[OFP] Operation Firelord by Devilchaser

Review by PiNs_Da_Smoka

Overview

Ok, the Overview was nice and thorough, nothing too special. It gave you a good explanation of what was going on and such.

Intro

Let's start with the Intro. Now, I'm going to combine the main intro with the one after the briefing. This was simply great and very impressive. And by far, the longest damn intro I've ever seen. This was no ordinary intro. It really put you into the character you played, Daniel Chase. The first intro part you come to isn't very long, but still as good. It gave you an idea of what you were going to be fighting later. Some great shots and effects of the "Firelords" in action. It was a little creepy watching these guys in action. After one takes down the chopper, he gets this evil grin on his face, and it actually makes you fear them (Yes, I know it's a game).

Now, the cutscene after the briefing. This is where it gets long. But don't take that as it being boring, in fact, it's quite the opposite. It starts with you being taken to your drop-off point and meeting your contacts. Once there, this is where you start to get engulfed in the story. The dialogue is so thorough and perfected it makes you wanna rip your hair out. And not to mention, it all has custom voices, what a task that must have been. The guys you meet tell you about the situation you have been brought into. All the top secret mumbo-jumbo confuses your character a little, and he has good reason. One of the best parts is when they show you a videotape of the "Firelords" in action. The camera work in this part is excellent. It's the small things that get you. I mean, seeing the "Firelords" blow up vehicles and levitate them is pretty damned impressive. But the shaking camera while running is what indirectly catches your eye, it is VERY realistic. Like I said before, this intro is very long, and would take forever to tell you everything. This is just something you have to see for yourself if you don't already know.

Briefing

The Briefing was great. This was the first briefing I have seen with so many sub-menus (or whatever you want to call them). It gave you the full story of the mission, down to the T. It gave you background information on your charcter. It gave you an itinerary of your schedule as if in real life. There are very few briefings I have seen that were so complete. It may sound stupid to praise a briefing, but this was so complete, and thorough, it's hard not to.

Mission

This is where it gets even more interesting. After witnessing the breakdown of the "Firelords", you flee for your life to the nearest base. Once there you meet a man, and tell him of the problem. He advises that there will be a ship arriving to evacuate the island soon. But, before that happens, you must take out the "Firelords". You are supplied with a radio tracker that detects the Firelords, who have an implant in them used for tracking. This script is simply great, beeping louder when you get closer to them, so you have a bit of warning before facing them, words don't do it justice.

Now keep in mind, this mission doesn't take place in one little town, it takes place on the WHOLE island! Thank god for the tracking device, because this would be a very hard and tedious task. Devilchaser made sure that you wouldn't just be running around an island of emptiness until you ran into a "Firelord". He placed bases, hints and secret places all over. One of the funner things is when you search a base, and come across a hint and get a little cutscene revealing a hidden outpost or something (This is only in the updated version, which is found here). I really can't explain too much more of this without giving away all the hidden things. So, I'll leave that up to you to find out.

Let's take a quick look at fighting the actual "Firelords". I told you about how they blow up vehicles by looking at them, and can also levitate them. Well, when fighting them, they will do the same to you. Although, some of these little tricks are almost common knowledge to most scripters, when this first came out, it was simply amazing, and still is. When the tracking device starts beeping louder and louder, you know they are close, you start to feel nervous. You see no sign of it yet, except that tracker keeps getting louder. Then, all of a sudden, you are walking along, and are suddenly thrown back 50 meters to your death. Hope you saved :-)

Outro(s)

The original versions were lacking an outro. In this version, he has included an Outro-Win, and an Outro-Lose. Both, are equally as powerful. I won't go into detail, I will let you find out for yourselves exactly how they are. But personally, I LOVE the Outro-Win. It isn't long at all, in fact, it is quite short. But it is very powerful, and you can actually feel how your character must feel after all this.

Overall

(Review Date: Apr 2002) Well, like I said, I spared you a normal, thorough review. If I gave you one, you would be reading pages and pages of writing. And after all, if you don't know Operation Firelord yet, you must be living under a rock. This mission, is simply great. If you haven't played it yet, get it NOW. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. I wouldn't say it's the best mission ever, as many have, but I would say it has to be, so far, THE most innovative mission ever. Once again, if you haven't played this mission, go get it.

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Mission now updated to 1.1.
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Changes include:
1. Better Firelord AI and positioning, less hangups
2. More cutscenes in-game
3. Better helicopter landing script
4. Custom music
5. More challenging mission goals
6. Time limit
7. Win and lose outro