Outlaw Platoon - Time in Desert: 6hrs 34mins

"The mothers and fathers of America will give you their sons and daughters...with the confidence in that you will not needlessly waste their lives. And you dare not. That's the burden the mantle of leadership places upon you. You could be the person who gives the orders that will bring about the deaths of thousands and thousands of young men and women. It is an awesome responsibility. You cannot fail. you dare not fail..."

Operation Flashpoint: Red River Review

April 21st 2011, the phone call finally came, everything I had been training for the past 15 months was about to reach fruition - Me and my fellow Marines were off to Tajikistan. 

In reality, there was no phone call, there had been no training over the past 15 months (apart from the generic shoot em ups I've been playing since the last Flashpoint game) and the fellow marines? Well, they are my battle hardened Xbox Live friends who have been at my side through thick and thin in all the major conflicts society have seen over the past century. 

April 21st is the European release day for Operation Flashpoint: Red River, BOY was I excited when I checked my online tracking order and it was displaying as 'Delivered' 12:04pm. Only 5hrs 26mins left of work until I can deploy to Tajikistan, or, like us Marines have come to call it, 'The Suck'.

So, by 6pm, I was 'boots on the ground' and I had a bullet loaded in the chamber. I hooked up with one of my buddies and two friendly AI characters. We played, as the title suggests, for 6hrs and 34mins and ended our session both ranking to level 7 in our respective classes (Me: Scout Sniper, Him: Heavy Weapons) and completing ACT One. Not bad for an evenings work, and trust me, it was some mean bush out there.

I'll start by saying I really am enjoying the game thus far, no glitches that I have come across and the AI, both enemy and friendly have been rather good. The variation of missions that I have played so far help keep each mission fresh as they are all quite different in how you operate within them right from an all out assault on a rebel camp, through to escorting a convoy of vehicles through a winding insurgent filled mountain range and up onto a dam. The flow of how each mission starts and finishes is well thought out too, you actually feel that it is 'one long day' as you find yourself only a little distance from where you were operating only 1 or 2 levels back and unlike some games, you are not a 1,000 miles away or even in a different country at a blink of an eye.

In my eyes (and again, this is just a personal opinion) this game is already leaps and bounds ahead of Dragon Rising. Everything seems to have been thought about, from the detailed animations your character produces when going from 'prone' to 'standing' or when a team mate your standing next to gets hit and your screen is splattered with their precious blood. These little things really make you believe that Codemasters wanted to succeed in making this a game to be proud of and a game that us 'critics' would love. 

The profanity and slang that some reviewers have been harsh on, to me, seems accurate and 'in keeping' with what US Marines or any serving military personnel would be like in a 'war zone'. For a game that asks the player to slip into the boots of a trained killer, hump through the mountains, villages and valleys of Tajikistan and basically kill any insurgent with 'extreme prejudice' they find, I find it strange that certain 'reviewers' are having issues with this language from the Marines. I personally, even after reading the reviews before playing the game, didnt find the profanity or comments, 'over the top' or 'insulting'. However, if you do find bad language a problem but NOT the killing, then maybe you need to have a word with your priorities. 

The weaponry you start with as default is basic, however, it does get the job done and done very well. The range of the rifles and sniper rifle is very realistic and the 'damage' they can inflict on the enemy is very high. Each soldier can carry two weapons, either a rifle and pistol OR a primary rifle and secondary submachine gun or secondary rifle. In Red River, there is no medic, each member of the squad carries their own medic kit and can apply bandages to their own wounds and team mates wounds. The healing process WILL take the soldier out of action for around 15 seconds, so make sure you get into cover before doing so! As your team / soldier progresses through the game you can level up and each level up unlocks new perks and weaponry that you can deploy with on missions - however, COD fan boys will be disappointed that perks do not mean 'nukes' or 'air drops' etc...

Now, I have not completed the game, however, I can easily see the campaign taking 11 - 12 hrs on 'Normal' and can easily see 'Realistic' and 'Hardcore' taking anywhere up to 20hrs. Normal is the easiest setting but please do not let that lull you into a false sense of security...it still is hard and bullets WILL hurt. Normal is also the ONLY setting where there are checkpoints and where the player can 're-spawn' as long as another member of the team is alive.


Campaign aside, there is another sub section called "Fireteam". This section has mini standalone games, there are 4 types each with two missions per section which I can easily see being expanded through DLC. This combined with the main campaign, will easily make this game a 30 / 40 hr plus game with endless re playability on the different level settings and the different classes you can play with.

Operation Flashpoint: Red River has really surpassed my personal expectations and you know what, I am really happy for Codemasters as they needed this. They needed to prove that Flashpoint could be a console game, they needed to prove that they could produce a game without bugs, they needed to prove that they could produce a game that was fun for all types of gamers whether PC or Console. Did they prove all this with Red River - In my eyes, the answer is a big resounding YES.

I will admit, I am a big military gamer and Red River ticks all the boxes for me personally, however, I think Red River will appeal to a wide range of gamers as its a fun game to play with friends as really, thats where Red River exsells more than anything above any game currently out there, whether military or not, the CO-OP. It brings friends together under pixel fire and you do bond, especially when you are playing for over an hour on the same level without save points. The games bonds friends on a level that only war can create.... OK, so maybe a over exaggeration, but this game IS really fun with friends.

Roundup...

Operation Flashpoint: Red River is strong in all areas and for that very reason, I can easily give this game an 8.5 out of 10.