Operation Flashpoint: Red River Preview (PS3)

Operation Flashpoint: Red River Preview (PS3)
Release Date: May 24, 2011
Developer: Codemasters
Publisher: Codemasters
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Cross Platform: Yes (PC, Xbox 360)

Bohemia Interactive Studio's original Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis had gained quite a reputation with war simulation junkies for its realistic take on the war shooter genre. The award winning tactical shooter enjoyed a small but a dedicated fan following that revelled in the ground hugging and meticulous crawling that was required in a world where death was dealt by a single bullet. The franchise was known for its accurate ballistic simulation model and an emphasis on tactics and squad commands. However, when Bohemia fell out with Publishers Codemasters, they moved over to another publisher to work on the Operation Flashpoint's spiritual successor ArmA: Armed Assault, leaving the Flashpoint franchise with Codies.

Being a big publisher, Codemasters decided to tread a more mainstream path and tried a more traditional Call of Dutyesque war shooter take on the franchise. Although the game enjoyed commercial success, it was critically panned for being confused between being a war simulation and a regular shooter. The fans of the original weren't impressed. So the question plaguing everyone's mind is: Will Codemasters' return to its tactical shooter roots or finally make up its mind and make a Call of Duty out of Operation Flashpoint: Red River?

The answer is pretty much clear in what Creative Director Sion Lenton told PC Gamer in an interview, "We want to steer away from the idea that it's a simulation; we've banned the word in the studio. Authentic is fine, as it gives you some leeway to be creative, and that's what we are. We're creative, we're making an entertainment product, and it should be fun. I don't really get much fun out of military simulations. They're immersive, they're realistic, but I wouldn't call them fun." If that wasn't clear enough, Lenton further dispels any ambiguity by stating, "If you want simulation, then it's out there; go play ArmA. We wanted to do something different, in our own space, and we don't want the Op Flash brand tied down to simulation."

The writing is on the wall. If you like military simulations, you're better off with ArmA. Just like its decision to inch towards the mainstream with the Flashpoint franchise, Codemasters also went platform happy with Red River slated to hit Xbox 360, PS3 as well as the PC platform. Bohemia Interactive Studio, however, have stayed focused on the simulation roots and accordingly stuck to the PC, which is exactly where all the simulation junkies reside. And just like it expected, Bohemia has found its niche with the military tactics and simulation crowd, but what about Codemasters, whose last outing with Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising couldn't quite make up its mind if it was a tactical shooter or a regular CoD clone? Either way, it's an uphill task for Codemasters, because going back to the simulation would alienate the console gamers and going mainstream would pit it against the big daddies of the genre - Battlefield and Call of Duty franchises.

We visited the Zapak offices to find out exactly which uphill path Codemasters has chosen with Red River. Where does Zapak come into play, you ask? Well, Reliance Big Entertainment had bought 50 percent stake in Codemasters last year, so they hosted the preview code of the game across the PC and PS3 platforms. Disappointingly, the preview code on offer looked like an early build with a work in progress campaign mode that we cannot write about. That left us with just the co-op mode dubbed Fireteam Engagements (FTE), which can be played with up to three friends. However, the version that we played didn't have multiplayer, so we had to settle with AI buddies watching my six. But before we get to that, let's see what Red River is packing this time around.

Operation Flashpoint: Red River, set the fictional Tajikistan, pits the US Marines Corps against the People's Liberation Army of neighbouring China, which FYI isn't fictional. The game lets the player choose from four military classes - Rifleman, Scout, Grenadier, and Automatic Rifleman. Each class has its own set of weapons and customisations, and offers varying strengths and weaknesses that force the player to adopt a class that's relevant to the tactical role they intend to essay. For example, a scout will be able to sustain extra hits and have long range weapons, while an auto rifleman will be slow but able to deal out suppressive fire to let the team relocate or retreat.

From what little we could tell form the limited preview, Red River mixes the simulation and casual aspects. For example, the sniper rifles do feature bullet drop, range and speed, so you have to use the markings on the reticle to compensate for distance, target speed and bullet drop. However, much unlike a simulation, the game features an RPG like experience points that's earned by completing missions and ploughing through the FTE mode, which can then be spent to upgrade weapons, unlock attachments and also gain some very non-simulation perks like reducing bullet drop for the scout class. As incomplete as the single player campaign was, we aren't really at liberty to, nor does it even make any sense to talk about it at this stage. So let's get back to the Fireteam Exchange mode.

Fireteam Exchange is Red River's version of multiplayer, which will sadly not include any competitive modes. FTE is a co-op mode that allows up to four players to go co-op happy in four distinct modes. Last Stand is a survival mode that puts you and your teams against a never ending wave of enemies. Rolling Thunder is an escort mission, which seems to be Red River's take on the on-rails escort missions found in most casual shooters. CSAR, or combat search-and-rescue is pretty much self explanatory. Combat Sweep is the last mode and involves SEAD missions where you hunt down and kill enemies. Our preview code only had the Last Stand mode, which had a single playable scenario and AI teammates only.

Graphics wise, both the PS3 and PC versions look quite similar in the preview build, which isn't saying much because the early, and I'm guessing, pre alpha code had quite a bit of graphical artefacts, and looked nowhere near as good as the last Flashpoint game or as good as the Ego engine should look like. We hope the game will end up looking much better. The maps are supposed to be expansive, but going outside certain boundaries made the graphics glitch, so I stayed put within the area that I was supposed to defend.

The Last Stand mode involves holding fort with your buddies as hordes of PLA hone in on your positions in waves that get increasingly tougher. Just like the last game, Red River also retains the tactical UI based squad commands that lets you direct your buddies to attack, defend, suppress or take up different formations and other military tactics. These commands are issued with an intuitive two tier menu that has commands bunched into four distinct tactical classifications. At least in the mode that we tried out, we found the AI buddies to react appropriately even during the times we did not deliberately issue any commands. However, a careful use of the same does make life easier, especially in the later waves when enemies tend to get more aggressive with the flanking manoeuvres.

The preview code offered an experience which stays true to the earlier Flashpoint games. The weapons handle realistically, enemies will not soak in bullets like the regular casual shooters and getting shot is fatal most of the times, just like real war. Combine that with a complicated healing system and laborious tactics that run through the core of the game, and you get a feeling that Codemasters isn t quite sure of which path it s decided to take.

It seems to be less hardcore than the ArmA series or even the original Flashpoint but at the same time, it retains the same tactical character of the series. Of course, we can t jump to conclusion till we ve played a more complete version of the game, but we hope the final build of Red River manages to make up its mind as to where it s headed, or at least strike a fine balance between the two.