UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN living under a rock, you will have heard about a first person shooter set during the Cold War, that has had shooter, tactical simulation and war game fans salivating and twitching their trigger fingers in anticipation for more than six months.

The game is Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis. It's the work of a pair of Czech brothers at Bohemia Interactive Studios, and it is published by Codemasters. It was finally released a few short weeks ago.

And it is very, very good.

Operation Flashpoint Upgrades Imminent

The first upgrades for Operation Flashpoint are now complete, and in the final phase of testing.

Improving many aspects of the game, offering such enhancements as accurate shadow-casting for weapons and improved aircraft handling, the first will be available for distribution later this week.

Following on from this, the second upgrade package will be released a few days later. This will contain new single and multi-player missions, a brand new weapon, and additional vehicles. Players will now be able to control both the Soviet SU-25 "Frogfoot" heavy bomber and the American M-163 "Vulcan" anti-aircraft defence vehicle. Infantry will also be able to engage their enemies with the "Kozlice" dual-barrel hunting rifle and shotgun.

Green Berets is a squad based tactical game set in the treacherous jungles of Southeast Asia. Plan your surgical strike and sneak deep behind enemy lines to attack your enemy head on in 10 dynamic missions through rice paddies, underground tunnels, and superbly detailed terrains.

Powered by the magnificent Myth II engine, stalk through dense jungles with M60's, grenades, med kits and radio equipment to call in awe-inspiring air assaults, engage the enemy in blinding firefights and obliterate enemy bases with intense explosions. Combat enemy snipers and mortar crews and secure landing zones with your crack team of M16 gunners, Huey helicopters, and special Heroes (over 18 units in all). Your objectives are clear, rescue POW's, locate downed pilots, sabotage communication towers, and seek and destroy the enemy.

Ofp.dk: What kind of system will be available for monitoring Dedicated servers ? (ie. Like WON)

David: Operation Flashpoint is fully integrated with Gamespy Arcade. You'll be able to see a list of all avilable servers by using the Arcade software included on the Flashpoint disc.

Gameplay is more a sneak-em up than your standard frag-fest, with stealth paying far more dividends than running in guns blazing. Enemy AI is efficient to say the least - once you're spotted, watch your back, because NPCs aren't going to stand around waiting for you to shoot them. They're perfectly happy to attempt to outflank, ambush, chase, and outsnipe you and your hapless teammate. Unfortunately, the AI doesn't really extend to the aforementioned sidekick, who simply copies you, and obeys a very limited set of commands (cover me, stay here, attack, hold your fire), although you'll be glad of his covering fire in a tight spot.

In things depth is possible everything: Whether one storms now alone the village or goes along in team, is freely selectable - in the team one lives however longer...

Also many different weapons are available, sometimes can one even select, which one wants to have. There there is everything of the M60 mg over the AK 74 up to the M21 sniper rifle.

Another nod to realism is the game's extremely complex ballistics model. All jargon and algorithms aside, it basically amounts to the ability to shoot through walls, ceilings, people, and other objects depending on your weapon, ammo, range, and angle of shot. For instance, you could use a high-powered rifle to go through two weak walls and a couple of guy's heads.

The single-player game will basically be unlocking mission after mission, Persson said. One single-player level will be Omaha Beach, and another may involve a French village you have to protect (if you're the Allies; if you're the Axis, you'll have to invade and take it over). There will be 16 levels, and you'll have to play the game from both sides (Axis and Allies) to beat it.

After playing this for the time I have, I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to that North American version with more multiplayer functionality. This game is perfect for it. I can already imagine some of the battles that will ensue with infantry, tanks, helicopters, transports, and all of that good stuff on the same field.

HomeLAN - It's very unusual to have a high profile game like this not be sold first in the U.S. Why was the decision made to hold off on the U.S. release?

David Solari - We felt that it was really important to get the dedicated server support in for the US version. The US has a far larger online gaming community than Europe and therefore we wanted to offer the best gaming experience we could to that community.

At its very core, Ghost Recon is a military tactical-sim. The game is a significant departure from the theme of the Rainbow Six franchise in that it no longer focuses on close-quarters battle (CQB) environments in counter-terrorist missions. Instead, the team of heroes commanded by the player fights military engagements in huge, sprawling, open-air missions. There are only a few indoor operations; instead, missions occur in the vast forests of southern Russia. Although the assignments of the six-person squad are more akin to special forces operations, the title of the game is still relevant. Ghost Recon is a synonym for those special forces who attack their objectives with ghost-like stealthiness.

The basic story behind V2 allows for some inclusion of friendly AI. Perhaps the best levels are those where you stumble upon Flak's mercenary army and the Viet Cong battling it out. One such map is in a ruined city and the gameplay there lives up to ValuSoft's billing of "intense firefights". It is rather ironic though, that the Viet Cong soldiers here have no regard for each other's lives. Fairly often, I was able to convince rocket soldiers to launch into friendly troops standing in their way.

