A disturbing trend in the business of porting military theme PC games to consoles is the developers need to dumb-down the product in order to reach the so-called target console audience. Bohemia Interactive Studio courageously breaks from this mould and brings to the Xbox the console's first serious military simulator. The award winning Operation Flashpoint first appeared on PC in 2001 and offered gamers the most realistic simulation of military combat ever seen in a computer game. In fact it was so impressive, a slightly modified version of the software was adopted by the US Marine Corps and Australian Army for soldier training and war gaming purposes. Three years in development, Operation Flashpoint: Elite has arrived on Xbox without compromise. Every feature, every complex ballistic calculation, every campaign and every mission ever designed for the series has been ported to the console, optimised and improved for the Xbox hardware. The final result is an enormous game spanning two huge campaigns, 15 stand-alone missions, instant action mode, full Xbox Live and System-Link multiplayer options and a mission editor.

The main single player component of Operation Flashpoint: Elite are the two lengthy campaigns. The first campaign is Cold War Crisis which acts as a great tutorial for learning everything the game has to offer. Set in 1985, a renegade Soviet General by the name of Ivan Vasilii Guba, decides to invades the island of Everon in the fictitious Malden Island group as a protest to the controversial political reforms of the new Russian President, Mikhail Gorbachev. This Island group is made up of the Soviet outpost Kolguyev, the peaceful independent republic of Everon and the neighbouring independent state of Malden which contains an important NATO strategic base.

During this campaign the player assumes the identity of four distinct NATO soldiers, an infantryman, a Special Forces operative, a tank commander and a pilot. Switching between these characters the player is presented with a diverse and challenging selection of missions. Most of the missions in the first half of the campaign can be completed in less than 10 minutes however, due to their open-ended nature and the four difficultly levels they have considerable replay value.

All missions can be attempted in many different ways and many require the use of common sense to work out the best way to go about completing objectives. For example, when searching for a new Soviet forward base, following a convoy of support vehicles would be a logical course of action. Each mission contains a simple briefing with map markings highlighting points of interest and another screen allows the player to select a weapon load-out for their character and the other members of their squad.

The second campaign (unlocked after 50% of Cold War Crisis is completed) is very different from the first and is set several years prior to the events of Cold War Crisis. Entitled Resistance, this campaign places the player in control of Victor Troska an ex Special Forces soldier who has hung-up his guns and retired to the island of Nogova (situated near the Malden Island group) in order to live the peaceful life. Unfortunately for Victor, this peace is rudely interrupted when General Guba invades and takes control of the island. In a far more cinematic and initially slow paced campaign (with no tutorial missions ' that's what Cold War Crisis is for), Victor must make a choice to either accept Soviet rule or join the struggling resistance to fight for the freedom of his homeland. In a brilliant twist, you'll have to make a few moral choices of your own along the way, which really enhances the story.

Resistance varies from Cold War Crisis in a number of important ways. Firstly you only ever play as the one character, there is no switching between specialists here. Secondly, the resistance does not have the resources of the US Army and instead have to rely on stealing weapons, ammunition and vehicles. At any point during missions you have the option to collect weapons and ammunition off fallen enemy soldiers. These weapons are then made available to the player and other resistance fighters in missions to follow. But don't worry if you fail to collect any weapons or steal any vehicles because other groups of resistance fighters will still contribute to the cause, but if you do capture a lot of hardware you will have much more available to you than if you don't.

It is important to make the distinction between Operation Flashpoint: Elite being a 'Military Simulator' and not a traditional First Person / Third Person Shooter (FPS/TPS). Attempting to play Operation Flashpoint: Elite as you would Halo 2 for instance will result in certain failure as 'run-and-gun' tactics just don't work. As an accurate simulation of military combat, you have to play Operation Flashpoint: Elite as if your own arse was on the line. When the rounds start flying you must get down low and get behind cover or you will soon find yourself dead. You can not survive many bullet or shrapnel wounds and on the harder difficulty levels, dying after only one shot is common'as in real life.

The realism of Operation Flashpoint: Elite goes much further than not being able to withstand a 7.62 mm round to the head. There are many little touches that the 'average' gamer may very well notice but not necessarily appreciate the significance. By far the biggest and most obvious touch of realism is the inclusion of peripheral vision indicators.

