Plot
Dragon Rising takes place on a fictional island named Skira (Based on the real-world island Kiska, which is located on the western end of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska), in May 2011. After the Global Economic Crisis causes mass unemployment and political destabilization in China, the PLA seize control of Skira and the vast, newly-discovered reservoir of oil there, from the Russian Federation. Peace talks prove useless as both combatants lay claim to Skira due to previous ownership of it. The situation deteriorates quickly and China begins to fortify its northern provinces in anticipation of armed conflict with Russia. Russia, already countering the PLA on the Chinese mainland, calls to the United States of America to retake Skira from the Chinese. Bound by treaty arrangements made after the end of the Cold War, America agrees and the two biggest armies in the world begin to clash on the island.
As the game progresses, the player must fight off enemy forces along with his fireteam and allied soldiers, for example, this could be assaulting a village held by the PLA, suppressing a team pinning down your fellow soldiers, or rescuing downed crews of crashed helicopters from behind enemy lines.
Multiplayer
Dragon Rising also features a multiplayer mode. In storyline co-op mode, up to 4 human players can play through the singleplayer campaign together, each human player replacing a computer-controlled character. There are also the pure multiplayer modes Annihilation and Infiltration, with more multiplayer modes promised for after the release of the main game. The game does not feature dedicated servers. The player vs player multiplayer includes four maps to choose from on the retail disk.
GAMEPLAY
The real-world island of Kiska (on which the in-game island of Skira is directly based) is located on the western end of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska and was involved in WWII. It was at one point liberated by US and Canadian forces after capture by Japanese forces. The developers have aimed to copy the 277.698 km2 (107.220 sq mi) accurately to give players a sandbox composed of natural terrain, instead of artificially designed or procedurally generated terrain.
Skira is a volcanic island with a variety of terrain. At one end is a stratovolcano, 8.5 by 6.4 km (5.3 by 4.0 mi) in diameter at its base and 1,221 m (4,006 ft) high, and at the base of the volcano is a section of low lake lands. A ridge of 1,000+ foot mountains runs down one side of the western portion of the island while the other side is generally flatter with numerous lakes and small waterways.
In real time, crossing the island would take 9 hours on foot, 4 hours in a jeep and 20 minutes in a helicopter. However, it is only possible to do this within the PC mission editor or with the Skira Island Tour mission. Skira is sparsely populated with some towns and more isolated houses and settlements. An interview with developers suggests that the civilians have all been evacuated ahead of the arrival of US forces. Although at a few points of the map, dead civilians can be found. An example is the oil refinery where two dead bodies can found beside the generator, one with a large exit wound to his head, pointing at posible PLA involvement.
Weapons, vehicles and characters
According to Game Informer, there are over 70 weapons in game, all supported by a realistic ballistics system, although most are not readily accessible to the player. The weapons available in the game range from pistols and sub-machine guns to artillery and large bombs. Depending on the current campaign mission, they are pre-modified and equipped with optics, grenade launchers, laser sights or suppressors. The ballistics system, which simulates the effects of each weapon on buildings, vehicles, and people, is based as much as possible on the real specifications of each weapon (information on Chinese PLA weapons and vehicles is limited in some cases and also takes into account flight times and effective ranges for each projectile. The balance of the weapons is not arbitrarily created by the game developers, but was based on information provided by real life weapons designers. Learning the best usage of each of these weapons was intended to be a significant part of the challenge of the game.
A graphical listing of known included weapons was recently published . It is not currently known whether this list is comprehensive or not.
Reloading a weapon, placing it to the shoulder, and other combat animations have been motion captured using soldiers who have been trained to use the equipment in real life.
There are 50 different land, air and sea vehicles including helicopters, tanks, boats and APCs along with a few vehicles/weapons which cannot be used directly, but which can be called in a support role, such as fighter jets and artillery. Most of the vehicles, however, are not accessible to the player outside of the PC mission editor.
The developers have created large numbers of faces for the characters involved in the game.The equipment that is carried by each character is accurate and, where applicable, distinct to that character's role. For example, communication specialists can be readily identified by the radio they carry. Everything the player's squad members are carrying is visible. All of this visible information is designed to allow better command of the squad mates as the player will be able to recognize them as a person by their face or by their equipment allowing them to give the best orders to each member
CAMPAIGNS
1.DRAGON RISING
2.BLINDING THE DRAGON
3.UNITED WE STAND
4.EAGLE OFFENSE
5.POWDER TRAIL
6.HIP SHOT
7.BLEEDING EDGE
8.LOOKING FOR LOIS
9.TRUMPET'S SOUND
10.DECAPITATION
11.DRAGON FURRY
SHORT MISSIONS
1.NIGHT RAID
2.COASTAL STRONGHOLD
3.AMBUSH
4.CLOSE QUARTERS
5.ENCAMPMENT
6.DEBRIS FIELD
