A good, fast paced shooter.

Most times, when I review a game, I take a look to see what both the press and the fans have to say about it. I do my best to not let it affect my own judgment of the game. When checking out the feeback for Conflict: Denied Ops, I noticed a great disparity between what the press had to say and what the fans did. The press hated it but the fans seem to enjoy it.

Yet another in the successful, console based Conflict Series, Denied Ops certainly carries its console heritage on its sleeve. Save points are the first obvious hint to this, as are the controls. A little tweaking made the controls more PC friendly. The graphics are another matter which I will attend to later on.

In Denied Ops, you will control two characters who are the Army's secret weapons, men who go into areas that the government cannot openly admit they are involved in. The locales range all around the world, from Eurpoe to South America to Africa. The two characters are different in equipment and attitude. One is black and young and eager to get into battle and the other is white, older and seasoned, though a bit jaded.

I'll get right to it, the gameplay here is not revolutionary, but it is fun. You'll end up picking one of the two and staying with them, depending on whether you like up close action with a machine gun or distance fighting with a scope. Some might go back and forth, which is kind of cool, fighting on whatever whim that comes.

It takes a lot to die. This is a little unrealistic, but it is what it is. When you go down, your partner comes over and gives you a shot to revive you. If you are caught in a hot action zone, he'll save you, you'll wobble, stand up, and get shot again. This is a bit frustrating. He should drag you to a clear spot to do this. Mant times, he'll go down in the process; that's when it is game over.

The variety of missions is nice, ranging from clearing out hot zones to tailing someone to taking someone out. If you fail in one method, the mission isn't over, you have to choose an alternate plan. For instance, if you are supposed to follow someone and you are spotted and have to kill them, you have to get the information another way. I like this approach.

The action is intense. You will constantly fight off enemies. Their AI is decent, dodging every once in a while. They are not geniuses by any stretch of the imagination. Still, the game's difficulty seems about right. The fast paced action, combined with the variety of missions, really are the strong suits of this game.