For example, any friendly soldier or vehicle that is outside of your vision will show up as a green dot on the left or right edge of the screen. The darker the dot, the closer the soldier or vehicle is to the player and likewise, the higher or lower the dot is from centre the more forward or behind the player they are. Enemies and unknowns receive the same treatment although they are represented by red and white dots respectively. Obviously this isn't true-to-life, but neither is perspective given by your TV screen, so this does a stellar job of evening the odds. This revolutionary feature was not seen in the PC version of Operation Flashpoint and significantly enhances the player's situational awareness. Combine this with the subtle formation way-point indicator and knowing where your commander wants you is intuitively easy. I can not rave about this one feature enough as I believe it to be the single most revolutionary feature in a FPS since the genre entered the third dimension.

The visuals of Operation Flashpoint: Elite are sure to be the games biggest point of contention across the gamut of game review sources. It's a port of a four year old game and I will be the first to admit it does not look anywhere near as pretty as recent titles such as Far Cry: Instincts or Halo 2. Traditional FPS have very linear and confined environments or maps, which keeps players on track in terms of narrative, and ensures the graphics do more with less. Operation Flashpoint: Elite on the other hand takes a completely different approach. Instead of linear levels, the action in Operation Flashpoint: Elite takes place on and over four massive 100km2 environments that are as natural and alive as possible- weather changes over time and there's even insects! These environments can be traversed on foot or in a multitude of land sea and air vehicles all with seamless transitions between different forms of transport.

Not only that, but once the map is loaded you will not see another loading screen until the mission ends. And even then they are so short you will not have enough time to read the on-screen tips as you wait! The level of optimisation is a fitting tribute to three years development time well spent. The graphics have certainly been improved from the original and quite a few Xbox only graphical touches have been added to the mix such as Depth of Field (variable camera focus effects) and High Dynamic Range Lighting (a more realistic method of simulating light sources in games). On a clear day, the visual distance is enormous and easily accommodates the range of even the most far reaching weapons. The frame rate is stable but don't expect it to rise above 30 fps and when flying in one of the games many aircraft it is clear that the Xbox is being pushed to the limit of its capabilities as the frame rate can become a little jerky.

Lighting effects in Operation Flashpoint: Elite are particularly effective. Thanks to the realistic lighting, terrain features and targets are silhouetted against the sky when positioned with the sun at their back, making it easier to spot targets along the horizon but more difficult to distinguish friend from foe. Just like the real-world, this effect can have a real impact on your ability to acquire targets and win a fire fight as the enemy may disappear in a dark patch of terrain while they can see you clearly. Real time lighting effects and multiple light sources illuminate the environment during night time fire fights and vehicles and aircraft have lights that realistically illuminate the terrain to create some surprisingly intense situations. On a number of occasions I noticed my heartbeat increase when crawling in or out of an enemy controlled area as a stealthy Commando and seeing the headlight of a jeep approaching.

The controls in Operation Flashpoint: Elite are exceptionally well thought out. Being a huge fan of the genre and having played most games it has to offer, in my opinion Operation Flashpoint: Elite has the best most intuitive use of the Xbox controller in a FPS to date. The aiming system is also very tight, it is not too hard to shoot targets at distance and doesn't take very long to line them up either. The iron sight view is very easy to use and a slight pull of the Right Trigger steadies your aim (if you have got the time). There is an auto-aim adjustment (dependent on difficulty level) but unlike some games I didn't feel like the game was aiming for me. No ludicrous shot adjustments, just smart compensation for lower resolution and touchy Thumbsticks.

In places Operation Flashpoint: Elite allows the player to take control of up to 12 soldiers. The order system is very well designed and is initiated with a right tap of the D-Pad, and you move the selection up and down to select who to issue the order to. Players can assign up to five different colours to members of their squad in order to separate large squads into smaller groups, which is particularly useful when squads are spread over multiple vehicles. Once selected, you'll make a choice from the next column which contains broad command headings affecting movement and status. There's also a sub-menu to refine these orders if necessary.

