Operation Flashpoint: Red River is not Call of Duty. Hailed as a tactical, fire team based shooter that requires more thinking than trigger pulling, Red River aims to bring reality to gamers that are used to being able to get shot a dozen times and still direct a danger close air strike, all from the comfort of their own couch.  Having just returned from beautiful Helmand Province (sarcasm yes, however, it does have its moments), Afghanistan, I was naturally drawn to this game simply because it’s modeled directly off Operation Enduring Freedom (even though they say its “Tajikstan”).  Now that I’ve got a little over five hours on the books, I feel it’s the right time to spew out some initial thoughts, and hopefully address arguably the two biggest questions surrounding Codemasters’ latest shooter: Is it realistic, and is it actually fun to play?

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For the three of you out there that have somehow stumbled upon the Glitchoris, let me just state that this is the final post regarding Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.  Once you finish reading this second opinion review, we will have proverbially driven the last tetanus-infested nail into the pun-intended coffin, and laid this fucking game to rest.  By no means am I saying it sucks; in a few seconds you’ll see it’s just the opposite.  I just am sure you all are sick of seeing more posts on Lords of Shadow, and you know what, I’m kind of getting sick of writing them.  So without further adoo, on to the BLUF.

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Video games kick ass because for many, they represent an escape from reality, where one can forget about TPS Reports, Lumberg, and stupid Munday details and live the life of a Marine scout sniper, a superhero, a fat Italian plumber, or even a star NFL quarterback. Gaming often tries to break out of the virtual reality world in an attempt to make your experience as realistic as possible, while still making it fun.  Remember Flight Simulator?  Who doesn’t?  But that’s a bad example, because that game blew.  It was cool for the first thirty seconds, and then 9 out of 10 kids just tried to smash their plane into the Sears Tower; as creepy as that sounds, that’s what we all did.  And no, I’m not a terrorist – I’m just the opposite in fact.  As an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps, I decided to start a new “reality check” series on gaming, specifically the warfighting side of things, and what better to start with than something I know so much about: sniper rifles.

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