The insatiable appetite for first person shooters doesn’t seem to be waning.

In fact, there is more hunger for them than ever before.

And while we don’t expect another Call of Duty until the Winter, there are many games appearing to bridge the gap and hope to replace that mainstream gaming classic in the hearts of gamers everywhere.

With the likes of CoD, war is still a fantasy interpretation — a rollercoaster of a ride with set pieces and graphical beauty.

They work very well, they get the pulse racing and they seldom bore.

So what hope for Operation Flashpoint which is a simultion and presents a more real intepretation of the horrors of warfare?

This game fills us with joy. Shooters will often fling you into the far future to get your trigger-happy kicks, but Red River takes just a small step through time to set up a fictional conflict between Afghanistan and China, which unfolds over three acts in a stunning single player and drop-in-drop-out co-operative experience for up to four players.

And it’s when you’re playing with pals that the level of immersion cranks up to another level.

Beautiful to look at (if brutal conflict ever can be), the Operation Flashpoint series continues to burn brightly.

Overall rating 5/5