Additionally, Operation Flashpoint: Elite sports context sensitive orders that can negate the amount of time you spend in menus. For instance, selecting all your soldiers, aiming at a point on the ground and then pulling the Right Trigger will order all soldiers to move to that point. Likewise, training your sights on a known enemy will cause your squad to attack that enemy. This means that with practice, you can issue complex orders very quickly. I would say it is even more effective and intuitive than the radial system common to the Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon games on Xbox.

The sound track of Operation Flashpoint: Elite is as accurate and realistic as the rest of the game. Each of the weapons have authentic resonating firing sounds and those familiar with the distinctive sounds the helicopters modelled in the game make will be able to recognise what airframe is approaching well before they see it. The voice acting is good, especially in the Resistance campaign and the Russians as you would expect, speak in Russian. Vehicles cause your controller to shake, and the sheer volume of radio chatter during battle can be overwhelming. The music is a mix of moody strings, minimalist tones and bad rock'n'roll. Fortunately it is not too intrusive and is mainly used for menu screens and cut scenes but a more substantial music mix would have been nice.

The Artificial Intelligence (A.I) in Operation Flashpoint: Elite is quite impressive. Your soldiers behave intelligently and take cover when required or ordered. Most armoured vehicles require a crew of at least two but thankfully the AI controlled soldiers can perform all automotive tasks. You can choose to be the Gunner of a tank and issue movement orders to a squadmate, or take control yourself and let the A.I Gunner automatically engage targets if he's able. Any other soldiers in your squad can be ordered to crew vehicles on their own and will follow in formation or move to set locations. Despite this, controlling groups of armoured vehicles is probably the weakest part of the game's control system, but with practice you should get the hang of it. A few annoying issues persist however, such as not being able to steer with the Left Thumbstick when the order menu is active and the occasional moment when one or more of your squad will dismount for no apparent reason other than a preference to travel on foot.

Enemy soldiers are pretty smart too, and will seek effective cover from fire and if you become fixed in place will attempt to flank your position. Firing at enemy troop formations will cause them to take cover and counter attack, sniping drivers can cause vehicles to crash or at the least veer off course and any troops riding in the back to get out and deploy. Friendly and enemy soldiers alike can enter almost any building and it is not uncommon to see AI controlled soldiers seeking a firing position from a window on the higher floors of those with multiple storeys. Separated soldiers may run for their lives and attempt to contact reinforcements and medics will automatically heal any wounded around them. At no stage did I see anyone stuck on geometry or doing anything silly such as rotating on the spot as I have seen in similar titles, though every so often the AI does charge recklessly into enemy fire.

To round off a superb single player experience, Operation Flashpoint: Elite also includes a cut down version of the original game's mission editor. In order to be more console-friendly, the mission editor has been significantly'er, edited. Functions such as inserting and moving units around a map and setting waypoints is easy enough to achieve and setting up a mission based on the editor's three template game modes is very simple. Unfortunately, this same simplicity is also the editor's main handicap.

It feels like too many of the really powerful functions have been removed from the editor to make it more accessible; for example you cannot change the text of mission briefings from the templates provided or use event triggers to mix things up, and there are other minor features missing. In all honestly, most players won't really miss them, but if you're at all serious about creating the perfect mission, you'll have to work within the limitations of the editor and probably waste a lot of time trying to do so. It definitely extends the lifespan of the game, but it feels that the editor has been roughly chopped-down for the xbox rather than lovingly optimised like the rest of the game.

Now for something a bit different. At XBW we've toyed with the idea of revisiting released games to see how they've been holding up online, or doing seperate multiplayer reviews for key games. We've been having so much fun with Operation Flashpoint that it would be a crime to see it overlooked.

Without further ado, here are our thoughts after a few weeks of getting stuck into the online multiplayer side of Operation Flashpoint Elite.

Many a 'mature' (in the 'attitude' sense of the word) gamer is leaving Xbox Live or at least their favourite games on Live because of a rampant influx in brain-dead mutants and/or kids with voices so high pitched they are approaching being only audible to dogs. These 'immature' gamers are ruining games for the rest of us. It is becoming harder and harder to find a fun and sensible game in our favourite online titles such as Halo 2 and Project Gotham Racing 2. I fully expected Operation Flashpoint: Elite to be all but void of this annoying segment of Xbox Live society as the so often referred to 'poor graphics' and 'relentless realism' would no doubt turn them away in droves. Alas, I was wrong as Operation Flashpoint: Elite is also populated by its own brand of game wrecking morons. Team-killing chipmunk-speaking retards aside, once you do develop a good stable of friends, Operations Flashpoint: Elite delivers an online experience that is as unique as it is sublime.

