The original Operation Flashpoint came out in 2001 and met with a huge fan following. Now seven years later, Codemasters is hard at work on Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising, and while original developer Bohemia Interactive the huge fan following is still in place...only now they're making the game. According to the gentlemen from Codemasters who were presenting OF2 on Thursday morning, the team is filled with fans of the original game, dedicated to doing the franchise justice with this ambitious sequel.
While the original Operation Flashpoint took place on a set of fictitious islands in 1985, the new game is firmly based in reality. The game takes place on Skira Island off the coast of Russia, which the Russians captured from the Chinese and never got around to returning. Now the Chinese want it back, and the Russians have turned to the Americans for help. The entire island is your stomping ground, but pack a lunch if you plan to walk. It'll take 4 and a half hours to cross the terrain on foot, or 20 minutes using the fastest aircraft in the game.
Realism is a key factor for operation Flashpoint 2, and the developers have gathered over 400GB of data on weapons, vehicles, and tactics to help them in bringing the conflict to life. Weapons will load authentically, vehicles with travel at realistic speeds, and both will deteriorate over time, so don't get too used to any of them.
Another point the devs touched on was the sheer amount of work going into making sure that each soldier has a distinctive look. They showed hundreds of different faces, all created with the goal of letting players get to know their teammates. They want you to be able to look at a character's face and know that he's your machine gunner and not your sniper.
There wasn't too much in the way of gameplay shown, but they did present us with a distance demo to get a feel for the sense of scale OF2 delivers. A squad based on top of some rolling hills stops, and the character uses binoculars to sight a tank 800 yards away, calling in an air strike to blow the armor to bits. The celebration lasted for only a few seconds before enemies popped up over a nearby ridge, signaling the end of the demo. Drat.
As for multiplayer, Codemasters is thinking pretty huge as well. While PC will support 32 players online and console versions a much more modest 8, AI soldiers will be ever-present on the field, with up to 100 appearing at any given time. You're part of a much larger conflict, and they aim to make sure you know it. For those of you with friends *sniffle* there'll also be online co-op available.
From the brief glimpse of gameplay I received, the game is looking rather solid, and it should, running on a modified version of the GRID engine. Yes, the squad-based FPS is using a racing game engine as its core, but have you seen said racing game? It translates very nicely into a gritty shooter.
So far the only bad thing about Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising is that we aren't going to get our hands on it until 2009. While I was only a modest fan of the original, the sequel could very well top it in every regard.
There's a feeling you get when playing Operation Flashpoint that no game since has managed to capture. Not even Oblivion. The feeling of being a real person, alone, in a dangerous place, and each step you take across the game's huge landscape could well be your last. You agree? Then be heartened by this. The latest issue of PC Gamer runs a preview of Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon, which can be bust summed up by their calling it "the most mind-bogglingly vast and mercilessly realistic battlefield gaming has ever known". Vast, check, merciless, check, OK, that's enough to get me excited.
Just to make sure us die-hard OFP fans don't die of waiting, there is news that OFP2 will be the lead cover feature in next months edition of PC Gamer, which will be going on-sale on July 3rd. The game must be near beta as Codemaster's community spokesperson assures us that we should be seeing a lot more information being released in the coming months. Time to get the dust of the Dragunov soldier!
Starting Friday, June 6th, CRS is reactivating any old accounts for a 7 day free trial, no credit card necessary. The free activation will run from June 6th (The 7th anniversary of the release), and go til June 12. If you're an old player that had an active subscription, simply download the client, and your username and password will get you in, no questions asked.
Not just for old veterans though kids! If you're a new player that wants to try it out, you can sign up for a free 14 day trial, again without having to use a credit card. There is absolutely nothing to lose. Also, for new signups, they will give you an activation key ($19.99 value) at the end of the trial, if you want to turn into a regular subscriber. You can't miss on this promotion fellas. Get in there and try it out.
We did a story on Penny-Arcade's annual charity drive called Child's Play a year back. They raised over a million dollars for childrens hospitals and its all used for games, consoles, and a few books.
ANYWAYS, they have recently released an episodic game called "On the Rain-slick Precipice of Darkness". If you're a Penny-Arcade.com fan, you've already heard of it. It's twenty dollars for the first installment, which is about 5 hours long. I played it through and I can actually give it my endorsement. It's worth the twenty bucks. It's VERY well written, with a handful of actual LOL moments. The art is really good and was all done by the artist himself.
Overall, a good buy. It can be downloaded direct at Greenhouse, or if you want to try before you buy, there is a demo version to be had there as well.
