There once was a game called Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis for the PC that becomes something of a fan favorite for those who seriously enjoy the military shooters that, much like the Tom Clancy-inspired Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six games, offer realistic scenarios. It was a good game so when I heard it was coming for the Xbox it was good news indeed. Having been delayed for a long while, Operation Flashpoint: Elite is finally here and it even has online multiplayer … among a few other regrettable features.

Taking place in the early 1980s during the most volatile period of the Cold War, President Reagan and newly appointed leader of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev are determined to put an end to years of mistrust and finally see some peace. Unfortunately there’s a resistance movement lead by a man named Victor Troska who sees these talks as the beginning of the downfall of the Soviet Union and will stop at nothing to restore it to power. Aiding the resistance movement is a hardened Communist General whose methods and followers become a threat. This is where the NATO Task Force comes in and as we assume the role of four Special Forces members

The game’s main campaign mode starts us off as infantry soldier David Armstrong who takes us through a brief training exercise and finally entering enemy territory to take the town of Regina overrun by the enemy. You’ll later take on the role of an operative named James Gastovski, a tank commander named Robert Hammer and a helicopter pilot named Sam Nichols. As you can see from each character’s specialty you’ll be piloting a helicopter as well as drive different vehicles from a truck to a tank. For the most part, though, you’ll be doing grunt work and that’s were the game’s shooting elements come into play whether you’re gunning down enemies with assault rifles or even sniper weapons.

Operation Flashpoint: Elite boasts a large number of missions and it delivers just that. Aside from the PC Cold War Crisis campaign missions you’ll also unlock a set of prequel missions known as the Resistance campaign. In one mission you’ll be taking on a specific target using a sniper rifle while another has you taking out an enemy convoy before it reaches its destination. The mission variety is one of the game’s best features and it shows off just a little of how good this game could have been but it hits a snag that takes the form of the game’s controls and an assortment of other annoying flaws.

First, though, I’ll get into the game’s good qualities. When you shoot an enemy from the distance or nearby, his friends won’t just stand around and wait their own deaths. They’ll drop and try to find where that shot came from while others might scatter and find cover. When they fire back they really fire back, hardly missing in the process. Thankfully, you’ll often be backed up by your comrades that can fire clean shots as well but when you’re alone be prepared to die a lot. You’ll sometimes die not having seen your killer and sometimes an explosion might go off making you wonder if somebody chucked a grenade or fired a rocket at you.

The bad news is that the controls are awful. You have the choice to play the game as a first-person shooter, leading to one of the most awkward FPS movements and aiming seen in a shooter in a long time but you can also play the game in third-person view. As a third-person shooter the game flows a bit better but not by very much since your character looks like he‘s got serious back problems. Once you see your character hustle up a hill you’ll know what I mean. The worst part is that even driving vehicles like jeeps or piloting helicopters. The driving aspect of the game is handled so badly that it feels like you’re driving a clunky boat and keeping a helicopter from slamming into the ground will make you wish you can skip these missions altogether.

All these things add up to a game that will frustrate rather than satisfy the average and veteran shooter fan. That’s too bad really because the game offers a mission editor tool that allows you to pick a mission scenario and reposition insertion points on the map. There are three basic game types like Target (where you eliminate a main target); Basic (reach a certain destination point) and Defender (defend your base until all enemies are dead). You can even share your created missions online when you play against others. There’s Xbox Live support and the game flows decently enough but you’ll spend most of the time hearing complaints about the game’s poor controls.

Another major letdown comes in the form of the game’s extremely ugly graphics. Really this one does not resemble an Xbox game and the worst part is that the game’s character movements will make you laugh. The environments try to portray the areas terrain realistically enough but it does so without adding any real detail. The same can be said of the character models, especially when it comes to the faces.

The game’s soundtrack, on the other hand, isn’t bad and it’s joined by some rock tunes that might seem out of place during some missions but they’re still good tunes. Then we come to the game’s voice acting and you’ll want to mute it completely. It’s not only performed amateurishly but during missions the radio communications make them sound robotic. The sound effects don’t make much of an impact either.

Operation Flashpoint: Elite had all the makings of a solid action title much like its PC original but it is so completely held back by its troublesome defects that even fans of the genre won’t have much fun with it. The majority of the shooting elements just feels so awkward and even with its impressive amount of missions to complete most gamers won’t have the patience to see them through to the end. Do yourself the favor and buy the farm more superior Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis for the PC instead.

Gameplay: 5.0
Running in first-person and third-person view just feels so clumsy that it’s no wonder you’ll get killed very often during the game’s ample missions. The fact that you’ll even get killed by unseen enemies will frustrate. Even operating vehicles will prove to be a real pain. As for the game’s shooting bits, the action goes from Ok to unrealistically awful.

Graphics: 5.0
Really one of the most atrocious-looking Xbox games to come along in a long time. The environments lack real detail and the character models look very unnatural even when they’re running. There aren’t many death animations and explosions aren’t spectacular. In short, this doesn’t look like an Xbox game at all.

Sound: 6.0
The game’s soundtrack ranges from the militaristic marches found in most military shooters but it’s also mixed in with some solid rock tunes. The voice acting, on the other hand, is awful and they sound slightly robotic during missions. There are sound effects but they, much like the graphics, aren’t impressive or well-detailed.

Difficulty: Hard
Operation Flashpoint: Elite is a hard game but not in the boy-these-missions-are-wonderfully-challenging sort of way. You’ll be spending most of the game struggling with the really awkward controls and the fact that you can miss an enemy at point blank range won’t help matters either. Worse yet you’ll be driving or piloting some really bulky vehicles.

Concept: 6.5
There’s a lot to offer in terms of campaign missions and you can even edit your own missions for single-player or multiplayer use. Xbox Live offers plenty of bang and it’s a pretty smooth ride to boot. Unfortunately if you think this game is right up there with the PC version you will be very disappointed.

Multiplayer: 7.0
Xbox Live support adds a nice number of online missions (up to 50) and you can always edit missions and insert you own set of rules for some really interesting matches. The game also supports System Link for up to 14 players on screen so you’ll definitely want to play this one online.

Overall: 6.0
It’s unfortunate to see such a great PC military shooter turn out completely flawed in design. Operation Flashpoint: Elite doesn’t rise above its various imperfects nor will it satisfy even the most hardcore shooter fans looking for a good shooter fix. Put simply: If you’re unfamiliar with the series by the PC version but if you’re a fan then I suggest you rent this one first … or stay away from it completely.