The story behind Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is quite fascinating, although it is rather unlikely to score high on credibility. China's economy has been constantly expanding, until the financial crisis in 2008 caused a sudden contraction that resulted in high unemployment and civil unrest. Since most of the oil reserves were squandered during the flourishing years, the largest communist country turns its attention on the island of Skira, near its borders.

This imaginary island is particularly rich in oil but unfortunately it is under Russian control, so the stage is set for a fierce conflict between the two nuclear powers. Following the Cold War, the US and Russia signed an alliance and now the Americans are rushing in to prevent a full blown conflict in the far East.  USS Iwo Jima is deployed and the marines are sent in to deal with the threat, so you'll be shifting between 2nd Lt. Mulholland and Sgt. Hunter during the campaign, comprised of 11 missions.

Basically you are leading a small unit, simply executing orders and trying to accomplish as many missions without putting your life in danger and prevent your squad from getting slaughtered as well. Depending on the chosen difficulty, you'll get more or less assistance and benefit of checkpoints, but otherwise the game runs pretty much the same and the enemy is unforgiving. Assignments range from securing certain objectives, annihilating key targets or extracting and escorting crashed pilots, behind enemy lines.

Don't expect Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising to be your everyday FPS, as storming an enemy base alone, or trying to gun down an entire squad of hostile troops by yourself, will cause an untimely death. A single bullet is usually enough to kill, or at least critically injure you regardless of the difficulty, while the harder modes will further aggravate you mission by eliminating essential features. If realism is what defines you, then be prepared to memorize your remaining bullets, check up teammates for injuries and listen to enemy broadcasts for intels.