The original title Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis sold over 1 million copies and revolutionised military gaming by enabling the player to control and command not just soldiers of all ranks but also land, sea and air vehicles.
The series won universal acclaim for its realism of simulating military conflict situations, even to the extent where the game's technology has been adapted for the United States Marine Corps to use as a special combat training application. The game spawned two expansion packs (Operation Flashpoint: Resistance, and Operation Flashpoint: Red Hammer) and an Xbox console conversion.
In Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising an oil rich island off the coast of Russia, north of Japan, is the focus of tension between Russia and China over its ownership. Here the armies of two nations co-exist uneasily until a flurry of communications warning of military incursion is followed by dead silence. When the island is unexpectedly invaded, the US Marines are the first on the firing line. As part of a US Rapid Reaction Task Force, you are the first to respond – your unit needs to find out what is happening on the island before the crisis escalates. With formerly warring superpowers involved, this has the potential to flare up into a confrontation of global proportions. A flashpoint like never before.