Operation Flashpoint takes place in the 1980's. Player must fight soviet forces on 3 large 100km islands as an American NATO soldier. Man vehicles such as aircraft, cars, tanks, and boats are driveable and commandable. A mission editor and other tools are also available or already built into the game itself.
In my opinion the perfect game (in it's genre). Good mix of realism and action providing both frontline combat and "boring" army jobs like driving a supply truck or flying grunts to a location in a transport helo.
Excellent storytelling in the campaigns that make you care about the struggle that you're in. Losing a soldier means losing him forever along with his experience which can make the next mission that much more difficult when their place is taken by fresh recruits.
This game takes time to get into (never mind "good at") but it's worth the effort. So many addons and mods have been made for this game that it will take years to fully explore them all.
Even though it's been almost 15 years ago now I can still vividly remember the first time I played the demo. I was a member of a rifle squad that was assault a farm and then moving on to occupy a village. The moment we came under fire I hit the ground and didn't know what to do. I was afraid to use my weapon as I couldn't see the enemy and was afraid to reveal my position and while I considered moving I imagined it would make me more of a target so I just lay there while the war raged on around me. I've never come closer to the feeling of being in combat for the first time than I came then.
The graphics are dated but functional and the gameplay hasn't lost it's appeal yet. ArmA2 looks better and the gameplay is noticeably a continuation of it's predecessors but in my opinion it lacks the well for a lack of better words the heart of the conflicts in OFP and OFP: Resistance. The feelings, the emotions that this game manages to convey so well.