Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

 PlayStation 3
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 42 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 42
  3. Negative: 0 out of 42
  1. Digital Chumps
    72
    Ultimately, I think Codemasters has got a lot of great ideas and gameplay elements in OFDR, but it just needed more time. There are too many rough edges here to make this easy to recommend to everyone.
  2. GameTrailers
    71
    It's an intriguing alternative to what has certainly become the high-action norm of the genre. If you can get past its fundamental shortcomings, you'll find that there's indeed something to this fresh, yet flawed experience.
  3. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    70
    It's definitely a brilliantly accurate recreation of real army life, but that's not always best for a great night's entertainment. [Nov 2009, p.106]
    All this publication's reviews
  5. VideoGamer
    70
    The important point is that the infantry-based action here is largely excellent, provided that you have the will-power to endure countless defeats. Death is never far away in Dragon Rising, and if you've not played a game like this before there's a good chance you'll love the lashings of tension that accompany each and every mission.
  6. Game Informer
    70
    Basically, only play this game if your friends are willing to run at your side. When the game is functioning as intended, it can be brilliant. But don’t let your guard down. Problems will arise, and your most difficult challenge may be combating a bout of boredom.
  7. TheSixthAxis
    70
    A good, fun shooter that excels in multiplayer but fails to reach the heights it could have.
  8. D+PAD Magazine
    70
    Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a challenge. It will challenge your perceptions of today’s shooters, challenge your ingrained behaviour but also challenge your patience.
  9. PS3bloggen.se
    70
    Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a beautiful military simulator, with extreme draw distance and amazing attention to detail. But the multiplayer is lacking, with too few players and maps, and the single player campaign is a bit too short.
  10. Gaming Age
    67
    While it took me a while, I eventually warmed up to this game. The game play is spot on and everything seems to fit appropriately into this military sim. While the FPS crowd may not get what they are expecting, if they stay around they will find what I found, a gratifying experience.
  11. Kombo
    65
    If you're looking for a realistic warfare game and you only want co-op, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is going to be a good choice, otherwise you might as well wait for Modern Warfare 2.
  12. Level7.nu
    60
    A tactical military shooter that gives you a totally different experience than the usual action game in a war environment. It’s thrilling and when you succeed with a plan the reward is great. But there are problems; both friendly and enemy AI struggles and sometimes your team won’t listen to your orders. The game does get better when playing online with friends.
  13. 1UP
    58
    I want to like Flashpoint 2, but instead, I just feel like the game is telling me: "war is hell, sorry."

Awards & Rankings

67
#67 Best PS3 Game of 2009
32
#32 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2009
88
#88 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2009

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 59 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 59
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 59
  3. Negative: 14 out of 59
  1. BaronMonaco
    May 5, 2016
    7
    Operation Flashpoint is known to be one of the best soldier simulation game of history, will the change of developers affect this franchise ?Operation Flashpoint is known to be one of the best soldier simulation game of history, will the change of developers affect this franchise ? Lets check that.

    Technically the game is okay, with average graphics and animations but no loading times during the missions which is good given the fact that we have an open battlefield of several miles/kilometers to play with and the AI is competent (even if there is room for improvement). There's also a very good sound design with realistic fire shots and vehicles that truly involve the player in the game.

    Concerning the gameplay it's definitively a simulation game where position is extremely important, you kill and die in one or two bullets depending of where it impacts, you must manage your team, etc. But the lack of innovation and diversity in the game design make it rather generic and forgettable.

    The story is resume in a (very good) opening cinematic and... that's all, yes of course you have small written briefings at the beginning of every missions and some communications with your HQ when you play but that's really not enough (no social interaction with your team) and I would expect a good, detailed and realistic story from a perfect "war simulation" game. The length of the game is okay, it took a little more than 12 hours to finish the campaign with all the secondary objectives.

    In conclusion Dragon Rising is a rather good simulation game but too generic to stick in your memory and with some flaws that will get in your way of pure fun. Advisable for simulation lovers but not the best game if you want to try the genre for the first time.    … Full Review »
  2. dickeldeedoodoo
    Jan 13, 2010
    3
    In short, the game sucks. Sure it looks nice and that but you'll just really have to like these type of games. While the game says: Walk In short, the game sucks. Sure it looks nice and that but you'll just really have to like these type of games. While the game says: Walk around freely on Skirinka and fight everywhere you really find yourself dying or mission ending when you walk a click or 2 away from the objective. It looks nice that's a fact and there's plenty of vehicles you can board. Only to find your helicopter to be shot down by light machine guns and your vast vehicles to be blasted to pieces by an anti-tank guy about a 100 miles away. Team control is good and enemy AI is good but always shoot the guy you shot about a million and one times again when you walk by. For all you know he might go zombie and shoot you with a gun from which you just took all the ammo or stab you with a knife only to find yourself looking at a guy who misses his head chasing you around with a knife stabbed about a yard away from you but it somehow manages to affect you.… Full Review »
  3. johnnynumber5
    Oct 22, 2009
    3
    Simply put: This game is terrible. I was expecting so much based off the developers promises: open world, sandbox, no forced missions, fly Simply put: This game is terrible. I was expecting so much based off the developers promises: open world, sandbox, no forced missions, fly helicopters, large environment, realistic, intuitive squad controls, great audio and graphics. Instead we got a complete turd of a game and in my opinion the worst game this generation on the PS3. The graphics are TERRIBLE The textures look muddy and pixelated Framerate stutters and lags NPC AI is some of the worst ever Crippling in game bugs (freezing, glitches etc) Clunky menu interface Empty and desolate environments No helicopters as promised I could keep going on and on about this game. This game needs more than a patch - it needs to be refunded and redone from the start. Those expectinf something similar to the first Operation Flashpoint will be extremely disappointed. It's worse and has less content. The developers lied to us about the feature sets (go to the official forums for evidence) and delivered a game thats unfinished, unpolished, uninspired and completely unplayable. Good luck getting into a co-op match without getting booted within 5 minutes because the poor netcode. Don't buy this game at all ... if you areally want it I urge you to wait for the inevidtable price drop. This game is just terrible. The game deserves a complete ZERO. I'll give it a 3 to be nice but this game is one of the worst ever made and it's a sham that they sold people this mess and called it a game. I played it for an hour and turned it off ... took it back up to Gamestop the next day to trade it in for credit before it lose even more value and the guy at the store returned it as new because he also played and said he felt sorry that anyone would be stuck with that game! Go Ninja Gaiden Sigma and now all is good in the world.… Full Review »
See all user reviews »