Conflict: Denied Ops

Conflict: Denied Ops from 2008 is the fifth and final entry in Pivotal Games' tactical action series and also a fundamental turning point in its direction – instead of a third-person view of a four-man squad, it becomes a pure first-person shooter controlled by just two characters. The player takes on the role of a sniper and his partner, whom the CIA sends into a fictional Latin American war with the task of stopping a local rebel commander, and can switch between the two characters on the fly depending on whether the mission calls for precise long-range fire or a direct close-quarters attack.

Compared to previous entries in the series, this is a much more linear and action-focused experience, closer to the military shooters of the time, like Call of Duty, than to the original tactical concept of commanding a squad of four soldiers with divided specialist roles. During the campaign, the player alternates between the role of the sniper covering his partner from a distance and direct firefights in buildings and outdoor terrain, while the other character is controlled by AI most of the time. The game released simultaneously on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, with the PC version benefiting from more precise mouse aiming, which suits the game's sniper character noticeably better than an analog stick, and from the option to adjust graphics detail and resolution to match one's own hardware. Contemporary reviews rated it as an average, technically somewhat rough representative of the genre, hurt most by its short playtime and repetitive level design, although the idea itself of two distinct characters with different equipment was received quite positively and was regularly praised in reviews as the game's strongest point.

Why play: Denied Ops is a suitable choice for players who want to sample what the tactical series' transition to a classic first-person military shooter looked like at a time when the genre was dominated by games like Call of Duty – with no claim to revolutionary qualities, but with an honest pair of main heroes and an uncomplicated campaign for one or two evenings.