Operation Flashpoint: Elite

Operation Flashpoint's gameplay varies significantly depending on the player's role, but the game is best described as a tactical shooter with significant vehicle elements and minor real-time tactics elements. OFP's gameplay is largely team-oriented and the player spends much of the game with a squad of up to 11 computer-controlled members, either as a member of the squad or as its squad leader. On-foot gameplay and the vehicle elements are blended seamlessly and the player can get into any available vehicle at any time, orders and mission conditions permitting. Whether on foot or in a vehicle the player can view the action from both first- and third-person views, as well as an additional "command view" available to squad leaders that provides a limited bird's-eye view of the surrounding area.

At the start of each mission the player is presented with a briefing explaining the situation, describing the player's goals in the mission and, often, providing further information in the form of notes. Once in-game the player is provided with a map, compass, watch, and a notebook. Depending on the mission the player may be required to participate in and complete a variety of tasks, from simply driving a truck or guarding bases to attacking or defending various objectives, patrols, reconnaissance and sabotage behind enemy lines, air support, or any combination of these and more.

Operation Flashpoint is set in 1985 on an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean consisting of four major islands: Everon, a microstate that houses a NATO training camp but otherwise tries to remain neutral in the Cold War; Malden, a neighboring microstate housing a NATO garrison; Kolgujev (Not to be confused with the real life Kolguyev Island), a barren island part of Russia where Soviet military units are regularly stationed; and Nogova, a country near Everon and Malden that is invaded by Soviet forces in 1982 in a political crisis mirroring the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.

The game's story is told through three campaigns: Cold War Crisis, Red Hammer, and Resistance. The events of Cold War Crisis and Resistance are considered canon in both the Operation Flashpoint and Arma series, but the events of Red Hammer are not considered canon in the Arma series due to Bohemia lacking legal rights to the expansion's assets.

In the United States, Operation Flashpoint sold 230,000 copies and earned $8.8 million by August 2006, after its release in June 2001. It was the country's 90th best-selling computer game during this period. It received a "Silver" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom. The German Entertainment Software Association awarded its Platinum sales award for 200,000 copies sold in German-speaking regions till December 2001. Sales of Operation Flashpoint surpassed 1 million units by 2002, and ultimately topped 2 million copies by 2010.

John Leaver reviewed the PC version of the game for Next Generation, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "This is an extremely realistic sim. Its only major drawback is that the realism sometimes takes precedence over playability, and at times it will bore less-than-hardcore war gamers."