Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis

About Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis

Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (Czech: Operace Flashpoint) is a 2001 tactical shooter simulation video game developed by Bohemia Interactive Studio and published by Codemasters. Set during the Cold War in 1985, the game follows United States Armed Forces personnel in various combined arms roles as they combat a rogue Soviet Armed Forces field army invading the fictional island countries of Everon and Malden.

Operation Flashpoint was released on June 22, 2001 in Europe and August 30, 2001 in North America to positive reviews from critics, who praised its realistic gameplay and depiction of modern warfare. The game was ported to the Xbox in October 2005 as Operation Flashpoint: Elite. Two expansion packs, Operation Flashpoint: Red Hammer and Operation Flashpoint: Resistance, were released in February and June 2002 respectively and follow differing perspectives surrounding the conflict on Malden and others on nearby islands.

Operation Flashpoint is set in 1985 on an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean consisting of four major islands: Everon, a microstate that houses a NATO training camp but otherwise tries to remain neutral in the Cold War; Malden, a neighboring microstate housing a NATO garrison; Kolgujev (Not to be confused with the real life Kolguyev Island), a barren island part of Russia where Soviet military units are regularly stationed; and Nogova, a country near Everon and Malden that is invaded by Soviet forces in 1982 in a political crisis mirroring the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.

The game's story is told through three campaigns: Cold War Crisis, Red Hammer, and Resistance. The events of Cold War Crisis and Resistance are considered canon in both the Operation Flashpoint and Arma series, but the events of Red Hammer are not considered canon in the Arma series due to Bohemia lacking legal rights to the expansion's assets.