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).