Hardcore Military Sim, too much reality with no joy.
Dragon rising gets the feel, situation and stage right for a what could have been a perfect game. Unfortunatley it fails all of these traits with making the game - unejoyable.
The setting is perfect for a new campaign region and set of doctrines for a modern foe set in an archaic dogma - The Chinese. A massive and numberless foe who is the perfect strong enemy to sharpen ones skills.
The graphics are awesome and area of operations vast and scenic, you realy get a sense of being there. The weapons are realistic and ballistic trajectory well calculated.
Scenes range from hectic firefights for life to an anxious stalking of a target.
All these things culminate to make what COULD have been a great game.
Unfortunatley there is no joy or advancement for the team lead or individual members. One sees no growth for challenges faced. The story is Linear and though you can choose your path, the mission ends up the same way and you end up in the same place.
The game designers could have put in a reward system of any kind E.G.: experience points to spend on skills, medals, rank any eveloution of the player would have been good. There is no area of influence/supply lines so it makes no difference except to progress to the next mission which is always the same.
It could have been awesome, but dragon rising is a hardcore sim devoid of joy or gratification. What could have been. Only purchase if you have too much money or time, otherwise you will feel empty at the end like eating your favourite meal but it was made of a cal controlled substance and had no taste. You will feel cheated.