Reviewed: March 11, 2008
Reviewed by: Jeremy Ewing
Publisher
Eidos Interactive
Developer
Pivotal Games
Released: February 12, 2008
Genre: FPS
Players: 4
6
5
7
5
5.3
Supported Features:
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
The “Conflict” series is one of my own personal guilty pleasures, so I was quite excited to get my hands on the newest installment, Conflict Denied Ops. As usual Eidos equipped Denied Ops with two player split-screen co-op to entice fans of the past titles into jumping into the newest adventure.
What daunting task of world safety do we tackle, you may ask? Well similarly to most first-person war shooters, you are placed in the path of terrorism. Venezuela’s new government is in possession of a large atomic bomb and is threatening to use it. The United States government decides that it is a job for two men, Graves (a sniper) and Lang (heavy-weapons). The only drawback… if you get caught, they promise to “forget” having any involvement. (That’s sure sweet of them, huh?)
There are two major modes of game play, single player or co-op. In single player, you control your two man squad and can switch freely between the characters. Again, each character has a designated weapons-set, so it is crucial that you learn which character to utilize in specific situations. (For example, Graves would not be the most intelligent choice in a hallway swarming with enemies.) As you progress through the levels, each character will unlock upgrades that will help with the following missions.
In co-op mode, two players work together through the missions, each controlling one character or the other. Co-op calls for good communication between the players due to the difference in weaponry. Denied Ops requires a lot of teamwork in order to achieve success.
Conflict does offer some more multiplayer options including online play. Co-operative mode can be accessed via the Playstation network, or players can compete in online death matches. Co-operative mode works the same over the Playstation network as it does split-screen on one console, and the death match modes are similar to most first person shooters. Four to sixteen players compete until one player achieves a specified number of kills in order to decide the winner.
Denied Ops also offers a “conquest” mode. This is a “capture the flag” type game in which two teams of players compete in trying to capture territories and hold them from their opposition. Flags captures can score points or the amount of time each flag is held can be added to determine the winner.
One of the most difficult aspects of Denied Ops was the abundances of enemy vehicles. It seemed that almost every level included a tank, helicopter, or some other vehicle that required your attention. Thankfully, there were also a few missions in which the player was capable of taking control over a few vehicles themselves. Tanks and hovercrafts were fairly easy to control and offered a gunner seat for your partner in co-op mode.
Conflict Denied Ops offered an immense amount of destructible objects in each environment. From blowing through a table to uncover a hidden foe, to shooting sniping holes through a wall to pick off some bad guys, there were plenty of things for you to shoot at. The use of such items in each level made the game feel a bit more realistic. Enemies would use cover, but it wasn’t impossible to blow their cover and take them down.
Conflict Denied Ops graphics can be categorized on two distinct different levels. First off, there were the cinematic portions of the game. These cut-scene videos looked gorgeous and ran ultra-smooth. After watching the opening sequences I was holding high hopes for the game play. The environments and character models during the storyline videos were impeccable and absolutely showed off the capability that the game possessed in its top HD capacity.
Sadly the graphical features of Conflict Denied Ops during game play left much to be desired. Somehow, even in HD, Conflict did not deliver knockout visuals. I was expecting vibrant environments and smooth character models, but the actual presentation was far less than I had hoped. There were strong points, such as the lighting effects, but the majority of the game looked very poor in comparison to the majority of the Playstation 3 titles on the market. The characters were poorly rendered and the environments looked just slightly better than its PS2 predecessors.
Fortunately for Eidos, it should be quite easy to improve upon Denied Ops in the graphics department. If the game play looked more like the cinematic portions of Conflict, I would have had no complaints. In the defense of the development team, I do understand that it is quite difficult to match cinematic quality during game play due to the massive amount of other code involved, but I do think that there is another step that could be taken with the graphics overall.
The sound in Conflict was much improved from previous games in the series. The voices used were much better and the explosions and gunfire sounded superb in surround sound. Nothing sounds better than firing off a few rockets or a few hundred rounds from a machine gun turret, but Denied Ops really came to play. I must say that sound of enemies from behind or at the side of your character were well placed and made for a very realistic feel to the environment. The sounds produced by the vehicles were quite well done as well. I can’t say much more than that Conflict Denied Ops delivered top notch sound. It doesn’t get much better.
Most first person shooters offer a bland sound experience that grows repetitive within the first few minutes, but Conflict was a step above the competition. The game really delivers top notch sound.
The $49.99 price tag on Conflict is probably a little more than I would spend at this point. The game offers approximately ten levels that could be about fifteen hours of game play. Obviously, playing through again on co-op mode and partaking in some multiplayer mayhem will increase play time, but even the $10 deduction from the standard PS3 software price isn’t quite enough for me to recommend you rush out to buy yourself a copy. Personally, when the game drops another ten to twenty dollars, I think its sales should increase drastically.
Although there are several other modes of play, the single player mode is probably not good enough to play through more than once. Even the co-op mode may be hard pressed to entice players to complete it again after the first time. Thankfully, the multiplayer modes are enjoyable and can add some longevity to the life of the game.
Conflict Denied Ops offered some highs and some lows in my experience. Overall, it is far from the best of the PS3, but it is also far from the worst. Denied Ops is a solid game that offers solid game play value, but will probably get lost somewhere in the middle of pack.
Co-operative game play is a personal favorite of mine, and I wish that it was used more in games. Due to this feature alone in Denied Ops, I can say that I did enjoy my time with the game, but at the same time there were some definite improvements that could and should be made if there is a follow-up.
As for my advice on purchasing the game, I would say to wait a month or so and then try to find a copy. If you can’t wait, check your local used game store and save yourself a few bucks. The game is fun, but it doesn’t quite live up to the $50 price tag that a new copy will cost you. If you are in to renting, you may have to rent it for a week or two, but it is worth playing, especially if you have a buddy to team up with.