Online co-op, no not somewhere you buy your shopping online from, but a gameplay mode that is the current ‘whore’ of the video games industry. Every second game you pick up these days seems to have some kind of online co-op - enter Conflict: Denied Ops - with online co-op. You don’t have to play with someone else, mind. Handily the game also offers it’s services in the way of an AI controlled team mate….

Set during some generic war, Conflict forfeits originality points straight away. It’s also a first person shooter and Lang & Graves are soldiers - or to use their correct status titles; Special Activities Division - or SAD. Yup, these two hard bast**ds are called ’Team SAD’. But, as I like to say; If an unoriginal idea is fun to play, then originality or lack there of, doesn’t matter in the slightest…..but, is it fun to play? Lets find out.

Playing on your own, the gimmick here is the ability to switch between the 2 characters. Lang and Graves - aside from the obvious question; Who in the hell would call their children Lang and Graves? another thing needs to be addressed…Are the characters any different? Well, yes. Lang is far more macho, he doesn’t tinker about with sniper rifles, no sir, Lang prefers to keep things less tactical and just blow stuff up. Graves on the other hand, isn’t Lang’s butler, but a patient sharp shooting sniping machine, catering for the more discerning player, Graves likes to keep things clean and personal. Both are restricted to these skill traits, and are far more useful than the other - in their respective gun education - this is because, instead of a better game where you would simply swap weapons, in Conflict you have to swap characters to use certain weapons. Backwards, I know.

Talking of weapons, each character has 2. Yup, 2 guns. There are no gun pick-ups you pack a pistol and either a snipe or an LMG. After each mission, your weapon is upgraded, so the next time you use it, it’s got something else taped on. It gets quite ridiculous, gradually your gun multiplies in size and by rights, it’s an impressive feat your character can even manage to carry the damn thing. Ammo isn’t picked up either, to reload your stocks, you’ll need to find a storage case and press ‘A’.

……now, about that AI controlled team mate. Aghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! May be a familiar sound ringing from your mouth after you’ve played Conflict. The AI is the most useless I have ever encountered, the sheer lack of competence and intelligence in the computer controlled character is beyond belief. Simply reloading - at the previously mentioned storage cases - is a task and a half. As well as reloading the character you are controlling, you’re also advised to order your team mate to reload too. This remedial job proves unfathomably tough. Point your crosshair at the case and press ‘left bumper’ - nine times out of ten, this doesn’t work. Some of the fails can be put down to your partner being on the other side of the damn level, crouching down, awaiting orders - because he’s too stupid to think for himself. It’s like babysitting a sack of potatoes. You also rely on your team mate to revive you if you’re gunned down. This can prove handy in a battle taking place in close quarters, but a real pain in the backside if you’re making your way across a large level. Again the problem of the team mate you can switch to, who you’ll need to use to revive your gunned down man - is miles away standing dormant. You’ll notice a small count-down clock on the top left of the screen which usually gives you 3 or so minutes to make the save. So as the rescuer you have to leg it across the level so you can save your partner - note: if he dies, it’s game over. “Leg it” may have been wishful thinking, slowly trot is a more accurate description. No matter on whether you’re trying to save someone or not, the character’s speed in Conflict is dreadful, it’s like walking through tar which has just be laid on top of wet concrete. There is no option given for ‘run’, which is daft - these are highly trained SAD agents, common sense deduces that being able to run in a war situation, is a very valuable skill indeed.

Moving on, one of Conflicts ‘ace in the holes’ is supposed to be - to quote the box art: Massively destructible environments……featuring Puncture Tech tm. Not an actual lie as such, a lot of the scenery is destructable, but mostly because you’re able to shoot one of the 10,000 petrol cans laying all over the place. I’m not sure if the developers reached some sort of arrangement with Shell or something, but that’s a lot of petrol cans - just scattered about - for no reason - other than to blow up the level. Sure, I’d happily accept one or two cans - on each level no less, but there are loads. It reeks of laziness and a definite lack of ingenuity. Visually, it’s not awful, but it’s not great either. The character animation is erratic at the best of times and the levels, despite looking OK, are really rather dull. The explosions look good, but there’s always the niggle in the back of your head that the explosion is a direct result of shooting a petrol can. Sound wise it’s all very by the book, again not awful, but barely reaching the ranks of average. The voiceovers are laughable, the two leads come across as the most boring men on the planet. It’s like they used to sleep together, but broke up and now share a strictly business relationship. Geez, get over it and get back into bed you charm-less gits. Lord knows, you may find some excitement in the bedroom, although, if being shot at doesn’t get your pulse racing, I’m not so sure.

As I may have slightly eluded to earlier…..the AI is so awful, it’s only when you begin a co-op game that other things come to light. Playing co-op instantly irradiates the stupid AI, and although it’s still a little awkward, it breathes life into the game….until you realise that even without the dodgy AI, Conflict isn’t really that fun. There are certainly better co-op games in the same vein which are much preferable. It all feels very cold and uneventful. The controls are unresponsive and over complicated and the co-op game I played ended up with us both saying; “Wanna play something else?”

…And no, that something else wasn’t the online multiplayer. Death match and Team Deathmatch are here, as well as other sleep inducing modes. Here the controls really come unstuck, in the panic of multiplayer, responsive controls are a must. Hell, forget the controls, they could be perfect and the multiplayer would still be lifeless. I’m going to have to say it; Call of Duty 4 has set a standard in FPS online gaming and all future FPS’s should at least try to equal it. Conflict doesn’t even approach being in any way, close to it.

I can’t recommend Conflict: Denied Ops, it’s problems far outweigh it’s pro’s, even imagining we live in some kind of magical wonderland and the controls and AI worked fine, we’d still be left with a below average first person shooter that lacks personality. Thumbs down.