Eight years after the release of Operation Flashpoint's first name, Codemasters will launch its response to the onslaught of our machines. The time has changed and some PCs are now franchises forced to bend, willy-nilly, to the dictates of the multi-platform.
Above all, a small reminder of circumstance: Operation Flashpoint was an exciting, offering freedom of movement impressive for its time, a gigantic and realism picky. A simulated emergency military revealing its attractiveness in multiplayer. Since then, the kind of games have gradually turned to the script and over-the-level design of corridors, leaving idle the approach developed by Flashpoint. Although part of the development team has made the trunk and then to achieve ArmA ArmA II, Flashpoint has waited eight long years in advance of formal follow-up: Dragon Rising.
A title for the 6 October and that we can not wait to try. Numbers are now as Codemasters sent us a preview story to share our first impressions. Just something to try their hand on a pair of missions. And yes, no keyboard / mouse for this time since it was an Xbox 360. Do not worry, it's an opportunity for us to judge the adaptation of the style Flashpoint game console. And although the FPS genre has adapted rather well to the pad, the precise management of a team is not always obvious.
"Just as in the first part, it will be no rush in combat lone hero"
Indeed, as in the first part, it will be no rush in combat lone hero. A ball in the open cigar and it is the return to the last checkpoint, often quite distant from the place of drama. And yes, as in Operation Flashpoint your progress is saved every five steps. In the best cases collected the ball will cause bleeding that you can treat just like a ... assuming that you still have a few bandages, of course. Therefore, we must again rely on his comrades and effectively manage his small troupe. To do this, Codemasters think console players by introducing a hierarchy of orders via the RB button of the joystick. By maintaining the pressure, and then browsing through the many branches, the player is able to dictate their behavior quite accurately to his teammates. Whether training, attitude, tactics and approach of simple movements, the guidelines range is comprehensive enough to deal with most situations.
However, this system we found room for improvement. First, the need to hold RB then navigate via the cross directional makes this micro-management rather difficult in an emergency. Of course, with a little practice you eventually memorize the key directives. However, in case of error, it is impossible to go back to the previous tree branch: you must release the pressure and re-open the main menu. A great waste of time. Moreover, whatever people say, determine the displacement of a teammate walking with the analog stick still quite vague. Finally, and this is most likely due to the incompleteness of the version we have, some orders are still poorly understood by the AI or not interpreted at all.
Apart from these few annoyances, the "formula" Flashpoint retains all its charms. Tactics to make an enemy are as varied and are based primarily on the inventiveness of the player. For in Operation Flashpoint, no course is predetermined and the player may approach its goals in the manner and order him like that. No scripted event it does force the issue and for strategists to give their heart in establishing action plans. The objectives we faced were fairly simple and in their statements but much less on the ground: it is painful to return to the unforgiving reality of the conflict! From this point of view, fans of the first component should be served.
As promised the island of Kiska looks large, even huge ... some would say too wide. In effect, lost rapidly after planting cambrousse the only jeep around against a tree, walking a race is quite tiring. But the key is there: a giant playground which we hope it will just a little more diversity as forests and other scattered grassy plains that we could explore.
Otherwise, the fatigue could move quickly. Speaking of diversity, we are promised a large number of different vehicles, but for now, we have been able to drive a jeep whose conduct has in fact been very close to that of the first vehicle component .
Finally we will keep well for a final decision on the technical aspect of this version. Visually, the set is still a little austere and unfortunately we did not have developed under different climatic conditions. Texturing of environments, including soil, is still quite late but we appreciate the great depth of field. Finally, there remains a big question mark on artificial intelligence as Allied side. As mentioned earlier, our teammates sometimes reluctant to obey orders, while the behavior of Chinese soldiers was rather unpredictable: if most of the time they showed devilishly tough, they may sink into a kind of lethargy , as if their intelligence had abandoned their envelope polygons and textures. The fickleness of more than one hopes to see corrected in the final version, like all the other spots listed above. Because if we do not doubt the potential of playing solo campaign as multi, much remains to be made to finish only two months of its release .
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