Great game for people who want a challenge in the FPS genre.
The bad: Offensive language, steep learning curve coupled with bugs and glitches create frustrating situations, visually unimpressive in some areas, online play often lags.
The FPS genre is oversaturated with games. Games about past wars, present wars, future wars, zombie apocalypses, etc. So it has to be a task to release a game with enough innovation to make it stand out from the rest in a tired genre, while at the same time keep the game on topic without tarnishing the gameplay in the process. Operation Flashpoint: Red River attempts to do this and does this surprisingly well. This game's learning curve will ward away some gamers, but most will enjoy this game on different levels.
Surprisingly enough, this game has an immersive campaign. The reason you are there; free Tajikistan from the insurgent warfare. This sounds straight-foward enough, such as go from town to town and eliminate any terrorist threat that swells in these towns. In the middle of the game, things take a turn for the worse. The tempo in Operation Flashpoint: RR takes a while to get off the ground, especially with all the downtime in the game. However, during this downtime, you are bombarded with commands from your Staff Sergeant. You also get some amusing chatter from the other fireteams as well, though it takes you some time to figure out who's who. In single player, you can give your AI controlled team members orders to follow to maximize their efficiency during the campaign . When you are in combat, the AI is competent enough to keep the insurgency off your back as well as scraping you off the ground if you happen to become a bullet-ridden heap. The campaign is best enjoyed with up to three human-controlled companions, who are willing to work as a team and not try to become a lone wolf. This game will punish you for not using team work. Running-and-gunning in this game is a strict no-no, whereas gamers who are tactically minded will have the best shot at making it throung the game.
This game also has a good selection of weapons. There are four classes to choose from. Rifleman, Grenadier, Scout, and Auto Rifleman. Each mode has their on unique set of weapons. While I would have liked to see more weapons here, they all do their job accordingly. Couple these weapons with attachments and perks, as well as the progression system (which has rewards depending on which star you obtain, be it gold, silver, or bronze) and you can pretty much become a laser-guided machine of death-dealing efficiency. This game is only 10 missions long; so if you are a completionist, you will use that as one excuse for the replay value of this game.
The audio is great in this game, it adds to the sense of immersion of this game. The radio chatter can be hilarious at times, but it can be down-right offensive at others. From racial comments, to swearing, all the way to some explicit sexual innuendos; this game can raise the hair on the necks of an unsuspecting parent walking past the room. The weapons sound unimpressive and underpowered, though Codemasters added a great touch of your shots echoing in the distance. The music score in this game seems appropriate for riding through foreign lands, and dealing damage to your enemies along the way. Some of the songs may be familiar to you while others may be a pleasant surprise (Fun Loving Criminals was one for me).
Every game has its bad points, and this game is no exception, by any means. Besides the offensive language, this game has a very steep learning curve. Taking damage can mean the difference between stepping back to heal yourself or restarting the mission.This game has a meter in the lower right hand corner showing where you get hit. With that said, two hits in the leg will slow you down whereas two to the head is game over. Cover is of utmost importance in this game, as I said before running-and-gunning WILL get you killed. There are plenty of bugs and glitches in the game. Some small like hit detection could make you use more ammo than you ike, but it can also reward you by taking a shot that you may have missed and scoring a fatal blow. Others are game ending, such as getting stuck in certain parts of the landscape, to finishing objectives and not allowing you to move on, to sometimes just randomly blowing up while riding in a Humvee. There is a mission on this game that is frustratingly hard, so if any of these glitches happen then, there may be some broken controllers in uncontrollable fits of rage. These more serious glitches are in rare form, and I'm sure that there have been patches to cover some of them. Other issues rear their ugly faces in online co-op matches, where a bad connection can cause lag issues as well as being kicked from a game. This is also the place where most of your textures become a muddled mess while you traverse the terrain, either on foot or in vehicle.
All and all, Operation Flashpoint Red River is a good enough distraction from the Call of Duty or Battlefield series and is welcome for those who are tired of online multiplayer and want to give those games a quick break. While the gameplay suffers from rare occurences of serious bugs, don't let that negative take away from the potential positive that this game does have to offer. Operation Flashpoint: Red River is not as polished as I would like it to be, but I have played worse games out there. I would recommend a buy if you are into the Battlefield games, but I would always encourage people to rent this game if they are unsure or new to the series or genre. It may not be a blockbuster, but it's worth a chance. After playing this game, I am excited to see if Codemasters tries their hand at another, more polished, installment of this game.,