Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising Review

2022-10-01

Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising Review

Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising, as a sequel to a mildly successful game, had to make a good impression on gamers to redeem the mistakes that were made in its predecessor. And for the most part, the developers have succeeded – even though the game still has its odd quirks, it's a memorable and pleasant experience to go through, and definitely a title that should be high in your “to play” list.

Gameplay

Dragon Rising moves the timeline all the way to nowadays, representing various modern day combat situations with high realism. You'll see over 60 different guns being used all around you, though you won't be able to get in on the action with all of them yourself – the player only has access to about half of that arsenal. You can also use a variety of vehicles to make your way around the terrain, and all of the technology featured has been simulated with an ultra high dose of realism.

You should bear in mind that when we say “realism” we don't mean the semi-realistic arcade feeling which games like Modern Warfare 2 bring you – Dragon Rising throws the player in a very believable world with ballistic simulation for bullets, locational damage on the characters, and great simulation for the vehicle physics and combat effects.

And if you ever get bored of playing the original campaign, there are several bonus missions for you to unlock and go through, each putting you in a situation much more challenging than what you'd normally find in this game's single player – so make sure you give them a go.

Graphics and System Requirements

Dragon Rising's engine originally started out as a racing game one, but that didn't stop the developers from pushing it further and further – until they brought us the one we have today. The game looks magnificent, with dozens of different faces for all of the characters you'll be seeing, realistic models for all of the weapons and vehicles with high polygon counts and very high-resolution textures, as well as good-looking environments.

Speaking of the environments, the engine is capable of drawing a distance of up to a several dozen kilometers – and if you zoom in you get an appropriately detailed picture as well! That's something you certainly don't see in every game.

It's a bit demanding on the hardware, but if you have a Quad Core processor and 2 GB of RAM, plus a GeForce 8800, you should be able to handle Dragon Rising just perfectly. There's no support for DX8 video cards, so if you don't have a DX9-capable one, you won't be able to enjoy the game, sadly.

Other

Dragon Rising features a very well-designed multiplayer, where you can play both cooperative and versus modes. The cooperative gameplay is especially well-done, with various features to accommodate for the increased number of players and give a boost to your teamwork in general.

Conclusion

A solid, realistic experience packed full of great action, Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising is a game not to ignore.