Operation Flashpoint coming to Xbox
by Jolex Del Pilar

Thursday, April 18, 2002

Famed Codemaster's FPS will come to Xbox with new missions and other special additions.

Codemasters announced that they will publish a customized version of the multi-award winning Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis this winter for The Xbox video game system from Microsoft. The Xbox edition is being developed by Bohemia Interactive Studio, creators of the original PC title, and will contain the entire original game along with an additional prequel campaign called Resistance.

Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis takes action gaming to a brand new level, as Jonathan Smith, External Development Studio Head at Codemasters explains: “Operation Flashpoint is a groundbreaking title, giving players the chance to participate in a Cold War conflict just the way they want to. It’s a game that has set new standards of immersive realism, and we’re delighted to bring it to Xbox,” says Smith. “On Xbox, it offers twice as much action as in the original PC game, with the inclusion of the enhanced Resistance missions. We are refining the controls and interface for maximum playability, and beefing up the graphical effects to take full advantage of the hardware.”

Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis is the ultimate realistic war experience. Its conflict setting draws the player into the action so deeply because it is such a believable military environment. For the first time in this game genre, the player controls and commands not just soldiers of all levels and squads but also land, sea and air vehicles – both military and civilian – from cars, to APCs, to tanks and even military helicopters.

The scenario is modern warfare: It is 1985, in the midst of the Cold War, and Gorbachev has been elected to power bringing with him policies of glasnost and perestroika. However, resistance Soviet groups are opposed to the new regime and are refusing to conform.

One group has taken control of an island community and is using it as an armed stronghold for the old order. NATO has been called to act as the peacekeeping force. Operation Flashpoint opens with the player joining the first mission against the Soviets.

It is a game of complete freedom with military crisis situations to handle on your own
initiative. Once past the mission briefing stage, it’s the player’s decision how the overall mission or campaign is tackled. This variety also allows players to dip in and out of all
kinds of action gameplay from commanding a squad, to being a sniper, to driving or piloting a myriad of land, sea and air vehicles.

Again, incredible detail unfolds in each role: A NATO sniper makes use of the US-standard M21 sniper rifle with its correct optical markings. However, if they relieve an immobilized Soviet sniper of his rifle, they will be faced with Soviet-standard optical markings through the sights – and they do work differently… The open environment of the game is massive and you can go anywhere at anytime; you’re not limited to playing in mission-specific ‘walled’ areas.

On Xbox, the game comes complete with an additional campaign titled Operation Flashpoint: Resistance, set years before Operation Flashpoint’s Cold War hit crisis point. Resistance creates an additional 100km2 island and casts the player as Victor Troska, an experienced ex-Special Forces soldier. Having turned his back on his military past, Troska has settled into a respectable civilian life on the island of Nogova*, a short distance from the main game’s three islands. However, his situation changes when the Soviet force invades the island group and destroys Troska's idyllic dreams.

Reluctant at first to return to a conflict situation, he is forced to participate in, and then lead, the ramshackle Resistance effort, which grows in response to the Soviet occupation of the island.

As Operation Flashpoint: Resistance begins before the US Army and its resources came to the islands, players have to scavenge equipment from whatever sources they can manage.

Throughout the closely linked missions, the overriding objectives include growing your resistance force by gaining new recruits, gathering equipment, and preserving as many of your comrades as possible to build an army strong enough to repel the Soviets.

Combined, the main game and the prequel campaign, make Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis the best military simulator for any platform and a true must-have title for the Xbox gamer.

Fully primed to repeat its Game of the Year success, Codemasters is set to release Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis on Xbox this winter.

--- Jolex Del Pilar, E3 or bust!!