This game set itself apart in so many ways at the time, even now the experience is hard to be duplicated. Only issues I have had personally lie in various in game options when I tried maxing everything out I ran into issues. Find the right settings and you are having a blast, the games attention to detail, physics and large scale really draw you in. Don't forget to try the mission editor, great fun!

OK, the graphics are not as realistic as the more recent offerings from BI... but the Gameplay is still every bit as challenging as I remember (yes, I owned Flashpoint and its sequels when they were out 1st time round) Many happy memories (and frustrations) from a few years back now...

The missions and general gameplay require more thought than some of the modern FPS games. There are often several ways to complete, (or fail) a mission. Raid an enemy base and destroy enemy armour? you could do the Ninja strike thing with a bag full of satchel charges... or get into the base, steal a tank, use that to destroy other vehicles then drive it out to the woods for one last trip. Stick your bag full of charges under one tank and watch it go bang :-)

Don't expect to be bulletproof though, run and gun is a good way to see your corpse as your spirit seagull flies away.

It may seem a little dated for players used to uber-high-end shooters like Crysis, or perhaps the more humble hordes of CoD fans, but the recently renamed ArmA: Cold War Assault remains a must-buy classic, and for only £3 (Or X dollars/euros, I suppose)!

The focus is on tactical, squad based combat, and whilst this may initially be a little bewildering, as your commander yells a string of numbers and commands at you, you'll soon pick up the jargon and be helping 3 to engage enemy SUV at Delta Foxtrot Five Three without a second thought.

The game can sometimes try a little too hard to present you with the real "war experience", with some of the opening missions focussing on fifteen minute truck rides or uneventful patrol missions, but the actual combat is solid, and projectiles work realistically (they actually move through space; take heed, most popular FPSs) The game truly shines in some of the more intense combat, where rather than battling through winding corridors with convenient choke points and cover, you find yourself simply lying on the ground behind a shrub to present a less immediately killable target. Without a doubt the defining moment of the game happens relatively early on, when your squad is downed, and you find yourself battling behind enemy lines to reach an evacuation point. Having come to rely on your squad, and realising how easy it is to get shot up, the prospect of solo fighting against overwhelming odds is genuinely hair-raising.

Furthermore, aside from a few awkward moments, the missions are largely unscripted, so you can approach them in your own way (E.g. Nicking your mate's rocket launcher to shoot down a helicopter which seems fairly key to the storyline - enough spoilers!) It's refreshing not to be slapped on the wrist for attempting to meet challenges with innovative tactics.

As a final note, the graphics are hardly brilliant these days, and it can be hard to take the game seriously, but the underlying mechanics are still very solid, and aside from some shaky vehicle controls, and enemies with apparently telescopic vision, it easily holds up to modern standards in all but visuals.

For about the price of a pint, you get a game which will entertain, if not right the way through the campaign, then at least for a solid few days. At the price, it's almost definitely worth a try, whether you like FPS games or not.

The game that started it all: Operation: Flashpoint -- now known as Arma: Cold War Assault thanks to a trademark dispute against Codemasters, who took the name for their new offering Dragoon Rising, made by a completely different development team. If you want the game made by the original developers, this is your ticket. Make sure you know for sure that you aren't getting anything truly new with this: just the original (and arguably the best) military simulator ever to hit the store shelves. (Psst, it's also cheaper here by $1 than from a certain vaporised water service, which is charging $5.99.)

Anyone with a halfway modern gaming rig will be capable of running this smoothly and flawlessly. However, keep in mind that the system requirements posted by Gamersgate are the absolute minimum, as stated for the original release. Like most of the other games in the ARMAverse, the minimum requirements are truly minimal -- the ability to run the game at absolutely minimum draw distance, detail, and playability. You'll want to at least meet the recommended requirements as stated by the developer (which should be very easy if you've upgraded your computer any time since 2004):

Recommended Specification

-------------------------

Pentium III 1GHz CPU

128MB RAM

16 bit DirectX compatible Soundcard

DirectX 8.0 compatible 3D graphics card with 32Mb RAM

800Mb Hard Drive space (after installation)

Back when the most advanced military realism was available in games like Rainbow Six, this game blew them all out of the water when it decided to approach combat on the modern battlefield instead of just close quarters battle. This of course required an entirely new approach to battlefield rendering. While the various games that succeeded it improved the polygon counts and view distance dramatically -- both within the ARMA series as well as within completely different technology offerings like Far Cry and Crysis -- this game was still groundbreaking and revolutionary when it first came out.

And even though this is technically just a re-release, it's still groundbreaking and revolutionary in its own special way. By buying this you own a piece of military simulation history. Many people prefer this version to that of ArmA: Armed Assault, which was largely similar but also felt by many to be "largely similar" -- nothing new. Well, while this version is also still Operation: Flashpoint, it includes the original Cold War Crisis plus the Resistance campaign all for a tidy $5. Again, because of the aforementioned conflicts with Codemasters, the Red Hammer expansion is curiously absent, but don't let that stop you from picking up the game that launched the series.

Just don't complain about the three-round burst on the AKM. ;-)

In all fairness, it's worthwhile to mention the Cold War Rearmed mods. They're nowhere near finished yet and based on the going rate they probably won't be done before ARMA 3 comes out... but if they ever get done, you'll get the best of both worlds -- the Cold War Crisis campaign in a fully modern engine. You don't even need Cold War Assault in that case, but I figure it's worth a buy anyway. On sale, if $5 hurts your sensibilities. Now, otherwise.