Video Gaming News - March 2003
New York, NY (March 11, 2003) - A dedicated edition of the military
simulator Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis is coming to the Xbox.
Codemasters will publish a customized Xbox version of the game in summer 2003.
The Xbox edition is being developed by Bohemia Interactive Studio, creators of
the original PC title, and will contain the entire original game along with the
additional prequel campaign called Resistance.
From Codemasters:
A groundbreaking title, Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis is the ultimate
realistic war experience. Gameplay enables players to participate in a Cold War
conflict just the way they want to and draws the player into a deeply believable
military environment. For the first time in such a military game, the player
controls and commands not just soldiers and squads of all levels, but also land,
sea and air vehicles – both military and civilian – from cars, to APCs, to tanks
and even military helicopters.
The scenario is modern warfare: It is 1985, in the midst of the Cold War, and
Gorbachev has been elected to power bringing with him policies of glasnost and
perestroika. However, resistance Soviet groups are opposed to the new wave and
are refusing to serve the new regime in Moscow. One group has taken control of
an island community, and is using it as an armed stronghold for the old order.
Operation Flashpoint opens with the player joining the neighboring US force
against the Soviets.
It is a game of complete freedom and once past the mission briefing stage,
it’s the player’s decision how the overall mission or campaign is tackled. This
variety also allows players to dip in and out of all kinds of action gameplay,
from commanding a squad, to driving tanks, troop carriers, piloting a helicopter
to taking on the role of a sniper.
The open environment of the game is massive and players can go anywhere at
anytime without being limited to playing in mission-specific ‘walled’ areas. On
Xbox, the game comes complete with an additional campaign titled Operation
Flashpoint: Resistance, set years before Operation Flashpoint’s Cold War hit
crisis point.
Resistance creates an additional 100km2 island and casts the player as Victor
Troska, an experienced ex-Special Forces soldier. Having turned his back on his
military past, Troska has settled into a respectable civilian life on the island
of Nogova, a short distance from the main game’s three islands. However, his
situation changes when the Soviet force invades the island group and destroys
Troska's idyllic dreams.
Reluctant at first to return to a conflict situation, he is forced to
participate in, and then lead, the ramshackle Resistance effort, which grows up
in response to the Soviet occupation of the island. As Operation Flashpoint:
Resistance begins before the US Army and its resources came to the islands,
players have to scavenge equipment from whatever sources they can manage, which
provides for a different play experience.
Throughout the closely linked missions, the overriding objectives include
growing a resistance force by gaining new recruits and gathering equipment,
preserving as many of your comrades as possible to build an army strong enough
to repel the Soviets. Combined, the main game and the prequel campaign, makes
Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis the best military simulator for any
platform and a true must-have title for the Xbox gamer.
Having set new standards of immersive realism on the PC, the dedicated Xbox
edition is primed to repeat the PC’s Game of the Year success. Codemasters is
set to release Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis on Xbox in summer 2003. The
game’s web site, with information, images and a forum is now live at
www.codemasters.com/flashpoint.
« Back to last page · News Page »
 | 
