In Operation Flashpoint, gamers are caught in the grips of a fictional 1985 Cold War storyline, where a new Soviet regime seizes control of an island community, and underground resistance groups have mobilized in opposition. The new Soviet government, unable to fight the resistance, calls upon NATO to act as a peacekeeping force and help restore order to the region. NATO responds with Operation Flashpoint. Players assume the role of a U.S. NATO private on a training mission who, with the rest of his squad, is unexpectedly dragged into a war for the Islands.

Operation Flashpoint presents players with one of the most realistic and complete battle experiences to ever appear on the PC platform. Played from either the 1st or 3rd person perspective, the game is comprised of three main components: a single mission mode, a cinematic story based campaign mode and a multiplayer mode. In single mission mode, players can execute various types of missions that can be found in the campaign mode, including stealthy sniper raids, town assaults as a member of a large squad, commandeering vehicles and even playing the role of squad leader with a platoon of soldiers available to command. The campaign mode allows players to experience all the elements of the single player missions, but weaves them all into an engrossing story line that follows a NATO soldier from a private in training camp to a battle worn commander. Multiplayer mode enables gamers to take all of the skills they have acquired in the single-player modes and apply them to real war scenarios against other human players via LAN or Internet.