Major focus on co-operative gameplay, along with several other changes. No word on whether they’re killing the horrible radial UI though. Also, shiny screenshots.
While we found out about Operation Flashpoint: Red River a week ago, all we got there were vague pointers to what the game could be like. Codemasters has finally announced to the whole world today what this game is about though, and released some neat screenshots that we’ve stacked below.
The game will take place in the very near future in Tajikistan, where the US Marines face off against China’s People’s Liberation Army, which puts my Vietnam speculations to the dust. No word on what the US does to get into Tajikistan, but I really don’t imagine political hullabaloo is why you play Operation Flashpoint.
So on the gameplay department, we know that Codemasters will be upping the ante on the co-operative angle of the game, no doubt inspired by the success of Left 4 Dead 2 or Borderlands. The game will feature “drop-in-drop-out” co-operative play, which, to explain in a lesser number of hyphens, is a co-op system just like in Borderlands where players join and exit matches freely.
Other changes promised to us are: “a deeper narrative-led campaign, streamlined inventory and control system, a refined enemy and squad AI system, player class roles including customisable XP upgrades and loadout choice, close-quarters combat, new air support options and comprehensive tutorials.”
Close-quarters combat is an interesting addition there, since the previous game, with its emphasis on realistic long-range combat didn’t really include much close-quarters. But with other changes like XP upgrades, it makes me wonder if they’re trying to bend the game a bit to make it more like Call of Duty, which to be honest, wouldn’t be half bad. They will also have comprehensive tutorials, and any game that flaunts a “comprehensive” tutorial is definitely heavy-duty.
Codemasters also confirms that they will be assessing community feedback for the first game in refining this one, so here’s to hoping it’s less of a half-simulation, half-arcade mashup like the previous game was. All you had to do was head over to their official forums a week after release to find a hundred threads screaming at Codemasters. Yeah, let’s have less of that.
But have some screenshots/concept art instead. I can’t tell what they are, they seem to be a composite of both art and in-engine stuff, but it sure looks terrific.
Also, did it occur to anyone that them setting this game in Tajikistan is a snipe at Bohemia Interactive for setting ArmA II in “Takistan”?
Operation Flashpoint: Red River will be released for the PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and SNES sometime in 2011. Okay, not the SNES. Not yet. Sorry for getting your hopes up.
Honestly it doesn't look like they are taking the steps to make their game what everyone expected it would have been before release of dragon rising even. I too, was a member of their forums months before release and also took part in the ranting and screaming once they released dragon rising due to Sion Lenton lying about almost every feature he said would be in the game. What also worry's me are the screen shots. The ones before Dragon Rising were the same thing, beautiful and serene environments with really cool looking combat. But later once the game is released we find out it looks absolutely nothing like that. I would call those concept art, not screen shots.