The most important aspect of any Xbox Live enabled game is a robust and well-designed online framework. Bohemia Interactive Studio have done their homework implementing features that work on consoles and drawing from their significant online PC pedigree to produce a very sturdy and functional online interface. This framework is not faultless but is nevertheless one of the better systems developed for Xbox Live. Theoretically, with a dedicated host on a 2Mbit connection, multiplayer games of up to 64 players are quite possible. On a 'standard' high-speed connection (512Kb upload) a non-dedicated host can quite easily sustain a fully functional game with 14 players. The system does a good job of managing varying quality connections and will let anyone know if their connection is affecting the quality of gameplay (via text prompts and on-screen icons) and if it gets too severe will boot them from the game altogether. Lag will occur at times but generally the frame rate will stick to a full 30fps for the majority of sessions. Of course, performance will improve when using 'local' or 'dedicated' hosts on faster connections.

Hosts can choose the game type, mission, difficulty, number of players, sides, soldier classes, and time and score limits. All multiplayer games have a maximum number of players (dependent on the host's connection) although the host can lower this figure and even restrict free slots to be only available to friends. All multiplayer games can be played with or without AI controlled characters or 'Bots' who either work with or against human players. Generally, these Bots are relatively smart and behave sensibly in most game types (with the occasional cry-out-loud act of stupidity). Once a game is created, players enter a pre-game lobby where team sides and character classes can be selected. Finally, once all gamers are ready, maps, briefings and equipment select screens are reviewed before beginning the mission.

One addition that is unique to Operation Flashpoint: Elite is what occurs when your character dies in a multiplayer game. Depending on the particular game's settings, once you run out of respawns or AI soldiers to assume control of (you can get around this by aborting the mission and restarting immediately after dying to gain a 'free' respawn'). When dead, players become spectators until all human players are killed or the mission ends. An interesting twist on the invisible floating camera spectator common to most FPS is Operation Flashpoint: Elite's use of spectator birds. When no longer in the game, players assume control of a Pigeon (I think it's actually a Seagull). This 'Recon Pigeon' actually handles like a real bird and can hover, climb, dive, glide and land anywhere in the map as the battle rages on around them. However cool this novelty may seem there is one blatant oversight by the game developers'The Pigeons can talk! In most games, spectators can not communicate with the gamers still playing but in Operation Flashpoint: Elite this is not the case. As you can no doubt imagine, once someone on a team dies they can immediately start feeding their comrades with intelligence from their'ahem, 'birds-eye-view'. This is obviously unfair and gamers should not have to worry if the circling bird overhead is an enemy spy giving away their position or just a bird. Unfortunately, as much as I tried I could not shoot one of these enemy Recon Pigeons down.

However streamlined (read limited and dumbed-down) the Operation Flashpoint: Elite mission editor may be, it does provide the tools to create some entertaining multiplayer missions and there is certainly no shortage of home-made missions to be found on Xbox Live. In order for a group of gamers to be able to play a home-made mission the host must have the mission loaded on their Xbox. When players connect to the Host's Xbox the game data for that mission is distributed to the other Xboxes over Xbox Live. Unfortunately there is no facility to swap missions over Xbox Live so that person with the awesome mission will always have to be host. (If you own a USB Xbox memory device you may be able to get around this after a bit of searching the net for instructions).

Xbox Live gameplay options are varied with eight different game modes:

My Missions ' This option allows the host to use missions that he/she has created in the mission editor. Great for extending the game's lasting appeal online and a favourite with 'hard-core' fans.

Death Match ' Similar to most other FPS, Death Match games in Operation Flashpoint: Elite are either all-against-all or team-based. Death Match is perhaps the weakest multiplayer mode in Operation Flashpoint: Elite due to the game's realism over arcade action. The 'camper' in Operation Flashpoint: Elite is all too powerful and the Bots are woefully inadequate in this particular game mode. A player lying prone in a bush with a sniper rifle can dominate a Death Match game and games can quickly turn into boring cat-and-mouse affairs. Bots seem lost when faced with the Death Match style of gameplay as without defined objectives and targets they tend to stand around a lot and are generally stupid. Bodies do stay where they fall within the map however, so after some time the map can become disturbingly littered with corpses. There are 12 different Death Match scenarios to choose from.

