History VideoGame / OperationFlashpoint

* EnemyExchangeProgram: Played straight. Since everyone has a UniversalDriversLicense, there's nothing to stop the player from making use of any vehicles the enemy are foolish enough to leave lying around. Some missions even require you to steal vehicles such as tanks, helicopters and boats from the enemy.

*** However, note that some of the more unique aspects and strengths/weaknesses of the U.S. and Soviet faction have been balanced out in the final, latest versions of the game by official patches with various official addons by the developer (e. g. the NATO forces originally lacked an AA vehicle like the Shilka, so they were given Vulcan M113s to balance it out; the Soviets lacked a good ground-attack helicopter comparable to the American Apache, so they were given an early version of the Kamov Ka-50, the V-80, etc.). With these changes, the more unique imbalance of the factions from the very first release has been heavily diminished. This made the NATO and Soviet armies a bit closer to CosmeticallyDifferentSides - but both of them still have enough strenghts, weaknesses, differing specialties and unique units to subvert the aforementioned trope.
* FalseFlagOperation: Guba's GenghisGambit to hit one of the two superpowers with his stolen Scud missiles, in order to provoke WorldWarThree, if his demands are not fullfilled on time.

** In {{Real Life}}, crews of helicopters are not equipped with 'chutes as helos, especially thos for close air support, mostly operate below the safe opening altitude of a parachute. Crew safety in helicopters instead relies on passive shock-absorbing techniques to dampen the impact. In OFP however, you quite often see parachutes from crippled helos.

* ObviousBeta: The ''Red Hammer'' Codemasters campaign is very clearly unfinished with some extremely broken cutscenes, a prime example is ''Marooned'', not only does the ending cutscene cut between the helicopter hovering in mid air, it cuts to close ups of Dimitri and your partner, except in other close-ups it's two random pilots instead of them and while the game tries to be slow motion for dramatic effect, it inexplicably speeds up with chipmunk voices at several points, in addition to the campaigns somewhat poorly designed at times missions.

** A more tame example, but there's still lots of {{Cool Gun}}s to admire (especially if you throw in some quality fan-made addons to expand the game's basic arsenal).

* GunPorn: A more tame example, but there's still lots of {{Cool Gun}}s to admire (especially if you throw in some quality fan-made addons to expand the game's basic arsenal).
** RareGuns: The Russian [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PP-19_Bizon Bizon SMG]] and some of the grenade and rocket launchers are pretty good examples. The Bizon is unfortunately an example of...
** AnachronismStew: Some of the firearms present. The [=M16A2=] is the standard assault rifle of the American NATO soldiers in ''Cold War Crisis'', whereas in the real 1985, it was a brand new version of the more ubiquotous A1 and hadn't been fully distributed en masse to the regular branches of the U.S. Army. Also, in the ''Resistance'' expansion, set in 1982, James Gastowski supplies Viktor Troska's partisan group with a few Steyr Aug rifles - even though they still aren't very widespread in the U.S. armed forces and were fairly new back in the early 80s (the first marketed version was produced in 1977). Another firearm seen too early is the aforementioned Russian Bizon SMG, used by the Spetsnaz soldiers since the ''Resistance'' expansion. It's a pretty awesome gun - except for the fact it started being produced in the early 90s and couldn't possibly be used by Soviet troops ten years earlier. The Bizon was probably included because of balancing issues (to give the Soviets their own silenced SMG)... or just because of RuleOfCool...
*** The Heckler & Koch G36, added into the game via one of the later official patches, is a subversion. Even though it couldn't have existed in the 80s (since it's been manufactured only since the [[TheNineties 1990s]]) it doesn't appear in the story-relevant missions, so it's apparently not meant as deliberate AnachronismStew.

* InJoke / ShoutOut / CreatorProvincialism: BIS threw tons of {{shout out}}s to both Communist-era Czechoslovakia and the late 20th century Czech Republic into the original ''Operation Flashpoint'' installments. Traditional Czech rural architecture and East Bloc era concrete buildings are practically everywhere, along with 1960s Czech buses, motorbikes, [[http://www.volny.cz/nex/auta/obr-sk/praga-v3s.jpg Praga V3S army trucks]], 1980s Škoda passenger cars and Zetor tractors. The local resistance groups use the Sa 58 as their standard assault rifle. The ''Resistance'' expansion in general takes the references UpToEleven.

* ShownTheirWork: [[UpToEleven To an absolutely jaw-dropping degree]].

* TrappedBehindEnemyLines: On many occasions, in many, many missions. But special mention goes to [[spoiler:one of the early missions in the first game, where your character (private Armstrong) [[WhamEpisode becomes the only surviving member of his squad]] after [[BolivianArmyEnding it gets suddenly attacked]] by several Soviet platoons ''[[UpToEleven and]] an Mi-24 Hind chopper''. [[FromBadToWorse Your radio has malfunctioned, so you can't call for help]]. [[HarderThanHard You have only a few minutes left to cross a few kilometres of enemy-ridden terrain and reach the evac site on the coast.]] And while you're groveling through a very exposed meadow teeming with hostile soldiers, you overhear from your radio, ''[[SerialEscalation that the evac site has changed, since the coast has come under attack]]''. You then head to the new site... ''[[FailureIsTheOnlyOption but you get captured by Soviet infantrymen]] !'' They take you prisoner. ''[[OverlyLongGag And then]]'', a ''[[TwistEnding third twist]]'' occurs, when you are rescued by members of the local LaResistance. You then aid them in two or three missions and they help you get off the island and return to the army.]]

