Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising

The only way I can talk about this is my experience from beginning to end on how everything went. So hopefully this will help you determine if you would like to play the game or not.

Game Day 1

First thing you’ll notice is at the beginning of each mission, you have to wait for all the talking to get done before you can even move. It gets pretty annoying as it happens at the beginning of every mission. Why a game would lock down your movements and force you to wait while someone is giving a briefing makes no sense. Just let us go.

When you start out on the first board you are able to take your time and learn how things work. The game gives you a brief small over view going through a few check points to explain some things and then you’re on your own. If you’re playing by yourself or have one AI, you have to control them if you’re the team leader. If you’re the one hosting the co-op campaign online then you’re automatically the team leader and are forced to take this responsibility unless you have all 4 slots filled with human players. You will have to constantly tell the AI what to do or they will just stand there and never move. The team leader also is the only one that can call air strikes in the game as well. Plus the team leader is forced to take same lead character and not able to switch up like everyone else in your party gets to.

Vehicles

You get to drive jeeps around in the game. They are very easy to flip and don’t turn worth a flip. The radius to make a U-Turn or even stop is ridiculous. If you run over a rock, prepare to look straight up at the sky and wonder how you’re going to land. Now you can also have some fun off-roading though as the jeeps seem to land on their wheels more so than not. If they do flip over sideways, you can just get out and watch it roll upright and repair it if needed. Some jeeps have the machine gun mounted on it. Now if the AI gets in that seat, they will shoot but you never know how they are going to do. Sometimes their aim is dead on, other times they are shooting randomly at nothing. I learned if you exit the jeep, the AI stays in it. You can actually let the AI drive the jeep around by telling them where to go by bringing up your map. You can also order them to assault an area whether you are in the jeep or not. They will take the jeep and drive up into that spot and their aim is a ton better if you do it that way. If you do stay out of jeep, it will keep you out of firing range. You can get killed while driving the vehicle. If you start taking fire and jump out of the vehicle, it will place you in some random direction and you will be disoriented trying to figure out where the enemy is again all the while getting shot. So this is your forewarning to not rush in with the jeep like I did a few times or you’ll get killed rather quickly.

Helicopter

There is an achievement for flying a helicopter around the island on the very first board. I tried flying the helicopter and you have to use both thumb sticks for throttle and rutter. You literally have to tilt your helicopter forward to get it to move forward. It is very hard to control and we didn’t learn about a hover button until later on in the game which helps out a bunch. You can also have the AI fly the helicopter just like you can in the jeeps.

Maybe Some Helpful Tips

I played with a group of 3 humans with one AI. Spent 4-5 hours playing the first board the first night we played it. We learned if we waited too long to do stuff, the day turned to night and made things harder to do because of visibility.

Trying to snipe people from a distant was very hard to do as the game has projectile targeting in play. So if you shoot at someone’s head 150 meters away, you might shoot out their knee or hit them in the chest. You have to make sure you aim up higher than normal in order to hit them.

End of Game Day 1

By the end of the night, we were so frustrated with the game that we needed to end it. We just couldn’t seem to get the hang of anything and we didn’t even finish the first board. Mainly because of the helicopter and crashing it killing everyone.

Game Day 2

We decided to just get what was needed to move on and finish the board to make ourselves feel better. We still had a few bumps to iron out but we got through a few boards and started to get the hang of the game. There are 11 missions to go through for campaign and by the time the end came, we all had gotten good with our primary weapons we were using. The weapons you get later on in the game allow you to be accurate without having to aim so high to hit someone. So the game does at least make this more tolerable later on.

The game also forces you to use everything they put into the game. For instance, on mission 10, you have to use your binoculars to get the story to progress on without firing at all during the mission. You get to shoot one guy at the beginning and maybe some at the end but the whole time in the middle, you go undetected. You get into so much action on the board before it and to have a board like this right before the last board. You just want to shoot everything in site because it will drive you nuts waiting for a guy to move around the map at a turtle’s pace just to call in an air strike to take him and a radar out at the same time.

Graphics

The graphics in the game are ok but nothing to really delve into as you’re not going to be that impressed. It’s the norm that’s expected now a days and not anything over the top. It is very hard to see your enemy though. They did a good job on blending them in with the surroundings. You have to look for movement or get use to what to look for.

Music

Now the music on the other hand, OH YEAH, that’s going to raise your spirits up. I’m talking about the music before you start into any game. At first you’re like, what is this, well that part is kind of neat, OMG, please stop the moaning, PLEASE, for the love of god, STOP! You know its bad when your wife setting beside you says that’s horrible and she’s a music lover. The end music in the game is even worse. Thank goodness she was asleep and didn’t have to hear that one.

Achievement Info

Achievement wise in the game, most are campaign driven and you’ll get as you progress through the game. Some though require you to accomplish them really fast before your allies do it first. So you have to hustle. Which you can always go back and play a single mission to achieve it if needed. Some achievements the team leader has to do will pop for your comrades so you don’t have to repeat some of them. One helpful hint I’ll give you is on the last board, when fighting to take over the submarine base, if anyone dies, back up and let them come back in before proceeding on. Reason being is if they are dead and you finish off the mission, they will not get the achievement when you finish the mission. It’s a slight game glitch design you need to be careful on.

Now when you go for the hardcore achievement, you can’t die. If you do, you’re out. No check points in this mode so you have to know where you’re going. You can bring up the map to see the enemy when they show up to determine where the enemy is and figure out where to go. The map is only way you’ll be able to tell allies versus enemy, so be careful in this mode as your allies will help you out. They can also help you figure out which way you need to go.

Overall in the end, I ended up enjoying the game give or take a few things. I didn’t even try the multiplayer out in the game at all. I’m glad it’s over though and time to move onto a new game.

Iron Man 2

I went to see Iron Man 2 the other day. It was a very good movie. Even better than the first if I might add. They even continued on the story from where they left off on the first movie which was really nice as it flowed very well.

I think it's awesome how he just destroys his house to do what he wants when building something though. He doesn't ever hold back.

What I didn't realize was that Scarlett Johansson was in it. She definitely fit the part she got and rocked out her fighting scene. Go Black Widow!!!

Robert Downey Jr has gotten some good parts lately and he is playing his parts fantasticly. It's worth going to watch any movie he's currently working on. He is on a role!

Iron Man 2 definitly needs to go on your list to watch. Even if you decide to wait till the DVD comes out, be sure to watch it. You won't be disappointed.