Operation Flashpoint: Red River Message Board older than one year ago

The true meaning of war is more than just firing a gun. Get a taste of the Marine's war in Tajikistan in this trailer for Red River!

Discover the depth of the fighting environments you'll be enduring in the first of the Red River developer diary series.

New details, new video and an all new spin on this military franchise.

Introducing one of the key characters in the game, Staff Sergeant Knox, as he explains his role and shows off some of the combat scenarios in the game's new Tajikistan battlefield.

New screens from the console-ized version of the PC sim shooter.

The Operation Flashpoint franchise has, for better and for worse, never been a fully "accessible" series. Its focus on realism is both what has earned its fanbase, and arguably what has prevented it from reaching Call of Duty or Medal of Honor notoriety. Codemasters' latest iteration, Red River, attempts the difficult task of continuing to offer "realistic" gameplay, whilst wooing the casual Modern Warfare gamer. It's a balancing act that forerunner Dragon Rising didn't quite realize.

That hasn't stopped Codemasters from trying. Red River's new stylized visuals make an immediate and effective statement: this is not the same Operation Flashpoint of yesteryear. As with Codemasters' other FPS, Bodycount, the team is going for a "J.J. Abrams-inspired" feel. The team wants you to feel like you're viewing the world from a helmet cam and, as such, bright lights will blind you, colors will be slightly distorted, and should you get hit you'll experience Kane & Lynch 2-style visual glitching. The tactical military genre doesn't really lend itself well to such an artistic decision, and it was hard for me to decide if it made the game memorable, tacky, or both.

The balance between realism and entertainment is further evident in the narrative crafted for Red River. This new tale sends you into Tajikistan, a (real) country that borders Afghanistan and China. In the "it could happen" fiction of this world, the military has chased insurgents out of Afghanistan into Tajikistan, and the army must do its best not only to stop these forces, but maintain goodwill in a newly destabilized country. China's PLA, focused on ensuring the war does not seep into its borders, joins the assault, creating a conflict that quickly gets messy. Having the American military go directly against the Chinese army, whilst fighting guerrilla insurgents, is at once absurd, terrifying and exciting.

#war Video game creator Sion Lenton had an idea for one level of his next war video game. The sequence would feature Marines, probably in near-future Tajikistan, on assignment, on patrol. They'd walk around, looking for bad guys. They'd find none. More »

A little less hardcore, a lot more fun.

"I don't think it does any good to publish in a congested period when everyone's putting out their shooters," Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens told Eurogamer. Instead, you'll see the European publisher's biggest upcoming games, off-road racer Dirt 3 and serious-face shooter Operation Flashpoint: Red River, in the second quarter of 2011. Provided next year's congested first-quarter schedule remains untouched by delays, that puts Codemasters' pair safely outside the commercial blast radius of Killzone 3, Dead Space 2, and Bulletstorm*, and likely a few months before the next Call of Duty.

Whilst avoiding it on retail shelves, Cousens is taking a couple of pages from Call of Duty's book -- fluttering in the wind, having been blown up in the library level. "We're not difficult to predict," Cousens said. "If DiRT comes out next year, GRID will come out the following year, and then DiRT will be out the year after that. So you can map us out." As Dirt and Grid alternate, Codemasters aims to have a new F1 racing game out every year, and a new Operation Flashpoint every other year.

The publisher hopes to provide "a new IP that sits in opposite years to each other," but as far as racing and action games go, you now know the general strategy for the next five years. By next year, we might also see where, exactly, over-the-top FPS Bodycount fits in.

* Actual video game titles.

Here at Codemasters we’re working hard on Operation Flashpoint Red River. In Red River players embark on a full expeditionary campaign set in the remote and beautiful country of Tajikistan, bordered by China and Afghanistan. A fictional conflict with contemporary geopolitical themes unfolding over three distinct acts, presenting unique challenges which can be experienced in both single player and co-operatively by up to four players online. Dispensing with corny heroics, corridor gun-play and unrealistic set pieces, players deploy real life tactics in a range of new scenarios and against new enemies.

Whether you enjoy sitting down and playing through a compelling storyline, or brutally pushing through the enemy insurgents in a bit of co-op, it’s always satisfying seeing that little popup that lets you know you’ve just unlocked a Trophy. Trophies are your badge of honour, given for performing your best, proof of just how good you are at any given game. So who better to give them a clever name than you, the players! We’d like to get the PlayStation community to put their thinking caps on and name one of our Trophies. The winner not only gets the bragging rights behind the name, but also wins an exclusive t-shirt and a copy of Operation Flashpoint Red River at launch.

Taking part is simple! First think of a cool name for the following Trophy:

“Destroy an enemy vehicle with the FIM-92 Anti Aircraft Weapon”

Then, just head over to the Red River Facebook page and leave a comment with your suggestions before the 17th November. Sion Lenton, Creative Director on Red River, will be sifting through your comments for the most imaginative names, so start thinking! We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest Operation Flashpoint Red River news by following us on Twitter and Facebook.

Concept renders for the newly announced Operation Flashpoint sequel due next year.

Codemasters has officially unveiled Operation Flashpoint: Red River, the followup to 2009's Dragon Rising, for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. While "Red River" doesn't sound nearly as exciting as "Dragon Rising," perhaps the very fact that there's more Flashpoint on the way is exciting to those disappointed by the end of Dragon Rising DLC. There's also the promise of new cooperative modes and new classes.

The press release also details the setting for the new shooter: "a deadly new battlefield set in the remote yet beautiful country of Tajikistan along the Vakhsh River." Guess we're going to have to make that military shooter about the escalation of the OU/Texas football rivalry ourselves.

To see more Red River, check out GameSpot's interview and impressions, and see concept art in our gallery.

#codemasters Codemasters follows up last year's realistic tactical shooter Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising with an all-new entry due in 2011. Operation Flashpoint: Red River will let players visit scenic Tajikistan to experience an "epic campaign." What else? More »

Codemasters brings some brains to the battlefield.