Re: Games Discussion Thread
Wasn't there a thread specifically for TF2 simply because of incidents such as this?
In other news finally got Operation Flashpoint: Red River. Interesting little title and I think it finds a nice little niche between realistic military simulator and something more fun focused like Call of Duty or Battlefield. I played the game on Xbox 360, on normal difficulty (though harder difficulties only takes things away from you such as crosshairs, hit indicators, the compass, the minimap, on screen objective markers and so forth)
The story really is quite simplistic, because frankly soldiers on the battlefield don't get much knowledge of the happenings higher up the chain of command all the time. So while on operation in the fictional nation of Tajikistan, US Marines suddenly lose air support because of contested air space. Next thing you know the Chinese are invading the country to create a buffer or some such... and your commanders don't want that to happen.
In the game you play a sergeant in charge of a four man fire team (which is American standard I believe) which includes yourself. So while you can still run around and fire your own weapon, you can also give your men some basic orders: "Move there, suppress that location, secure that building, flank right/left, hold position" the ones that'll be used most often, as well as the ability to call in artillery and airstrikes at some moments.
Now, the good points of the game: It does try to do realistic, and does so fairly well whilst still letting you know its a video game and is there for fun. Getting shot makes you bleed, but your character does a pretty big recoil, which is understandable. Long range firefights seem pretty spot on, with lots of moving between cover to avoid machine gun bursts and ordering your men to suppress and leapfrog up. Voice acting is good, with some quite enjoyable dialogue from the Squad's staff sergeant. The graphics are impressive, head shots result in a good spray of the crimson stuff.
There's also a player progression system in place, that's broken down into two parts, and I find it works rather well. The first part is leveling the four classes (Rifleman, Auto Rifleman, Grenadier, and Scout) which unlocks some perks (things such as more ammo for longer sprint recovery, more armour, better healing abilities, marksman training, etc.) new weapons (though there aren't very many), scopes (the M4/M16 has 5 or 6 sights), and weapon mods such as silencers or grenade launchers. Each of the classes is leveled up seperately. The second portion is the "core soldier skills" which has stats you put points into, such as Assault Rifle accuracy, sprint endurance, sprint speed, tactical awareness and a few others. Points are earned by completing missions, and how many points is determined by how well you did on the mission. So as you go through the game there's a real case of the player progressively getting better as the operation continues.
I also like the multiplayer, which sticks to 4 person co-op only, in the form of going through the campaign, and a few other modes which involve a last stand mode, rescue pilots from a downed chopper, a convoy escort, and so forth. Most are pretty fun when you got a good team of players.
However, while a lot of core elements are good, and I enjoyed the game, I still have some negative feedback. First and most atrocious being the AI. It's not something one notices at a long range firefight, but when you have to storm a house or factory the poor AI starts to really stand out. Not noticing you run into a room, staring at you for a few seconds, and watching their buddies getting killed from behind, only to run over with their back to you. Things of that nature. Alas, the enemy is not the only ones to suffer from it either... your own fireteam (when controlled by the AI, I cannot speak for human players because that varies and isn't the game's fault) can really fuck around. Tell them to go somewhere and they'll stand on the side of the wall that exposes them to the enemy. Get shot and occasionally they'll run over to you, look at the enemy for a bit, take a few shots, try and save you, and then get shot themselves. Luckily that last example doesn't happen too too often, but often enough to be annoying.
The other thing is somewhat of a neutral thing for me, as I feel it adds to the atmosphere, but can be annoying, and that's the massive landscapes that you often have to book it across. Objectives a few kilometers apart and your hiking across the desert hoping there's enough cover, though there won't be very many enemies (if any) between these points, simply because the bad guys like to stick together.
In the end, I really enjoyed the title, but it's definitely not for everyone. I recommend it for those who can get over some AI issues, especially when they're not apparent for much of the game, but also for anyone who's up for a slower paced First Person Shooter where running and gunning is not the way to go.
*Edit* My apologies for geographical error, but Tajikistan is an actual nation. The conflict is fictional, the territory is not.