Review by: Josh Horowitz
Published: October 25, 2001

The Eighties. It was a time of excess and greed, pop music and Pac-Man, home PCs and yuppies driving BMWs. It was also a time of military tension, with the ardent American president Ronald Reagan preparing his nation to face the cold war against the “Evil Empire” of the Soviet Union. Today everyone seems to be caught up in the frenzy of fighting faceless terrorism, but there was a time less than 20 years ago when the enemy was highly recognizable and more predictable. The cold war ended with the U.S. and NATO on top, but what if Soviet and American forces had butted horns conventionally before the fall of the Berlin Wall? It would have been a great contest between two equally powerful nations, and for the Czech developers at Bohemia Interactive, the scenario provides an intriguing back-story for a realistic computer war simulation. With that in mind, Bohemia and Codemasters present one of the first Cold War era combat sims on the market, Operation Flashpoint.

Operation Flashpoint begins in 1985: The U.S. military, with a beefy Republican defense budget, is spread across the world, protecting America’s interests. One region includes the islands of Everon and Malden in the Eastern Pacific, close to the outer reaches of the Soviet Union. The Russian-speaking citizens of the islands are mostly ambivalent of the Americans’ presence until one day when a mysterious force of attackers moves in with a mindset to conquer. The islands are under attack, and it’s up to the American forces to protect the islands’ sovereignty. Among the officers and enlisted men caught up in the entanglement is Private David Armstrong, a new recruit in the U.S. army, fresh out of boot camp. Playing the role of Armstrong as well as other military personnel, it’s up to you to serve your country and repel the invasion force on the ground and in the air.

Bohemia’s newest release has bits and pieces of every first-person war simulation to date. You begin as a common infantryman in the modern army, following orders in a small platoon as you traverse hostile territory resembling the Balkan region. Later on, you play the role as a tank commander, controlling all aspects of the powerful M1 Abrams in battle. As the campaign progresses, you even get to hop in an attack helicopter, bringing the fight to the air. There are many other duties players take on throughout the campaign such as mine-laying, special operations, assassination, hostage rescue, and machine gunnery. Operation Flashpoint also lets you commandeer any vehicle you happen upon during the conflict, so you may find yourself behind the wheel of a tractor, a Humvee, or even an Eastern European Trabbi.

There are several components to this substantial war simulation. The single-player portion includes the 1985 Malden Islands campaign and a series of one-time missions covering a broad range of situations. The game also is bundled with a powerful editor, allowing for a practically limitless series of custom missions and an opportunity to practice using any combination of weapons and vehicles. Finally, Operation Flashpoint supports multiplayer action via GameSpy Arcade.