This title has been rated R16: Contains violence.

Operation Flashpoint: Resistance casts the player as Victor Troska, an experienced ex-Special Forces militia soldier. Having turned his back on his military past, Troska has settled into a respectable civilian life on the island of Nogova*, a short distance from the original game’s three islands. However, his situation changes when the Soviet force invades the island group and destroys Troska's idyllic dreams.
Reluctant at first to return to a conflict situation, he is forced to participate in, and then lead, the ramshackle Resistance effort, which grows up in response to the Soviet occupation of the island.

As Operation Flashpoint: Resistance begins before the US Army and its resources came to the islands, players have to scavenge equipment from whatever sources they can manage, which provides for different play experience to the heavily-resourced original game.

Throughout the closely linked missions, the overriding objectives include growing your resistance force by gaining new recruits and gathering equipment, preserving as many of your comrades as you can to build an army strong enough to repel the Soviets.