OK so i haven't been on in a while but for good reason. before i review anything i swore an oath to explore every piece of what it has to offer. now i never thought an FPS could run for this long but Flashpoint kept me going for about three times as long as CoD: Modern Warfare 2 did so at the very least you're getting value for money.
SO. the setting is in the island of Skira based in a hazy boarder area just off China. the game gives you a brief rundown of how it suddenly gained importance because the Russian colonisers struck black gold and now the Chinese want it back (and no I have not mistyped anything the Russians actually are the good guys.) Russia gets scared, pulls a few political strings and before you no it the Americans Are Invading Chinese occupied Russian territory. so the story isn't exactly streamlined but at least they let you know what you're getting into.
so without further a due your fat American ass is plonked onto this island to spearhead the assault. now the closest thing I've ever played to a realistic FPS is CoD:MW2 so I ran Screaming in through the proverbial front door and was immediately turned into a human shaped colander. You see many games will claim to be realistic but merely put you into a realistic situation but somehow you still can clear an entire warehouse full of enemies without breaking a sweat. Flashpoint really is realistic from you issuing orders to the recoil and range of your guns.
you play as many different characters but usually you do the same job of commanding a small unit into the greater scheme of the war. the command system was reasonably well thought out though it did take me half the game to truly get the hang of it. the game play itself is blisteringly realistic with the game demanding you take cover lest you get your tits shot off. you can take out the enemies yourself of just tell your squad to do it while you stick the kettle on.
it said on the cover of the game that it would be as close to real warfare as i ever want to get...how the FUCK does the game know how far i want to go with this. besides sometimes realism isn't such a good thing. throwing grenades is a good example. in CoD:MW2 you simply press a button and FLING! away goes your grenade allowing you to deal with other threats. in Flashpoint your grenade is a complete weapon of it's own which you have to select. ill give you the rundown starting from when I've spotted the enemy and have decided to frag him
1.open up interface and select grenades =3 seconds
2.wait for the character to put away his gun and take out a grenade= 3 seconds
3.take aim and throw the grenade = 2 seconds (if you're fast)
4. a further 5 seconds for the fuse = 5 seconds
that folks, is a total of 13 seconds from decision to product. plenty of time for a sniper to kill me or for the enemy to displace. So i ended up hardly ever using grenades as it would be quicker for me to pistol whip the Chinese to death (and alot more fun!)
Multi player is another thing flashpoint disappointed me on. now they didn't exactly advertise it but seeing as the maps are huge and open and you can signal grid references on your map for friendly NPC's to attack I fully expected this OM to kick ass. No such luck. turns out there were only four matches on at all of witch were all co-op campaign.
in the end all reviews boil down to that question "Is it any good" but I would need to know what you were looking for.
If you are sick of noob tubing bastards and un-realistic kills then i hereby heartilly recomend Flashpoint to you as i could at least see what i had done wrong every time i died.
If you are looking for that slick FPS experience that CoD and HALO so readily provide prepare to be disappointed as I cant see you getting a 360 no scope on this shit.
SO. the setting is in the island of Skira based in a hazy boarder area just off China. the game gives you a brief rundown of how it suddenly gained importance because the Russian colonisers struck black gold and now the Chinese want it back (and no I have not mistyped anything the Russians actually are the good guys.) Russia gets scared, pulls a few political strings and before you no it the Americans Are Invading Chinese occupied Russian territory. so the story isn't exactly streamlined but at least they let you know what you're getting into.
so without further a due your fat American ass is plonked onto this island to spearhead the assault. now the closest thing I've ever played to a realistic FPS is CoD:MW2 so I ran Screaming in through the proverbial front door and was immediately turned into a human shaped colander. You see many games will claim to be realistic but merely put you into a realistic situation but somehow you still can clear an entire warehouse full of enemies without breaking a sweat. Flashpoint really is realistic from you issuing orders to the recoil and range of your guns.
you play as many different characters but usually you do the same job of commanding a small unit into the greater scheme of the war. the command system was reasonably well thought out though it did take me half the game to truly get the hang of it. the game play itself is blisteringly realistic with the game demanding you take cover lest you get your tits shot off. you can take out the enemies yourself of just tell your squad to do it while you stick the kettle on.
it said on the cover of the game that it would be as close to real warfare as i ever want to get...how the FUCK does the game know how far i want to go with this. besides sometimes realism isn't such a good thing. throwing grenades is a good example. in CoD:MW2 you simply press a button and FLING! away goes your grenade allowing you to deal with other threats. in Flashpoint your grenade is a complete weapon of it's own which you have to select. ill give you the rundown starting from when I've spotted the enemy and have decided to frag him
1.open up interface and select grenades =3 seconds
2.wait for the character to put away his gun and take out a grenade= 3 seconds
3.take aim and throw the grenade = 2 seconds (if you're fast)
4. a further 5 seconds for the fuse = 5 seconds
that folks, is a total of 13 seconds from decision to product. plenty of time for a sniper to kill me or for the enemy to displace. So i ended up hardly ever using grenades as it would be quicker for me to pistol whip the Chinese to death (and alot more fun!)
Multi player is another thing flashpoint disappointed me on. now they didn't exactly advertise it but seeing as the maps are huge and open and you can signal grid references on your map for friendly NPC's to attack I fully expected this OM to kick ass. No such luck. turns out there were only four matches on at all of witch were all co-op campaign.
in the end all reviews boil down to that question "Is it any good" but I would need to know what you were looking for.
If you are sick of noob tubing bastards and un-realistic kills then i hereby heartilly recomend Flashpoint to you as i could at least see what i had done wrong every time i died.
If you are looking for that slick FPS experience that CoD and HALO so readily provide prepare to be disappointed as I cant see you getting a 360 no scope on this shit.
