IGN: Operation Flashpoint: Red River First Look

War isn't much fun. That's something that may come as news to the millions that stalk Modern Warfare 2's maps until the early hours of each morning, their eyes bloodshot and their hearts racing at the pure thrill of it all. But it's a fact that was writ large throughout Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Codemasters' sim-heavy first-person shooter that launched a mere handful of months before Activision redefined the parameters of success for videogame blockbusters.

[sam2236]

"Generally, the impression I get is that 90% of people that played the game loved it..."

Really now? Last time I checked, DR was a steaming pile of shit, no one liked it and Codemasters didn't give a crap about the game at all. Hell, they STILL haven't fixed the problems that plague the game!

What a fucking joke of a company. Go away Codemasters.

[SeanRL]

don't know who disagreed with you, you're right. DR was horrible and they didn't support it at all after launch.

[finbars75]

Im with you.I just picked this game up again and thought maybe it was fixed especially after all the downloading of patches I had to do.So I went and tried the MP and holy god it was the same crap all over again.Im just kicking myself in the ass again.I hope That I learn from my mistake like Codemasters does with the next RD game.RD had so much potential to being a great game and posibbly giving us something better then your everday shooter but man did they let us down.I cant believe this is the EGO engine that DIRT runs off.Looks like crap and plays like even more crap.Dam you codemasters.

[sam2236]

@Psfan999: Those people who disagreed are suffering from buyer's remorse and they somehow convinced themselves that the game is good because they spent their possibly hard earned $50/€60 on it.

[DelbertGrady]

Indeed. DR was incredibly tedious. One of the most boring games this gen. I was very hyped about it. To finally get a more realistic FPS game that demands patience and use of deeper tactics. It had potential but it played like a what Gabe Newell leaves in the toilet after attending a chili festival.

[Elwenil]

I enjoy tedious, lol. Seriously, OFDR was not meant to compete with games like MW2, but more against Ghost Recon and PC games like ARMA. It's more sim than action, and I personally love that style. In many ways OFDR was very ambitious and achieved a lot on a console but it also had a lot of horrible failures which may have been ok if Codemasters had gotten them fixed quickly. Instead Codemasters basically blew off the problems, took months to release a few patches and then released some overpriced DLC that gave you what was advertised on the package of the original game. It is my opinion that Codemasters intentionally misled gamers by not disputing the widely held belief that this would be an open world game with no boundaries on the island setting of Skira. The package of the game actually reads "Wage open world warfare across all 220km2 of Skira". To me, than means an open world where I can go where I want. That was not the case as all missions had boundaries where the game would end if you went outside the "zone" you were allowed in to do the mission. These areas were still pretty large, but certainly not "open world" as it is known to the gaming world and definitely not "all 220km2 of Skira". Instead we had to pay for the DLC to get the open world travel than had zero enemies and you could do nothing but explore an empty wasteland.

I've said it before that I will probably not purchase this game since I do not want to support Codemasters and their shoddy business practices. If they made some serious changes to their methods I may consider it because I really love the shooter sim genre, but I'm not holding my breath. I would expect Codemasters to probably change the game to go more mainstream for sales numbers.

[jjohan35]

OF:DR was crawling around in bushes and sniping from long distance. It was ridiculously boring, and I usually enjoy military sims on PC.

[Elwenil]

That's basically what a FPS sim is. To me there was a lot more tactical strategy involved compared to most shooters. Some who prefer a faster pace see it as boring, others prefer it since it's more realistic. Not everything is a race and the engagement distances in OFDR were much more realistic than just about anything on consoles. A great concept for those who like it, but just horribly flawed and lacking the support it needed.

[Domer25]

Agreed, DR still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Oh and sixty dollars poorer.

[SeanScythe]

Not getting after first one and no real support or fixes to issues. Saving my money for devs that continue to support their game after release.

[N4GAddict]

It looks good to me...

[Pandamobile]

Operation Flashpoint: DR failed because 95% of the people that wanted a decent war sim already bought ARMA 2

[Johandevries]

No, amigo, it failed because it was utterly BAD

[Jack-Pyro]

I miss your old Scout Avi.....

[Pandamobile]

It was time for a change :(

[di0medes]

This is going to fail again. They should make it a full-fledged simulator or stick with the casual FPS genre. They are trying to milk cash from two separate player bases, that takes a good concept and a very good game. I just don't see them pulling it off.

[electricshadow]

Here's hoping this one is A LOT better than DR. I pre-ordered it, played single player for about four hours, about two hours multiplayer and took it back. I will rent this one, but I will never purchase another OF game. It was just so bad...

[BX81]

DR was pretty good imo. It had it's fair share of problems and needed some tweeking but overall I liked it! To many A.D.D gamers don't like it because you have to be patient.

[writersblock]

The whole island was like one large field, command controls were awkward and the HUD told you nothing. Half the time I was getting shot at, I didnt know where from. I would walk right past areas then get shot from them. Somehow my squad and the enemies squad managed to walk right by eachother and then I get shot at by them when they notice after

Ok, bad explanation. But it was a shitty game. I need to add thats its supposed to be a war sim, a sim should have better graphics than COD 4

[BX81]

LMAO! Bad explanation! LOL. Yeah it had a lot that needed work on. IDK the enemy shoots you 1st. Sounds pretty smart to me. Cut off a snakes head and watch the body flail around. I don't mind having to do a little recon every couple of hundred meters. All in all hopefully they fix what needed to be fixed with this one.

[NYC_Gamer]

i guess failing with the last ofp title wasnt good enough