* VoiceOfTheResistance: A young and cheery radio amateur [[KnownOnlyByTheirNickname known under the moniker]] "[[ShoutOut The Tasmanian Devil]]", becomes invaluable to the Nogovan freedom fighters in the campaign of the ''Resistance'' expansion pack.

[[caption-width-right:320:[[ClickHello Greetings]], [[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou private.]] [[OhCrap The Cold war just went hot...]] '''[[BangBangBANG BANG.]]''' ]]

* GoodGunsBadGuns: Pretty much averted, particularly in the campaign of the ''Resistance'' expansion pack, where you act as the leader of a [[LaResistance resistance group]] [[FightingForAHomeland fighting to liberate his homeland]] from a recent Soviet invasion. Practically all the standard guns of your partisans are either Warsaw Pact or civilian/hunting models. Most of your arsenal is therefore identical with that of the Soviet soldiers. On the other hand, there is a subversion later on, when the freedom fighters manage to acquire aid from a local NATO garrison: After this, they can also use a small supply of western firearms (e. g. FN FA Ls, Steyr Augs and M21 sniper rifles).

* SadisticChoice / PlayerPunch: [[spoiler: The protagonist of the ''Resistance'' expansion, [[ActionSurvivor Viktor Troska]], has to betray a few of his LaResistance pals and sacrifice them to general Guba's soldiers, in order to stay alive. Trying to outsmart the soldiers and solving the mission by [[TakeAThirdOption taking a third option]] [[YouCantFightFate is virtually impossible]].]] [[FissionMailed But this matters little in the long run]], since Viktor eventually manages to reach the remaining guerilla fighters [[DareToBeBadass and leads them]] on their RoaringRampageOfRevenge to victory, pulling a {{Plan}} or two on the invaders ''[[XanatosSpeedChess and adapting as he goes]]''.

** Even the [[LethalJokeItem comparably small and seemingly obsolete Soviet T-55]] [[LightningBruiser can be surprisingly competent]] in the hands of a good tank commander or gunner. Fun fact: Unlike the other tanks featured in the games, the T-55 doesn't even have an autoloader for the cannon, but it is possible to take out ''[[MightyGlacier a fully armed T-80]]'' [[RockBeatsLaser with it]].

* TrappedBehindEnemyLines: On many occasions, in many, many missions. But special mention goes to [[spoiler:one of the early missions in the first game, where your character (private Armstrong) [[WhamEpisode becomes the only surviving member of his squad]] [[BolivianArmyEnding after it gets suddenly attacked]] by several Soviet platoons ''[[UpToEleven and]] an Mi-24 Hind chopper''. [[FromBadToWorse Your radio has malfunctioned, so you can't call for help.]] [[HarderThanHard You have only a few minutes left to cross a few kilometres of enemy-ridden terrain and reach the evac site on the coast.]] And while you're groveling through a very exposed meadow teeming with hostile soldiers, you overhear from your radio, ''[[SerialEscalation that the evac site has changed, since the coast has come under attack]]''. You then head to the new site... ''[[FailureIsTheOnlyOption but you get captured by Soviet infantrymen]] !'' They take you prisoner. ''[[OverlyLongGag And then]]'', a ''[[TwistEnding third twist]]'' occurs, when you are rescued by members of the local LaResistance. You then aid them in two or three missions and they help you get off the island and return to the army.]]

* WarIsHell: The games pit you in the role of a [[TheEveryman completely ordinary]], [[RedShirtArmy completely vulnerable]] and [[WeHaveReserves completely replacable]] [[NewMeat young soldier]]... who's fighting in small scale conflicts [[FromBadToWorse that could easily spark]] WorldWarThree... [[AvertedTrope No]] [[{{Anvilicious}} heavy-handed]] condemnations of war or [[ContemplateOurNavels sombre thoughts of your squadmates]] are ever heard, but the depiction of modern warfare in the game (subtle, yet straightforward) [[ShowDontTell says more than a million words]]: It's nerve-wrecking, [[EverythingTryingToKillYou unpredictable]], [[FinaglesLaw often completely absurd]]. Virtually AnyoneCanDie... And they do - ''all the damned time''... Despite being war sims, the games never glorify or trivialize war and the way it changes the world, society and individuals.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWCfM5oCUSk Made all the more poignant]] in ''Resistance'', where Viktor [[TechnicalPacifist tries to convince his friends against going to war with the Soviets]]. He's a recently retired professional soldier who [[ShellShockedVeteran has seen too much death and suffering to count]], so he warns them that their desperate fight to liberate their homeland [[DefiedTrope isn't going to be]] [[WarIsGlorious glorious]] [[HollywoodTactics or easy]] [[AvertedTrope at all]]. But even though he's against the idea of fighting at first, [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive he gets tangled up in the worsening situation]] and eventually decides to lead the Nogovan resistance cells (because if he didn't, things would probably end up even worse). And to hammer the point of the trope home]], the end of ''Resistance''' storyline [[BittersweetEnding is anything but cheerful. The resistance fighters only manage to win at a terrible price and with heavy loses]].

* WorldWarThree: Subverted. In ''Cold War Crisis'' You're trying to ''stop'' Guba from sparking it at all, since the consequences of him succeeding in his provocation would be [[AtomicHate downright]] [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt catastrophic]].