Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising

The original Operation Flashpoint often gets paired with the phrase "military simulator," so that you're completely aware it's the kind of game where a single bullet can kill you, bullet trajectory actually drops over long distances, and switching between carrying an assault rifle to an anti-tank rocket takes considerable time. Operation Flashpoint simply prided itself on being a hardcore simulation of infantry combat. So any follow-up, such as the newOperation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising, has quite a legacy. Except, there's the whole drama of how Flashpoint's actual developers (Bohemia Interactive) went and made new Flashpoint-esque games under a different publisher without the official name (ArmA and ArmA 2). Flashpoint 2 isn't a Bohemia Interactive production; it comes from an internal Codemasters studio that tries its damnedest to create a worthy follow-up. What we have is close, but as I keep playing, I realize that "military sim" isn't quite accurate in this case; a better descriptor for Flashpoint 2 would be "'war is hell' sim" -- a game where more of the negative/hellish aspects of combat are emphasized.

Red mist, purple heart.

Is happiness a warm gun?