Gamers have been waiting a long time for Codemasters to get around to producing a sequel to Operation Flashpoint. The heralded military shooter developed an extensive hardcore following after its release in 2001, and while it's been a whopping six years since then, the company is finally starting to release more details about the ambitious sequel arriving late in 2008, Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising.
Developed on the internally-produced NEON engine, which recently powered DiRT, Operation Flashpoint 2 moves the series into a much more realistic setting, without falling into the trappings of the Middle-East. Rather, Codemasters has cooked up a forward-looking view of a possible conflict between China and the U.S. A set of islands off the east coast of China hold the promise of endless natural resources, leading the two superpowers to battle. The locales draw upon real-world settings, but not directly, allowing the development team to concentrate on making the game, you know, fun.