Comments on: Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising – The Verdict

By: Daniel

Daniel — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:41:27 +0000

If China makes an aggressive move it better be before its population gets too old to fight … circa 2050 … or maybe they will engage in hostility to deflect attention from the failing welfare state it will surely become – it can go either way.

China is more likely to attack India. It already wants the Indian Ocean to be considered within the Chinese sphere of influence – which is obviously ridiculous. Such is their need for energy, raw materials, and the shipping lanes that secure the transfer of said items.

China will defeat the U.S. peacefully. For all of this talk of our innovation, we have a leader, now, who’s never innovated a thing in his life, and wishes to transfer wealth from those who “do” to those who “do not”. Stop buying our debt and overtake the dollar as the most stable currency, and you will have beaten us, without a shot fired.

Hopefully we’ll elect a competent leader in 2012.

By: Greg Wild

Greg Wild — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:36:46 +0000

True enough. There are a lot of Americans who equate prosperous Communist states with conflict, but I personally can’t see it happening. With China’s historical introspection due to ethnic division within, coupled with a broadly peaceful foreign policy besides the thorny issues of Tibet and Taiwan, which too could be construed as internal affairs (China certainly believes so) it almost seems laughable to me.

By: Laurence Elliott

Laurence Elliott — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:06:57 +0000

Mostly agree with you, although I haven’t quite played enough to judge it properly yet.

One minor thing though:

“Chances of conflict with China in 2010 are slim at the very most. I’d argue that conflict with China by 2050 is unlikely, let alone within the time frame OFP:DR gives.”

A large chunk of the International Relations academic community (albeit they are mostly Americans) would disagree wholeheartedly with that, but that’s just me being a pedantic arse!

By: dartt

dartt — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:00:27 +0000

I’ve enjoyed my time with OF2 so far and I am impressed with the level of polish but it definitely lacks that element of intimidation that you get when you set off on the start of a big ARMA II mission. ARMA II was grand and sweeping and the continuity it presented made the world feel consistent. In contrast, OF2 feels positively linear, a corridor shooter with an open plan. Although the world is large and you are free to roam, the missions are short and broken up in discrete packages, bookended by a fade to black, a mission briefing and a jarring time/space warp to your next scenario. While this may be a benefit when you simply want to drop in to a quick co-op mission, it also detracts from the sense of place and purpose that characterises ARMA II.
Similarly, a few missing details such as lip syncing, healing animations and zero characterization of your team mates contribute to making OF2 feel somewhat sterile in comparison to it’s contemporary; and while it should be applauded for it’s technical solidity, it’s hard to imagine people falling in love with it in the way they did with the original.

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By: Chris Evans

Chris Evans — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:44:38 +0000

I think you hit every single nail on the head with this one Greg, you perfectly surmise how I feel about the game. However rather than blaming the problems on the console side of things (clearly they are part of the problem) I fear that the use of the ego engine was a terrible mistake. That engine is great for racing games like GRID and DiRT, for a large-scale FPS…it shows its’ limitations big time.
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I’ll be honest that I am enjoying it, but after the first couple of missions and trying and trying mulitplayer, I have to admit that I am not enjoying it as much as I expected to.