Do you have what it takes to get a review published right here on Kotaku? Justin does, as he spends the entire battle hiding in the grass.
Yes, that’s right, we’re now publishing reader reviews here on Kotaku. This is your chance to deliver sensible game purchasing advice to the rest of the Kotaku community.
And thanks to the very kind chaps at Madman Entertainment, purveyor of all kinds of cool, indie and esoteric film, the best reader review we publish each month will win a prize pack containing ten of the latest Madman DVD releases.
This review was submitted by Justin Robson. If you’ve played Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, or just want to ask Justin more about it, leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising (360, PS3, PC)
This generation’s harsh and tactical military simulator.
Loved
Complete change of pace: One thing you need to know before going into this game gunz-a-blazing is that it is more of a simulator than anything. Flashpoint is meant to be tough. Only a professional or a lunatic would tackle it on hard straight up. The difficulty curve is more of a right angle than a curve, but it is one of the most rewarding games out there if you stick to it.
Combat realism: Everything about this game is mind-blowingly realistic, especially the weapons and combat. Every single bullet becomes an asset, one will put you or an enemy down, two and it’s game over man. Firing is also very dependent on where you hit an enemy and from how far, and it’s incredibly satisfying to see the pink mist from a headshot at long distance.
Hated
Graphics = Meh: The engine is very standard for this generation, and was obviously implemented with a ‘gets the job done’ mentality. The environment and gun models are far from ugly, but aren’t pretty… and characters… you’d think America was cloning soldiers. For something that was barely forgivable in the late nineties, it makes you wonder why the devs didn’t put in the effort to differentiate one person from the next.
Bugs: Bugs are plentiful. They range from small things like clipping issues, to doozeys like checkpoints that don’t register, and disappearing teammates/enemies. Nothing game breaking, but definitely mission breaking, and your patience will be tested.
AI: For the most part, they do their job, but at times are so obnoxiously stupid they get in the way of the mission. Your teammates can get snagged on the smallest obstacles and are often unresponsive to orders and enemies. Also, getting everyone into a vehicle is a chore, and medics seldom want to heal you until it’s too late. Sometimes you’ll want to shoot your own men more than the enemy.
Ultimately, this is an extremely punishing game, if not for the realism of it all, but for the bugs and the idiotic AI. That said, if you have the patience, you can come out of Operation Flashpoint a lot better at FPS.
Reviewed by: Justin Robson
You can have your Reader Review published on Kotaku. Send your review to us at the usual address. Make sure it’s written in the same format as above and in under 300 words – yes, we’ve upped the word limit. We’ll publish the best ones we get and the best of the month will win a Madman DVD prize pack.
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