Conflict: Denied Ops follows the story of Lincoln Graves, a 47-year-old ex-Special Forces sniper, and Reggie Lang, a former FBI-heavy weapons specialist. They are now both agents of the CIA's Special Activities Division and their mission is to prevent a third-world dictatorship from gaining nuclear weapons.
The team must take on the mission across three continents, facing hordes of bad guys along the way. Both Lang and Graves have access to various types of weapons, including pistols, snipers, machine guns, rocket launchers, and grenades. As they progress through the game, they can earn upgrades for these weapons, such as improving Graves's 7.62m Sniper Rifle to allow him to fire around corners or over low cover.
One of the unique features of Conflict: Denied Ops is its co-op gameplay. Players can switch between Lang and Graves at any time and give orders to each other, including simple tasks like "Follow Me" or "Cover Me". Both characters can also complete objectives on their own or bring the player's character back into the game if he takes too much damage.
The game features a health system similar to Clive Barker's Jericho , where characters heal themselves automatically once they stop taking damage. However, if a character takes too much damage at once, he'll go down and need to wait for his teammate to revive him. The game only ends when both Lang and Graves are down at the same time.
Players can also drive various vehicles to run over bad guys or blow them up. Conflict: Denied Ops features a cooperative campaign mode that allows two players to play together over LAN and Internet, as well as several other multiplayer modes for up to 16 players.