AN UNDERRATED TACTICAL GEM... provided that you have great patience and a general interest in tactical shooters.

User Rating: 8 | Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising PS3
'FINALLY ANOTHER TACTICAL SHOOTER I CAN GET MY TEETH IN TO!' was my first remark upon receiving the game from a friend of mine, who seemed almost too eager to part with it. I have read several reviews and seen some of the trailers, and I was ready for what i believed as just a 'good', tense combat experience. I was really surprised after spending 18 hours in the game that it received the underwhelming review it did.

The plot of the game was strangely, and universally nonexistent... you play as some American chap with 3 squad mates on a fictional island in Asia. The narration begins with a description of the island which is mainly shared by 2 foreign countries, russia and china, and funnily enough you are sent to help the russians... At this point i had to double check the web at the absurdity of the plot. America helping former enemy russia? ok, maybe we should check that the sky is falling on our heads, which still had a higher chance of occurance than the story.

Although the plot may not be anything you write home about, but the gameplay more than excuses it: imagine the tactics of rainbow six mixed with the large sandbox map of bad company, with a little sprinkle of the driving feel of far cry 2, and you get a basic idea of the gameplay of this game. In short this game is for people who has more than a half a brain and can appreciate and have some patience with tactical shooters. Its tactical gameplay, along with decent graphics are a rare treat for gamers like me who are greatly interested in realistic shooters, like rainbow six vegas.

However, its realism is also its greatest flaw, because it also limit its audience and can bore and even frustrate the majority of modern gamers today, who are too influenced by simple, but generic games like 'COD' and 'bad company'. In addition there are numerous, though minute, glitches in the campaign and can put some people off. But still, the minor faults are still surpassed by the game's tactical appeal, and it is still the most intense, and realistic, combat simulator ever produced in to format of a game.