Check it out, and remember to click up Penny-Arcade.com around the holidays to give to your local childrens hospital through Child's Play . In my opinion, one of the best charities out there.
Eh, its been a while since I've posted anything here @WAR. I popped back on and saw its up (finally), so figure I'd give you guys a rehash of whats going on in "Battleground Europe".
For anyone that used to play, you'll understand the HUGE change of depot spawning. You can now spawn infantry from friendly linked depots in a target city. Provides a lot of close combat situations in and around these contested depots.
Just recently, Cornered Rats added in a depot spawn for small anti-tank guns, AAA, and trucks. It really brought up the action level, and provided people the ability to get out of the "camped" areas, and still provide necessary AAA and trucking services.
CRS is working on a new terrain engine, bringing the level of graphics up to a 2008 benchmark. They're still updating this game under the original engine which was previously developed using VooDoo video cards. I know all the young guys are wondering what the hell those were. (Think: 128mhz processors and 8mb of RAM.... yea, pretty ridiculous)
All in all, the updating has went smoothly and every patch has built upon what they had. It's a much improved game then even one year ago, and with a new engine in the works, we might finally see this tiny software developer get off the ground and start producing the game we wanted to see in 2001.
Ok its for x360 and PS3 but you might just have to buy the console to play the game this month. PC release date has not been confirmed although there are rumours pointing to an Oct release.
Members of special forces around the world will no doubt be clamoring over each other to get hold of one of these personnel gliders. Made by SPELCO GbR in Germany, this carbon-fiber stealth glider will allow an attack corridor of nearly 125 miles from a HAHO jump and will reach speeds of 135mph. Unaffected by headwinds or crosswinds because of its favorable lift-to-drag ratio, the glider would allow elite units to reach targets with increased speed, precision and stealth. The wing weighs only 30 pounds and can be fully weaponized for assault and rescue. It has a 6-foot jet-wing that is steered with handheld rotary controls connected to its rudder. And it can hide more than 100 pounds of combat gear in a built-in compartment. The customised helmet has a heads-up display and provides on-board oxygen for the very high altitude jump. To land, the paratrooper detaches the thirty-pound carbon fiber glider frame and it dangles twenty feet below him, hitting the ground first and leaving plenty of room for the paratrooper to make a clean landing right behind it.
Sorry need to add this... anyone jumping for joy at innocent civilians dieing and having to jump out of buildings lose my respect... But it is individuals and/or small groups in Iraq that they filmed doing this. Im sure millions of others stayed home and didnt celebrate. Its like the few soldiers in Western countries that make a bad decission and unfortunately it reflects poorly on their whole country and every man in uniform.
I believe so. In Iraq lots of people were jumping with joy but I mean... Iraq has reasons to hate the USA for attacking them when they went into Kuwait. Not supporting the Iraqi's but I mean if your enemy gets worked by the enemy you jump for joy like when the soviets lost in Afghanistan im sure the United States was jumping for joy then too. But at the bottom of it no one from Iraq was involved in 911.
Hey Akira as much as I do love your post you did not make it clear. By teach them a lesson do you mean invade? Or attack without necessarily invading? For instance there was talk that Israel or the USA would preumptive strike their Russian built nuclear power plant for apparently "civilian purposes". It could be it might not be but I was just wondering. Who knows if Iran is supporting the insurgency in Iraq and giving them explosives maybe the USA will engage them on Iranian soil on major trade routes near the border but i dont think they would be wise to occupy the entire country. Just a thought.
Not sure, I havent really looked into it yet. I may just join with my degree as an NCO. So many choices. I know so many NCO's in the army these days with their degree who choose to make less money by being in the army out of pride and support for their country. It astonishes me but at the same time it doesnt.
Naw my trades course is at my regiment. Im in the reserves until i get my degree then i will more than likely go reg force. I think my Dp2 will be at one of the major Canadian forces bases though. Im in Armored Recce... So obviously we are all trained soldiers ie BMQ than SQ before we get to go on to do our trades courses. So thats what i meant when i said i am a soldier. Im actually armored but not yet.
Im back. I passed my soldier Qualification course and now I am an official Canadian Soldier. Now I just need to get a start on my armor trades courses. Look forward to telling you about it Akira. See you on msn. Take care.'
yo snake, welcome back! I've been busy travelling the world - still got another 9 months before settling down for good. Kinda the reason why the site has been a bit neglected...
HEY GUYS!!!!!!! How's it going? Wow... Akira, where were you like a yr and a 1/2 ago? U disapeared off the face of the earth or something? Nice to be back guys!
