Current Patch Level*
1.42 Revised Upgrade 4 is available from Codemasters.

Best First Person Shooter Ever
It plays very well has incredible AI. Lets you drive vehicles together with gunner/pilot/commander/cargo roles. Actually lets you give instructions to AI and have them actually perform the task. Also the reason for me to write this an incredible mission editor and scripting engine.

West Infantry Weapons
M16 is a pretty solid machine gun with two modes of fire. Single fire and burst. When using weapon view it has a good reticule for aiming compared to the AK47. I saw something on Discovery where the AK47 doesn't jam compared to the M16, but I never had an M16 jam in Flashpoint. Has some kick back so might need to aim between shots.

M21 is the West's sniper rifle. Although pretty useless outside of weapon view, it has a zoom scope that can be zoomed in or out with keypad + and -. Definitely not like Unreal Tournament's Sniper Rifle which shoots straight regardless of distance. You need to adjust for wind and distance with the M21.

One thing I didn't know until I reread the book was that the Sniper rifle has to be range to the target. The Horizontal bars that make up the crosshair's center have to be sized to the target. Then your shots will be more accurate. It's more complicated with the Russian Sniper Rifle since it has a scale.

LAW Launcher. Good for BMPs and other soviet armor, but difficult to aim at long range. It drops after a distance so that needs to be taken into account. I find the Soviet RPG Launcher easier to aim with. Mostly with Tanks, it will just make them mad until you drop one or two more on them.

I could not make an AI with a LAW Launcher fire at a helicopter yet I've done it while playing. As with all vehicles if you hit them in the wrong spot they will still come at you. LAWs have a tendency to drop so aim a little higher at range.

West Ground Vehicles
Jeep is a pretty fast ground vehicle that sits four. Also has a machine gun version. What I dislike about the Jeep and UAZ is they're pretty fragile. Shoot out a tire and it's useless. If you is coming at you just shoot at the window. The Jeep and UAZ are affected by terrain so you'll get the most speed on road. Obviously.

West Air Vehicles
This is where the West has problems compared to the East. The West lacks good Helicopters. The Soviets have a gunship which holds over 150 rockets which is awesome for strafing.

A1H1 attack helicopter has a good load of TOW and 57mm Rockets. It also has a chain gun cannon. I feel it is harder to see out of than the Soviet counterpart the Mi24.

If you are ever forced into a situation where you need to fly a helicopter without a gunner just click on the manual fire. It makes strafing land targets a lot easier. Also try to avoid Auto Hover it makes shooting ground targets near impossible. The pilot is just as responsible for launching missiles as the gunner, so always try to line up shots for him or her.

to be continued...