Parents' Guide to

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

By Chad Sapieha, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Highly realistic military shooter is violent, bloody, gory.

Game PlayStation 3 , Windows , Xbox 360 2009
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

  • Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Game: Screenshot #1
  • Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Game: Screenshot #2
  • Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Game: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

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age 13+

Based on 5 parent reviews

Sam M.
Sam M. Parent of baby-year-old
November 18, 2017
age 14+

An acquired taste.

Blood clouds are large but are more for indication than anything, cant remember any staining. There are gibs and some dismemberment but this is more matter of fact than anything. Theres barely any real dialog so profanity is non issue even when it appears. A hardcore yet more accessible Arma (which spawned from the original Op Flash by the way) style simulator. Many missions here are (more open versions of) what would be a tiny skirmish early in a level in a CoD style shooter, yet challenged amped up to more realistic stakes. If ur in mood for slow paced open ended game of plan and execute youll probably be satisfied when you come out on top.
Jen L.
Jen L. Parent
February 9, 2017
age 10+

Not that bad

The game itself has some bad language, but I personally believe the game is not that bad. It has some violence but it is one of the less gory games I've seen. The cursing is somewhat warranted as the game is a military shooter and the characters are in stressful situations regularly. If you are looking at this game and worrying about the language and/or violence, I can say this game is one of the less violent and bad mouthed games that is honestly more focused on being an army guy.

This title has:

Easy to play/use
See all 5 parent reviews

What’s It About?

OPERATION FLASHPOINT: DRAGON RISING puts players in the shoes of U.S. Marines helping Russia repel a Chinese invasion of a fictional, oil-rich island in a near-future that sees the world consumed by an energy crisis. It's not an arcade shooter in which players run and gun through each mission and can take extensive damage without dying, but rather a realistic military simulation that requires careful combat from long ranges, strategically positioned fireteams for assault and defensive missions, artillery strikes, and proper use of military vehicles and helicopters to provide support and covering fire. The action can be experienced solo, cooperatively in a two-player multiplayer game, or competitively online in either a team-based elimination mode or another format that pits a small special forces team against a larger group trying to defend an objective.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (5 ):
Kids say (7 ):

Operation Flashpoint is a standard but polished military simulation. It nails the details of the soldier experience, including the specific strategies of various mission types, the tension of long-range rifle firefights, and the jargon-laden chatter that comes over the radio. It also presents an interesting, believable narrative, even if it lacks the sort of memorable soldier personalities found in many other shooters.

Our only real beef has to do accessibility. This is a tough game. If your squad mate calls out that he's found an enemy, best take cover immediately and send your buddies to flanking positions. Head-on run ‘n' gun assaults have about as much chance of success as they would in real life. Also believable is that your team will stop obeying your commands if you waste their lives by using them as bait or sending them into no-win situations. Shooter fans with a penchant for authenticity will enjoy these touches of authenticity, but others will likely grow frustrated by the difficulty.

Online interaction: This game features public matches with open voice communication between participants, which puts players at risk of encountering people who have little regard for appropriate online behavior. Profanity may be heard.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about war and its consequences. Can you think of examples of just wars? What sort of conditions ought to apply for one country to legitimately wage war on another? Do you think that games that focus on providing realistic combat experience might influence some players to join the military? Do you think the difficulty of games like this one might influence others people who were considering joining the army that war is not for them?

  • Was this game better online or as a solo experience?

  • Did the war and alliances between current countries bother you?

Game Details

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