION EDITOR which is not included in the console package. Now some sources say that the mission editor will be included as a DLC, while others state otherwise. It is in my opinion only that signs point towards no mission editor DLC, although i hope to be proven wrong. Let's just say that with a mission editor included, i would probably have given this game between 8.5-9.5
I am not really sure for the most part why people (mainly original OFP fans) are so sore over this game. The only real reason i can see is that people absorb too much gunfire before dying or becoming critically wounded. I can look past that for the most part, but it is aggravating at times when you are 100% positive you hit an enemy 3 or 4 times (the game has a HUD system that lets you know when you have scored a direct hit on the enemy) and he is still able to fire back or retreat. Thats a bit ridiculous, even COD4 seems to be less forgiving than that.
But i digress and have to go back to my original point - this game just can never measure up to the full potential of its PC counterpart without the mission editor, which is where one can devote hours of time to create their own missions and content which can be played with friends (or not). Thats the main drawing part, and i feel that everything else about the game, although executed quite well, cannot hold on its own.
In conclusion, if you were looking for something more akin to the original flashpoint, then get ARMA 2. If mission editing doesnt sound attractive to you, dragon rising is a good rent, and a possible buy.