Improved Shooters

A few weeks back I finished Operation Flashpoint: Red River which is the sequel to Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising (and totally unrelated to Operation Flashpoint: Fire Rescue). These games are semi-realistic in that one bullet can see to your quick death, yet still has the convenience of "magic" first aid kits you can use to stop bleeding and repair yourself. Don't worry, it's rare that you will be able to use them and survive anyway. :P

Dragon Rising had a steep learning curve (for me anyway), with enemies who liked to hide in thick foliage and objectives that if failed could end your game prematurely. The night time, stealth missions frequently come to mind. Also it was a bit jarring given that you cycled between different characters in different units each mission. While this opened up the variety of missions you could do, you never really got to know who you or your guys were, or why you were doing silly things like capturing a village on the far side of the map.

Red River fixes most of that and is basically a more polished and more user friendly game. As a marine grunt most of your sorties are all out strategic adrenaline pumping firefights - just the type I like but most importantly it also gives an easier to follow story. While your overall general sounds like a bit of a douche during the mission briefing screens, the true star of the piece is Staff Sgt. Knox who is out on the field with you giving you tips, assessing your performance and generally telling you how it is with often funny foul language.

Follow his rules to stay alive!

 

Another first person shooter that has seen some nice improvements is Orion: Dino Beatdown, now called Orion: Dino Horde. New maps, new dinos, new vehicles all add to the fun but it still has its fair share of problems. In my case it doesn't like my mic, lags a bit with four people, nor can it sync with my steam friends list. Despite that it is a very fun romp trying to make those dinosaurs extinct once more. Honestly, they've been the ones winning every round I've played so far. :P