* 15 single player campaign missions will be included in the game. The final mission is set in a snow-covered Red Square.

* One of the most remarkable "atmospheric" improvements in Ghost Recon is the extensive use of communication by your AI teammates. They confirm your orders, announce when targets have been spotted, declare kills, and much more. It's difficult to explain, but I was particularly impressed with this new feature.

* In order to minimize the gameplay abuse of rocket launchers, each launcher will only carry 2 missiles and will not do so-called "splash damage."

* When your reticule is placed over a friendly, the character's name will appear above their head.

Green Berets is a squad based tactical game set in the treacherous jungles of Southeast Asia. Plan your surgical strike and sneak deep behind enemy lines to attack your enemy head on in 10 dynamic missions through rice paddies, underground tunnels, and superbly detailed terrains.

Powered by the magnificent Myth II engine, stalk through dense jungles with M60's, grenades, med kits and radio equipment to call in awe-inspiring air assaults, engage the enemy in blinding firefights and obliterate enemy bases with intense explosions. Combat enemy snipers and mortar crews and secure landing zones with your crack team of M16 gunners, Huey helicopters, and special Heroes (over 18 units in all). Your objectives are clear, rescue POW's, locate downed pilots, sabotage communication towers, and seek and destroy the enemy.

Even more so than in other realistic combat games like Rainbow Six and Delta Force you feel very, very vulnerable in Operation Flashpoint, just as I'm sure you do in real life warfare. You get to realise just how damn effective camouflage is when you get shot by a man that, a few seconds ago, looked very much like an innocuous shrub.

You must think carefully about every situation before charging into the hot-zone. You must run with your men, in formation, in short bursts. Shoot, run, then cover. Sit on a grassy knoll with autofire locked on and the enemy will soon pick your flashing barrels out for personal attention. Stand atop a green and pleasant hillock with your black silhouette carved out proudly against the bright sky behind and a similar bloody end will ensue. The Soviet troops are smart, so the sooner you learn tricks such as flanking and lying low, the better.

I contacted 2015 president Tom Kudirka about the rumored delays for Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, and he says that it was news to him that the game was going to be delayed until next year. So, barring a natural disaster or something, the game should be good to go later this year. If you missed that wicked gameplay movie from the other day, you can check it out at the official site. In addition, EA's pr stud Steve Groll sends word that as far as he knows, It's still on for a October/November release.

Dragon: Can your mission objectives change part way through a scenario?

Beggs: While surprises can happen and the enemy can come from where you least expect, your objectives generally stay the same. I can say, however that there is at least one circumstance where an uncompleted objective spills over into the next mission.

Q: Will there be a snowy island or snow in the winter?
A: sorry no but we are constantly looking at ideas to continue to support the game

Q: will there eventually be dedicated servers?
A: yes there will it is being dev for the US release and will be a free upgrade for the EU

Q: Can u fix that netcode? Because OFP needs a very fast connection like ADSL or CABLE.
A: BIS are working on the net code as part of the dedicated server

Well, it's worth playing. I'd say it's the best squad based military shooter since the first Delta Force, and is certainly the prettiest. The story is good, voice acting is decent, music is excellent, the action is intense if sometimes frustrating, and over all, it's one hell of a lot of fun. This so far is the finest example of the military squad based shooter I've seen to date.

(PCShooter.com) How much of a realism factor are you aiming for with Venom?

Yes, the game was originally created with a slant to realism. This approach got reflected through many aspects, such as hit system, artificial intelligence, graphics etc. For instance, realism in AI is when your enemies can surround, call for backup, hide, arrange ambushes. And at the same time they are not without faults – the accuracy of their fire is not absolute.

This Thursday at 10PM GMT (2PM PT) there will be a chat with Codemasters in the OFP lobby of GameSpy Arcade. Bring your questions, desires, wishes and greetings with you!

Levels and art are coming along nicely. New animations are making it into the game all the time. Our AI system is becoming more and more robust on a weekly basis. Basically, life is good...

While the weapons were handled by the experts for the most part, Barking Dog took the opportunity to capture audio and visual source data for the game (between occasional firing of handguns). "The weapons are really the characters in our game. We put a lot more polygons in our weapons than other parts of the game, ensuring they have all the right moving parts and animate accurately, continues Mair.

PCShooter: How does your game differ from similar titles already on the market like Counter Strike, Rainbow Six and other combat games? Will we see something new in this game?

Chris: We wanted a game that was realistic, but had fast paced action. The realism comes from the maps, weapons, character models, and specialties. Each map will actually make you think you're in that particular location, using a real Dragunov sniper rifle, dressed like a real sniper. Teamwork is key in Global Operations, but we didn't want to be too much like a simulation game.

