Operation Flashpoint has always been one of the more exclusive games in the FPS pack, an absolute nightmare of a simulation shooter with an insanely realistic difficulty setting that makes the entirety of Call of Duty 4's veteran mode look like an opening stage tutorial. As such, it's most definitely an acquired taste and fans of the series will be pleased to know that there is absolutely no let up here, delivering a pad-smashingly brutal difficulty curve that will test your skills to the utter limit. You know those terrifyingly real SAS recruitment adverts you see on television from time to time? They make me realise that I'd be an absolutely crap soldier, totally useless in every way. This game will knock you down a peg or two in a similar fashion.

The plot is a cracker, delivering the same kind of 'near-future' military crisis scenario that the Tom Clancy series does so well. It involves the ongoing tension between China and Russia following years of conflict over the island province of Skira, located off the north coast of Japan. Once a large untapped oil field is located beneath the island, the cold stalemate goes red hot and all out war is declared. Russia calls for American assistance to help resolve the conflict and reclaim the island from the Chinese, which is where you and your squad of marines come in. Get ready for a world of hurt, as this is going to be no cakewalk!

The island itself is open-world, boasting an impressive 277km play area which, while less daunting than Far Cry 2's sprawling African province, still delivers an expansive territory waiting to be explored. Each mission tasks you with completing a set number of objectives strewn across the island and these are yours to complete in any order you see fit, although the more logical order is typically the easiest. Well, easiest in the loosest sense of the word, as this is an incredibly realistic tactical shooter, firmly rooted in the real world as opposed to Call of Duty's 'popcorn' warfare reality, where big explosions and meaty frags are king.

Here, you must take everything into consideration, from gun range, foliage and the lay of the land, enemy movement speed and stemming blood flow from injuries. The most surprising thing you might find is that sniper rifles are actually limited realistically in their range. For example, in most shooters you can snipe enemies from an infinite distance if your skills are good enough, but the same feat cannot be pulled off here. Finding tactical vantage points and gauging the range of each weapon becomes a necessity. Then again, if you do miss your mark, the shot will almost always cause enemies to instantly hit the deck or raise the alarm and call for backup, meaning every shot really does count.

The first mission takes place the day before America's assault on Skira begins and it's up to your quad to clear the island of SAM missile sites and other threats before the US troops roll into town. There is a lot to take in here but the tutorial is surprisingly coherent, with auto hints popping up every time you find yourself in a spot of bother. Hints will appear indefinitely throughout the campaign unless you turn them off, but are welcome for the best part of the campaign. Movement and firing mechanics are pretty much staple for the genre and, although the lack of melee attack might seem alien to some FPS players, you will never get close enough to most enemies for this to be of any use. As soon as you are spotted and in range for a head-shot, enemy troops will take you down in one shot with razor-sharp precision.

Your payload is pretty meaty however, giving you a wide range of scoped assault rifles, incendiary grenades, mines and C4 charges to return the favour. The range of kit on offer opens up your strategic options when tackling each mission quite considerably, although ammo is sparse, meaning you have to rely on enemy weapon drops and well-hidden ammo caches.

At the start of the second mission, you are kitted out with a neat assault rifle with night vision built into the scope that paints hostile targets a bright white, so you can pick them out in the middle of the pitch black forest. It's a tense mission with enemy snipers crawling through the undergrowth, hiding behind trees and nestled on vantage points at the crest of surrounding hills. To make matters worse, you have to complete your mission against a strict time limit before allied inbound choppers get blown out of the night sky by enemy SAM sites. This kind of tense, fast-paced atmosphere runs through the veins of Dragon Rising and if this all sounds like a bit too much and likely to result in several pad-smashings, then you may find little to enjoy here.

To help ease the pressure a bit, you are always accompanied by three squad-mates who are surprisingly efficient and very rarely need babysitting or get stuck in the often complex terrain. You can give your comrades orders by holding down RB and selecting actions on the command wheel. This is rather deep however, right down to what kind of moving formation you want them to adopt and to get lost in the menu or select an incorrect command in the heat of a firefight. Sending your mates head first against an armour-plated APC when you meant to get them to fall back to a safe distance is most certainly not recommended.

Health is another issue that might grate those who have become fond of regenerative health that has becoming increasingly popular in shooters since Halo landed on the original Xbox. Digging its heels firmly in the realm of realism, health is not something you should ever play fast and loose with here as death comes easily. Even the slightest graze by enemy fire will result in blood loss that must be stemmed by a field dressing. Any player or squad mate can dress a wound but things quickly fall apart if your squad gets cut down by a hail of gunfire, as you desperately run across the field to the aid of a friend, only to get gunned down yourself. As such, attacking and defending can quickly become an intense juggling act if you are careless.

Slick visuals and impressive sound production are now part and parcel of Codemasters, as seen and heard in the studio's incredibly accomplished racing titles. The same rings true here, with dense, eerily quiet forests, large expanses with far-reaching draw distance and an immersing day-night cycle. For example, travelling through a dense forest just before nightfall is incredibly tense. Once the sun sets and darkness engulfs the forest, you are suddenly sniper fodder with no night-vision equipment to help you pre-empt enemy attacks. The eerie howling of the wind and the sound of owls and animals breaking twigs underfoot really does make for a tense experience. From the ping of every discarded shell casing to the menacing whirring of an enemy attack chopper closing in on your position, this is one of the most realistic army simulators available on Xbox 360 today.

While the game is difficult, there are three distinct difficulty settings ranging from Normal, Hardcore and Experienced. The interesting thing is that these settings do not actually make the enemies harder or reduce your health, instead removing elements of the HUD such as enemy radar, squad health meters and more. It's an interesting move from the developer and playing without a HUD results in a truly immersing experience. To make things easier, you can take three co-op friends into the fight and tackle the game together, but the lone gunman, every man for himself attitude will most definitely not fly here, with rigid, well-planned teamwork being the key to success.

In co-op you can choose to tackle a single mission together or slog through the entire campaign. Versus mode is comprised of Annihilation, which pits two match-made teams together in combat across a designated portion of the island, while Infiltration puts a small attack force against a larger defence team charged with defending a set objective for a period of time. Annihilation is often a tense game of cat and mouse, with each team starting at opposite ends of the vast play area, trying to outwit and get the drop on each other.

It is clear that despite being a slick, atmospheric and incredibly well-paced shooter, Dragon Rising will be doomed to obscurity outside of the series core fan base when Modern Warfare 2 drops next month. That said, this is definitely worth seeking out if you are serious about your shooters. Just don't expect an easy ride.

Reviewed by Dave Cook for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).