Gaming Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Review

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/2009/10/07/operation-flashpoint-dragon-rising-review/1

With Bohemia no longer at the helm, can Codemasters still deliver a multiplatform mil-sim that will keep PC gamers happy, or is Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising worthy of little more than a court martial and a firing squad? We ask; War, eh? What's it good for?

 

I dunno, the custom maps where you race across the island on mopeds were pretty goofy for a 'mil-sim' OPF was really really fun to mod; didn't read the whole thing - is there any mod/map tools?

 

oh dear, I'm not liking the sound of this review. I just pre-ordered it yesterday after seeing all the videos and the comments in the forums here.

But then again, it sounds more like the sort of thing I'd like. Not as insanely difficult as ARMA2, but still realstic ish.


good thing I'm doing comp games prog at uni, I've got an excuse to buy games that might be bad, then I'll know what makes them bad and what I'd need to do to make a good game,

 

Thanks Joe, one to avoid then

 

This got 90% in PCZone. How come you only gave it a 5? I am buying this as ARMA2 is just completely buggy and too frustrating.

Hopefully they will release Mod Tools for this and the modding comunity can get to work on it as the game engine looks awesome.

 

Difference of opinion, probably combined with the fact that magazines generally have to look at much earlier code and sometimes extrapolate from it. Our online nature means we don't have to. That said, I generally don't even look at other people's scores until I've already settled on one - but I do know Eurogamer only gave it a 7.

There's a mission editor included with the game, but how far that goes to becoming a mod tool I'm not sure. As mentioned in the review, we got no documentation with ours and though we had a quick tinker with it we were quickly out of our depth. It seems that it's more for creating new missions than, say, new vehicles or landmasses or rebalancing weapons though.

The mods are important obviously and the editor is discussed in the review - but it's important to recognise that we can't score the game on content which isn't there, may never be there and isn't strictly part of the product. If someone releases a great mod for it, fantastic - but it's more likely that they won't and even if they do then we can't praise the developers for it since it was the fans that built it.

 

If you read the review you'd know why Bit gave it a 5. Why would/should different publications agree with each others' scores just for the sake of it?

Plus, PCZ is notorious for throwing out 90+ scores to games that are widely regarded as not deserving such praise, they've been doing it for years.

 

well, compared to Arma II this isn't as in depth - however it suffers from far fewer bugs from all accounts, so what would you rather: a bug ridden but deep game or a fun but shallower experience? Personally I've not got a huge amount of time to play games online, and the 1/2 wait (roughly) in setting up Arma II games for a 'proper' games session is a bit much, I'd rather dive into the action which it looks like OFP 2 offers. I guess we'll see as I've pre-ordered it now

Giving it a 5 is a bit harsh imo, perhaps an attempt to drive up site traffic?...

 

The score of 5 is probably very fair and even then could still be generous. This is blatentley another example of ruining games for the cross-platform market. There is no emphasis anymore on genuine quality of gameplay. The reason for this? Easy, there are far too many simple minded idiots now playing games since consoles have gone mainstream and the developers want their money.

 

I Pre-ordered this yesterday, starting to wonder if that was the right choice after reading this review. Having said that though, at £17.99 it's worth giving it a go i suppose.

 

I demand harsh reviews....I would rather a score was harsher that throwing out Bit-recommended left right and centrer. If a games gets 90% its a must buy. If there are failings in a game i think its vital that the score goes down.

Ive always liked bit tech for its unrelenting attitude.

Now excuse me while i try get my arma chopper off the ground for the 20th time

 

Such a shame. I had really high hopes for this one.

Oh well..*waits for Dragon Age instead*

 

If you're struggling learning to pilot helicopters in Arma (II) then don't forget you can enable an auto-hover option, which will temporarily make the pitch, roll and yaw controls far less sensitive so all you need to worry about is throttle control.

You won't be able to fly around much, but its useful for getting a feel for things.

 

It's a crap game, it gets a crap score, nuff said!

 

nice open minded attitude. must.... not... bait... the.... trolls.....

 

Too late.

Just for reference, we NEVER doctor our reviews to get site traffic up, and have frequently disagreed with reviews in other publications in our game reviews. Also, PC Zone has an exclusive review of a game and it gets 90%? we'll that comes as a huge surprise - that's certainly never ever happened before.

 

Thanks for the insight Joe - I'll admit I'm disappointed that you're not impressed. I was really hoping that this game would have been a true contender to ArmA II but obviously not. The console target audience is, what has ruined this game (for me) - I've still got it on pre-order but that may just be false hope in thinking that it may be a fun game.

Guess you can't have 'em all ay?

*Sigh*

 

Trust me, I get enough attention as it is and bit-tech is in no position to drive traffic with such tactics.

Nor do low review scores lead to higher traffic volumes, really. From a traffic point of view the best way is either to have a big exclusive (which this isn't, because I spent extra time with the game to be sure and am now a day behind the embargo) or put out some unique features up which people are really interested in.

That, or porn.

 

Yeah you're right, my comment about site traffic was indeed bait for which I apologise. It was a refreshing change to read a candid review of the game which I have high hopes for (hence the pre-order), and my initial reaction was one of 'wtf?!' which wasn't great.

I'm still hoping OFP 2 will bring a fun experience to the table as I bought Arma II which was fun but online its full of wannabe marines that bark orders at you which *might* be the essence of the game but it sure as hell ain't fun. Single player (Arma II) is fun tho, all bugs aside.

 

Its when you see 'Brand New' Pc games like this running so well on limited hardware that you realise what an utter waste of money the new generation of graphics cards are...