Codemasters announces Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is gold, and the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 military shooter is on track for its planned release on October 6 in North America, October 8 in EPAC territories, and October 9 in the UK. The announcement is accompanied by a new "Eagle Offense Mission" trailer on the YouTube and a batch of new screenshots. Also, though a playable demo was promised before the game's release, a post on the Codemasters forums (thanks Big Download) from about a week ago now says: "The demo plans now are that we will now be releasing a single player and co-op demo on PC only post launch of the full game." Here's a bit from the announcement:

The violence, ferocity and carnage of war is brought to life as troops on both sides attack in authentic formations, use cover realistically and engage in ranged, close-quarters and vehicular combat. USMC forces fight through the airfield’s perimeter before infiltrating the Control Tower, eliminating enemy targets with rapid, ruthless aggression. The Marines then assume defensive positions in readiness for the PLA counter-attack. A Chinese WZ-10 attack helicopter is spectacularly blown out of the sky by a shoulder-launched surface to air missile, before the conflict culminates with PLA armour advancing across a battlefield surrounded by mortar fire and strewn with burning wreckage. This flashpoint is still white hot…