Conflict: Denied Ops

Thanks to the war on terror, the advancement in modern warfare and the publics increasing engagement with what happened concerning soldiers fighting overseas. It meant that a series of games began to pop up, each with its own brand of covert operations missions. These would often be uninspired titles that offered a series of cliches combined with some military jargon and characters with voices like sandpaper. So when Conflict: Denied Ops came along, many were hoping that this title would break this spell.

This game plays like a lot of the games within the Conflict Series. However, to look outside its own series, it plays much like the SOCOM games, MAG or if we are being kind, Ghost Recon: Wildlands. It is a title that aims to let players behind the curtain and reveal what it means to be a special ops soldier. However, does this game manage to deliver an authentic experience? We find out in our review of Conflict: Denied Ops.

Insert Miliary Cliche Here

While the intrigue that the general public seems to have with the thrills and spills of modern warfare seem to be endless. It seems that developers ability to replicate them seem to have their limitations. Or at least they did during this era. This game offers a wafer-thin plot that sees you fight your way through a series of bland and lifeless environments, fighting mindless AI soldiers and performing a series of arbitrary tasks. All the while questioning why you are doing it at all. If the phrase ‘am I having fun pops into your mind, then we regret to inform you, you are not having a good time.

The appeal of these games tends to be the AI and co-op components. However, the former is about as intelligent as the common house brick. Then the latter, while present in this title, only allows another poor sucker to share in the bland and lifeless experience with you. We get that misery loves company but surely you both have better things to do.

Shock and Awful

The gameplay may be bad, but at least its mechanically sound enough to struggle through. The same can’t be said for the graphics for this game. Due to the scope of Conflict and SOCOM games, we understand that there are certain limitations in place. However, with that in mind, this is still a very poor showing from the developers. The animations are poor, the models are rough around the edges and the level design is devoid of any clear points of interest or details that draw the eye or immerse the player. You would think that a special ops mission would be the furthest thing from boring but this game is proof that this isn’t always the case.

The Verdict

Overall, Conflict: Denied Ops is a budget version of what already is a budget series. This game seems to phone it in for just about every area. The graphics are far from the usual standard. The gameplay does nothing to elevate the series, the story is basically non-existent and the AI, the usually reliable aspect of these games is found wanting as well.

Pros:

• Offers co-op functionally

Cons:

• Wafer-thin story
• Terrible visuals
• Uncharacteristically poor AI
• Drab and lifeless level design