Genre: First-Person Shooter

Publisher: Codemasters

Rating: 18 (PEGI)

Platform: PlayStation 3

The first thing players are presented with once starting the campaign is a mission briefing detailing the uprising of the Al Qaeda, the events of 911, and what happened shortly after. The briefing is told in a light-hearted way with cliché army talk full of ‘hoo ha’ and the likes.

Despite the light-hearted opening sequence, Operation Flashpoint: Red River takes a u-turn on the vibe created, by offering a more hardcore gaming experience than most other first-person shooters. Not only do players need to command their squad every step of the way, they also need to bear in mind that just one unfortunately placed bullet could spell the end of the mission.

But bullet dodging is not always a problem as the AI of enemy soldiers that riddle these dusty middle-eastern battlegrounds is hopeless. Helplessly running in waves from cover-to-cover, they leave themselves exposed and are easy pickings. Team mates aren’t much better, but at least they can be swapped out for real players in coop mode – the one mode that's actually a lot of fun for up to four people.

During our time with Red River, we experienced many bugs. Some of these prevented movement of the character, some stopped the movement of team-mates and some just hampered general progression. This made Red River incredibly frustrating for all the wrong reasons.

With a dated look and a gameplay mechanic that’s uninspiring and barely working, Operation Flashpoint: Red River may be about modern combat – but it's a relic from the past.

SCORE: 3 / 10