Operation Flashpoint

Operation Flashpoint 3 was one of the more recently announced titles. It's set in the near future, where an Iranian state was caught in a long war with the country's military, aided by large-scale military and NATO forces. The game will feature a scenario editor, and it's being developed by Bohemia Interactive, the developer behind Arma II. It will allow you to create and modify your own scenarios from a variety of ground and air units and use them to battle or attempt to accomplish your mission objectives.

Billed as an open-ended first-person shooter, Operation Flashpoint 3 will also feature a scenario editor. It will allow you to design your own missions that will be as interesting as the game's campaign and a variety of multiplayer modes.

You'll have access to more than 60 weapons and vehicles, including jets, a hang glider, mounted machine guns, sniper rifles, and more. You'll also be able to have up to 32 players per side. And, you'll have to think about your own strategy as you complete missions. In fact, as you clear objectives, you'll be able to gain experience and advance through the game's tougher missions. But there are some pretty important tactical considerations to be aware of. For instance, you may want to seize and deliver an enemy missile to a bridge with its bayonet at its base; if it gets close enough to the bridge and is captured, you can load the missile into a nearby car and start firing. Likewise, if you're behind enemy lines, you can instruct your friends to run with you. If you want to be a nasty felon with no allies around, you'll need to think carefully about which kind of enemy is best suited to you. Fortunately, the battles we've played so far seem to be pretty straightforward. We'd imagine it's pretty easy for them to get the job done, though, since you'll usually have plenty of cover to duck behind as well as the squad's advancing units will.

The single-player campaign will feature 13 missions, which are a good sampling of the sorts of different situations you'll encounter.

In addition to the single-player game, we had a chance to play through the Xbox Live beta of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which will let us try out the multiplayer component of the game. It's a mode that should please fans of the GTA series and arcade racing games.

The online mode in the game is a little different from those in GTA III's single-player game because it will offer a standard, in-game lobby system that will let you set up a new profile. You'll be able to set up your own race, fill your roster, and check out the game's details. While we'd have loved to see the multiplayer modes in the game, as well as making some changes to the Xbox Live experience, we're pleased to report that they seem to fit the bill.

The visuals in the game have received an upgrade in the last couple of weeks. You'll find some cool little touches in the tweaks and new elements. The developers have also done a great job of making San Andreas look as good as it possibly can. We got a peek at the game's various environments and different environments during the Tokyo Game Show. The graphics in the game are shaping up nicely, offering a good variety of locales that have come together to offer a living, breathing environment. The town you'll explore is modeled with a generous amount of detail. The residents feature a nice assortment of polygons and animation. The game's frame rate stays fairly solid, and it runs well even on the Xbox hardware. The PC game ran well, even at modest settings. The GameCube game's graphics run fine and sported a good amount of detail. We saw a bit of a performance hitch when we tried to get the game running on an AT-RTX. The frame rate had some rough spots, but overall it was looking good.

The audio in the game stays true to the solid voice that you'll hear in the books. You'll hear a mix of the traditional gangster voices, such as those used in the films and the cult films, while you'll also hear some ambient tunes. The voice acting isn't quite as sharp as the work done by the original film's star, Hugh Jackman.

Based on what we played, Tony Hawk's Underground 2 is shaping up to be an interesting entry in the series. While you'll find some refinements, the game is looking quite good. The graphics engine from the original game looks and runs well, while the gameplay has been tweaked quite a bit. The audio has gotten a good amount of attention thanks to an improved soundtrack and a host of new features.

Based on what we've played, Tony Hawk's Underground 2 is looking like an appealing package that's well on its way to landing on store shelves. Though we've played the game a number of times, we haven't come close to experiencing the story.