Overall Operation Flashpoint was well worth the 3+ years of research, development and waiting, a great game has been produced, and great things are going to come from it, from mods, to missions, Operation Flashpoint rid[e]s high, it leaps out of the common games on the market, and makes you take notice, if you love your war games, and even if you don't, then this is a game not to miss.

Q: Do the missions involve stealth tactics, all-out assaults, or a combination of both?

ST: Medal of Honor Allied Assault runs the gamut of disguise levels that involve stealth, missions where the player needs to cooperate with a squad to achieve its goals, sniper duels in an occupied French town, and all-out combat on a grand scale between the Allies and the Germans. It's everything in the previous games and a lot, lot more.

SoF2 will feature some new tactical options as well. You will now be able to effectively hide from enemy patrols, crawl around, and use silenced weapons to greater effect. Tools like lock picks and wire cutters will help you to open doors and shut down the power to certain areas. It is important to note, though, that stealth will always be an option. There will be advantages to it—alerting fewer enemies, expending fewer resources—but the running and gunning style from the original game will still be there for anyone who likes to go in guns blazing.

In capturing the fear and danger of war on such an epic scale, Flashpoint deserves to be acclaimed as one of the finest PC games ever created. When you play this game, you feel like a soldier. Sometimes it's rewarding, but most of the time it's just plain terrifying. The bugs are a problem, but you can't help but feel in awe of what's been achieved here.

Q - Is the view distance set further than in H&D ?

A - The LS3D is a powerfull tool so we can afford greater view distances than in H&D1. For example in H&D1 was maximal used distance 250m but in H&D2 we have view distances over 500 m. We have also missions with lower view distances - 40 -50 m but it mostly depends on weather conditions.

Another realistic dimension to Op Flash is that you can be injured if driving or a passenger in a vehicle if another vehicle crashes into your own. Also, the A.I. in Op Flash is very well done. This is the one aspect where Op Flash is superior to Rainbow Six-Rogue Spear. If you shoot an enemy soldier, hit or miss, his squad mates will usually react in a realistic manner. They'll hit the ground, looking all around for the threat, or take off running for cover. If they see you, they will shoot you, and they are uncanny marksmen.

This game features way more enemies, weapons, nearly twice as many levels, a newer version of the Lithtech engine, and cool voice overs and sound effects. The story ties right in with the first game and we got a pretty talented voice actor to do the main character. The levels are less linear with more secret areas to investigate and you can fight alongside US Soldiers who'll help cover you through certain areas. All in all, it's a damn fun game and a sure winner in the budget range titles.

Missions need to be tackled in number of ways – guard routines need to be studied and surveillance disabled before a successful strike is launched. The buddy system allows players to specify timed attacks so sentries can be taken out simultaneously. Co-ordination between the two team-mates is vital, and players can directly switch between soldiers as they wish. Alternatively, commands can be issued to fellow soldiers with key strokes, leaving players able to concentrate on their own actions.

In the sequel we can expect true squad tactics, where you control one character and your computer-controlled apes do what you tell them to do - quickly. No fiddly 3D map, no confusing interface.

'The main difference now is that you can issue orders from the tactical map which are processed in real time,' says Tomas. 'If something goes wrong, you can change things very quickly and easily.'

TFH Gaming: What does this game offer that other 1st person shooters (such as Tribes 2 and Operation Flashpoint) don't?

Dan Cermak: Many things set Renegade apart from the other FPS games out there, and the ones scheduled to come out in the near future. Primarily, it's the deep, rich Command & Conquer universe and the unique tactical situations that this universe allows. It's also a sense that you're part of a meaningful epic war.

And if nothing else there's plenty going on - in the first minute of play we found ourselves in the midst of a GDI assault on a Nod-held base. As rockets, shells and bullets zip past, tanks lumber by and helicopter gunships soar overhead, it really does feel like you're slap-bang in the middle of a battle-torn warzone.

Question: Does anyone know if the ground is going to be "pointy" like is most other first person shooters? I am yet to see (excluding the deltaforce games) a first person shooter that has rolling hills if you get what I mean. I know the quake 3 engine is capable of doing curves but can this be adapted for the ground?

Coriolis: Our ground looks really swell; in most places it is not noticeably pointy.

elmagoo: We've created our own terrain system (check out the new article with our Director of Development - Vince where he talks about this a bit). It's not Q3 TA terrain either. But not having the ground pointy is more of a balance between esthetic choices by the LDs, and technology limitations on how we can manipulate the terrain. We try to keep it as smooth as we can to avoid the jaggies.

Full frontal assaults, stealth and subterfuge are your tactics. Sub-machine guns, assault rifles and grenades are your tools. The world is on the brink of disaster. Get ready for one of the most realistic military shooter gameplay experiences ever.