Operation Flashpoint Red River

Another entry into this series, with a huge focus on realism. And yes, sometimes at the expense of fun gameplay.

We've spoken about realism vs playability here before. Well this game gives you one extreme of that spectrum. Walk around the wrong corner - you're dead. Get caught out in the open when the shooting starts - you're dead. Try to move without cover or supressing fire - you're dead. Can't see the tiny figure off in the distance, two pixels high - you're dead.

This game loves to fucking kill you. A couple of hits and you go down like a bag of shit. You can be revived if not completely dead, but your AI teammates can be a bit thick at times.

The question is - is it fun ? Is it more fun than popcorn shooters like COD and so on ? The gaming grognard in me wants to say yes, but to be honest, I have to say no. I know COD gets a bad rap with all the senseless explosions and shallowness, but OF:RR is kind of a grind. It makes you wish for a happy medium between the two.

I probably wouldn't enjoy the game, but I think that has more to do with setting than "realism." I'm just flat-out tired of military shooters, and Red River looks bland, even as military shooters go.

I mostly like games were you are voulnarble. Thats why Im such a kz and Demons souls fan. A misstake should cost you your life.

This game, even If I havent seen or played it, sounds like the rwep of sniper: ghost warrior. Sitting in a corner waiting hours to get a shot, carefully moving from cover to cover. Aaaaah yeeeaaa.


I do agree with drifter, Im also quite sick of the mlitary shooters right now.....

Yeah I gotta say Tajikistan is probably not the most thrilling setting for a game. Pretty flat and uglier than Satan's asshole.

So, I was on a torrent site that I frequent and saw an ISO for Red River, so I figured I'd give it a shot. It runs pretty badly on this computer, so I'll wait until it gets upgraded this weekend before playing again. Of what little I played, though, I thought it was fairly intense, and I like the controls.

What I don't like are the parts that don't involve fire fights. I eventually shot my commanding officer in the face because his arrogant macho-posturing pissed me off so much. Everyone is such a slur-shouting moron with egos big enough to fill a stadium, to the point that I wonder whether the game is actually being serious or not.