Operation Flashpoint: Red River Preview and Features

Operation Flashpoint: Red River Game Overview

This time, with Operation Flashpoint: Red River, Codemasters will try combine a very realistic experience and an action game. The game will bring you in a real war crisis heating up in a real world country: Tajikistan.

Thousands of fans embraced Operation Flashpoint when it came out in 2001 because it offered the most realistic war simulation ever. Today we see gamers being divided into two groups. Those who want another to-the-detail simulation, just like first Operation Flashpoint was, and those who want a tactic first person shooter that has more dynamics and that is more accessible.

Surface of the moon, surface of the desert

The graphics in Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising were a bit behind the competitors in this type of games, and although Red River isn’t the best in this field, it is offering you occasional surprises with an approach of making the scenes and fields look “like you were on the surface of the Moon”. Some of the scenes are truly beautiful, the cinematics in the preview version were slick and there is also a certain gore element included, which contributes to the sense of realism. There is a slight difference in graphics on PS3 compared to the XBOX360. The 360’s graphics are a bit behind PS3’s look, and feel, but that difference is like comparing 32000 and 22050 sample rates in MP3, so chances are; you will not even notice it much. Great visual addition will be the video menus which will have defects such as hot pixel, occasional loss of picture or even complete picture meltdown when the camera is affected by explosions or detonations.

From combat knifes to missiles in Operation Flashpoint : Red River

Weapons in Operation Falshpoint Red River are detailed to the maximum. Each weapon has its own feel to it, For example, when you are holding a pistol, and swinging with it, it has a lot less inertia than when you are using some heavy-weight weapon. This is what will give you an extra sense of control over your soldier and will create a really realistic environment to play in. There is also a difference in the firing delay. The pistol fires instantly, and some weapons really have a noticeable time between the time you pull the trigger, and the moment they actually fire the bullet.

Just press play two times

Flank, tactics, suppression, follow… move, hold position, back, rush… all these commands are neatly put next to each other in a lovely menu that quite resembles the phone menus these days. This makes it very accessible and intuitive. It also gives you that high-tech iPhone feel, even while you’re in a middle of a “run for your life” race or preparing to blow an empty building up. This is where balance between a simulation of a real life war combat, and a fictional reality game kicks you in the head. You are in a real country, in a middle of a fictional crisis. You are using real weapons, but through rearranged user’s interface. You can get killed by only one shot, but if you are not dead it will be very easy to go back to “as good as new.” The physics are very detailed, and you for example, need to adjust your aim according to the level you are standing on, but everything around you looks unreal, and sci-fi. It’s like finding yourself in an alternative reality that looks so much like home, but still you know you must be dreaming.

AI Improvements in Red River?

We have seen some great AI’s so far but the one in this game is really done to be the next step towards. Cooperative playing is something we did not get to test much, but as far as we saw, it’s great and slick. This time, Codemasters decided to keep the competitive multiplayer out of the picture, and this is bothering me a bit. If this feature was included it would really round up the whole game. We’ll have to see how it looks in the retail version.

If you’re a doom or quake type of player, you will fall quite fast in Red River. This is because the game is quite harsh on you, and the enemy will get you down soon, even on the normal level of difficulty. A great new feature added in this new game is a command radial you can use to give orders to your team. There is also a marker you can use to give everyone notice of the enemy. Think of it as you digital map you carry around on your tablet, and a marker you put is visible to everyone on your team. This is really a neat option, and you will notice that while playing. Yet another thing that will be missed is body looting. Yes, you heard it right.They decided to throw that out, and now instead of that, when someone dies, all of their possessions fall out of their pockets. It kinds of kills the feel.

Unique and Intelligent behaviors preview

When you want to escape a situation really fast you will hit the sprint command. There is also a command named “rush” which, when given to your troops, makes them run towards and seek for cover or just plainly speed them up. The adrenaline in the game is awesome. Your teammates might have everything under control, and even when you see the troops retreating, few of the bad guys might have a mind of their own, and they will run towards you, up the hill or come from behind you out of nowhere, and all you can do is hope that you will load your round fast enough, and have enough precision to blast them before they come close enough to blast you.

Insurgents and PLA

The

re is a difference in AI between the PLA and insurgents. They behave differently and have various range of tactics. For instance; insurgents will more likely hold ground, and have a more defensive approach. They will hide, then shoot at you, and then keep on hiding, waiting for a next chance to fire at you, then hide again, and so on. Kind of a guerrilla way of fighting.

PLA on the other hand are more offensive in their tactics, and their structure of order of attack is more developed, and they also use more tactical approach which will make it more difficult for you; especially when you haven’t got much time to think, and they already have it all planned in their little silicon brains.

The quality of the artificial intelligence present in Red River, compared to the one in Dragon Rising, is much better. Soldiers are much more fluent in their behaviours, and their movements are much more instinctive. There is less “dumbness” in their movement, especially when walking into obstacles. They behave a lot more naturally, and act more instinctively. Overall, the feeling is great and I can’t wait to get my hands on the retail version.