Capture the Flag ' This is a standard Capture the Flag affair where the objective is to capture your opponent's flag and return it to your home base. There are nine different scenarios each containing two opposing bases with their own flag close by. Some points to note are that a player can steal an opponent's flag and still pilot any of the games vehicles and aircraft, meaning one-man fast vehicle captures are common. Other common Capture the Flag variables can also not be altered, such as if it is possible to capture an opponent's flag if your own is not at your home base. Some games allow for these options to be toggled on and off but there is no facility to do so in Operation Flashpoint: Elite.

Flag Fight ' This is a mix of Capture the Flag and Death Match. There are no teams and the aim of the game is to finish the game with the most points. Killing an opponent will increase your score by one point but if you manage to steal a flag you are awarded up to an extra 10 points depending on which scenario you play. There are eight Flag Fight scenarios to choose from.

Cooperative Mission ' This gameplay mode is a favourite of mine and pits a mixture of AI and human players against an AI controlled enemy force. The AI does a much better job of offering a challenge to the players in this mode and the overall experience is very enjoyable with the right group of friends. The missions have a set of objectives to complete and the variety of mission types should provide plenty of gameplay opportunities no matter what your favourite style of play. There are 11 cooperative missions to choose from.

Team Mission ' This mode is similar to Cooperative Mission however players choose a side and play against each other. Each side has its own unique set of mission objectives that are contrary to that of the opposing team. One Team Mission that is a little out of the ordinary is called 'Camel Dogfight'. In this mission players assume control of WW1 vintage Sopwith Camels and dual it out in the skies as if the game was a flight sim. This is a good example of the versatility of the Operation Flashpoint: Elite game engine however, the fixed-wing aircraft controls are a little awkward (Remember you can connect a flight stick if that helps). There are a total of six team missions on offer.

Sector Control ' The aim of this game type is for each team to hold a number of set locations for the longest time period. Constantly switching between offence and defence creates a varied and exciting experience however some well placed (and concealed) stand-off units can achieve a commanding advantage over some to the sectors found in the four available maps.

Hold Location ' This mode is one of the best available in Operation Flashpoint: Elite. A base with one or more flagpoles is located near the defending side with the objective being to either defend your flag or raise your opposing force flag in the defenders base. Once ownership of the flagpole is established a counter will measure the time a particular team has held the location and when the desired limit is reached, the game is over. Some of the seven available maps are quite large and one in particular provides one side with a significant supply of aircraft and the other with an equally large supply of ground vehicles. The ensuing carnage can be at times quite spectacular and makes for some very memorable online moments.

System Link ' The options available for System Link are exactly the same as Xbox Live with up to 14 Xboxes being able to be linked together on a Local Area Network. There is no support for split-screen play and in all honesty it wouldn't work due to the games resolution requirements in order for players to see those long-range targets.

Vehicular combat certainly comes into its own on Xbox Live with Operation Flashpoint: Elite. Many scenarios contain scores of vehicles to choose from. All of the above game modes get even better as players ferry their mates into battle zones via Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters, launch stand-off missiles from afar in Apache and Cobra gunships or recon targets in Kiowa helicopter for other players to bomb in A-10 Thunderbolts. But you are not limited to aircraft as all manner of vehicles roll across the undulating terrain including Tanks APCs and mobile Anti-Aircraft guns with a few quirky but sometimes useful vehicles such as the motorbike. The required team-work and cooperation between players will either frustrate or produce one of the most truly enjoyable and rewarding online experience available. The scale of these battles can be insane at times and I was amazed that the game engine was robust enough to keep up with so much action on-screen. There is no other game on any console that offers the same scale and diverse mixture of vehicular and on-foot combat that Operation Flashpoint: Elite does.

The only thing really missing from the Xbox Live options of Operation Flashpoint: Elite is support for Clans. Clans were a big driving force in the PC version of the game but their omission on Xbox won't stop anyone from playing and enjoying the game.