Publisher: Codemasters
Genre: First Person Shooter
Rating: 7.5/10- 'PLAY'

Introduction
In a game market that's saturated with FPS military based games, Operation Flashpoint- Red River continues this tradition by putting players into a technically accurate representation of modern combat. Considering many other game publishers focus on set pieces and the very popular competitive multiplayer, like Call of Duty and Bad Company, Codemasters goes and creates a non conforming game where their entire focus is on providing a "REAL" battle experience. This is not a game where you will find yourself single-handedly destroying an entire enemy base; rather, this is the game where you wait patiently 200 feet away from your target for them to reveal themselves, await confirmation of enemy position, and then pull the trigger, whilst simultaneously giving instructions to your team of three others and avoid getting shot yourself. Unlike other shooters available Red River requires you to understand practical military tactics to play the game well and enjoy. Red River is like a simulation its intention is to produce an experience which is “authentic”, but most importantly fun. The authenticity of Red River is not built around a Hollywood style narrative and levels, but it is weaved throughout the combat, level design and most notably the language used. Codemasters clearly want to make an experience which doesn’t revolve around melodramatics and impossible feats, but rather of hardcore combat, hellish fire fights and cursing.

Game Play – 7.5 out of 10
Set in Tajikistan in 2013, players make up a team of US marines fighting insurgents along the politically sensitive Chinese border. Air strikes are available, but can only be called in on certain targets; maps are vast and geographically varied, but going off-script will almost certainly lead to a violent demise.

The combat itself is in-keeping with the theme of realism. You can pick from a series of four classes, each having a set selection of armaments, and upgrade your weaponry and a series of perks as your skill level increases throughout the game in each category. This leads to a reasonable degree of attachment to your equipment, as you will soon find, especially later in the game with the higher level PLA soldiers, that they are the only things separating you from bleeding to death in a red puddle in the sand. Choosing your load out wisely is essential to progression; in night deployments, for example, visibility is exceptionally low, so you will have to make use of one of the equipment choices, a green marker, in order to ease target identification. The game never really tells you to do so, and so it is down to you as the player to ensure that you and your squad can make it through the game alive.

The enemy A.I is competent, and will take up cover, form ambushes, and heal one another if given the opportunity. Cooperative play is much the same as single player. There are four different classes and a handful of different weapons and equipment which enable different members of the fire team to fulfill different roles, enabling cooperation, feeling all the more imperative and satisfying when pulled off well. In addition to playing the campaign with three companions there are also a host of fire missions for you to undertake, all of which bringing more variation to the already strong game play.

The best way to play is with friends; hiding behind a burnt out school bus whilst under heavy fire and trying to identify your attacker’s positions is bit more dramatic than when you’re sharing the experience with another, and is infinitely easier to tactically control. Whereas the A.I squad mates can often find it difficult to get their heads around the concept of eliminating enemies before recovering you from the ground, your mates should be more capable of such a concept.

Visuals – 9 out of 10
Everything in the game looks amazing, right from the map. It’s not just a cut out mountain in the background. When you view the map it looks like you really have Drone Intel. There is quite a bit of depth and realism to the textures of the game. The reflections are great, The Shadows look crisp. The lighting of the different times of the day also is pretty realistic. All this put together gives us a power packed graphically real game. Since the game will be released on PC it seems like there can be much more that you can expect from the visuals. The game seems to be made visually for the future if you know what I mean. I am not sure we are able to see the full extent of the graphics on the PS3 since it’s only that much of hardware.

Sound and FX – 6 out of 10
The sound, again is not going to win any Grammy’s, but is overall acceptable. While running around the battlefield, as one can expect in the real life situation the game portrays, there is little sounds besides the marines’ communications, footsteps and the firing of weapons. The weapons themselves sound pretty good as does the soldiers shouting of commands. My only real complaint with the sound was ‘Knox’, your commander. Knox goes on and on with his pep talks before you enter your mission and he can be a little obnoxious at times, but has some redeeming one-liners. If you are easily offended, the anti-Chinese ‘diggs’ and constant foul language may offend you.

Fun Factor – 7 out of 10
This game will be fun to play; it’s got a host of fun factors. You can play as a part of a team which is something that can be fun to play. Learning to achieve tasks as a unit is far more achieving goals like a Hollywood hero. Playing the Co-op mode is also a great experience to share with your friends. Of course you don’t need to use in game commands and you could just shout out what’s to be done. With the missions and all put together and the number of hours of game play this game is a fun experience.

Re-play – 8 out of 10
The 10 mission campaign in addition to the eight fire team engagements will provide many hours of enjoyment for those who are willing to embrace Red Rivers focus on authenticity rather than on its lack of action-movie aesthetics.  Playing all these missions through the normal mode, experienced mode and hardcore mode will definitely get you back to the game again and again. It’s not just that you have experience points to use to unlock perks and equipments and the combinations can lead to a number of hours spent on theism game.

Conclusion
It's brutal, it's intense and it's a lot of fun. Operation Flashpoint: Red River is a different breed of modern warfare shooters, however it falls short due to long downtime sequences and less than average voice acting. It offers a solid experience for fans of military simulations. It’s a good gaming experience which is enhanced by a great co-op mode and won’t be forgotten that soon by gamers.

My verdict is 'PLAY'

Alex D'souza signing off