Delta Force: Black Hawk Down

"Novalogic brings DF back from the dead"

Novalogic's Delta Force came out during a time when tactical shooters were just becoming popular. While its competitors focused on team tactics and close quarters combat, Delta Force was a different beast, with it's main draw being huge sight lines and lone-wolf style sniping oriented play. After the second game, the series started to wane but was still fun. The cash-in that was Task Force Dagger marked the end of the Delta Force brand, until it came back with this game: Black Hawk Down.

Story:
Unless the game is set during WW2 or the Vietnam War, games based on real conflicts don't really have a back story. This is not the case with Black Hawk Down, which is based on the Mark Bowden book of the same name. Both the book and the game tell the story of Operation Restore Hope and Operation Gothic Serpent. While the game takes quite a few liberties with the story, it does provide a lot of background into the history of what's going on - the overall story is fleshed out fully in each pre-mission briefing, during short cinematics and in the game's manual, which dedicates several pages to it. You will play through missions as a member of at least one of the U.S. forces there, such as the Delta Force and Army Rangers. You never feel any connection to your team mates, but Delta Force games were never about character development.
Score: 7/10

Graphics:
Graphics were never this series' strong point, but it's undeniable that this game is the best looking Delta Force game to date. The draw distance is huge, and you can see clearly for miles. Level design is fantastic throughout the game, although the maps start to run together towards the end of the game. The somewhat simplistic character models and animation can be forgiven purely because of the game's amazing scope and scalability - you can play this game on a fairly old machine and still run it silky smooth.
Score: 8/10

Audio:
Black Hawk Down aims high and hits the mark in the audio department. The game feels a lot more fleshed out in terms of sound then it did in previous games. There's a full soundtrack, with appropriately adrenaline-inducing rock music during action heavy sequences, along with some surprisingly strong voice acting. Weapon sounds are particularly well done, and each weapon sounds unique. It feels like they put a lot more effort into the audio since the last Delta Force game and they've done it right.
Score: 9/10

Gameplay:
Although the game and the movie have no relation apart from the subject matter, Black Hawk Down definitely feels like a videogame that would have been produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. While there is still a lot of sniping in this game, Black Hawk Down focuses on balls to the wall action and features a lot of fun and intense close quarters fights. Black Hawk Down is a great example of what I like to call "unrealism" - there is the right amount of realistic and unrealistic elements involved that makes the game feel realistic without hampering the fun factor.

Each mission starts off with a short overview and an inventory selection screen, where you can select from a variety of rifles, machineguns, side arms and auxiliary items such as satchels and AT-4s, all of which are used by U.S. forces. You're then given a more detailed mission briefing during the loading screen, and then you can start the mission when you feel ready. Mission objectives range from protecting convoys and destroying enemy supplies to neutralizing/capturing enemy leaders and rescuing missing team mates. Most missions are very combat heavy, and many also put you behind the controls of the Vulcan minigun on Black Hawk or the .50 caliber on a Humvee with unlimited ammo.

If there's one thing the game does right, it's atmosphere. Whereas the areas in other Delta Force games felt barren and dull at times, Black Hawk Down makes you feel like you're in a large scale battle in every mission. You're never working alone - you'll always have at least 3 other soldiers watching your back. Civilians will either embrace you with open arms or hug you. Little Birds will strafe areas, laying down precious cover fire. Enemy technicals - trucks with mounted guns - will roll by, etc. Heck, there are even crocodiles that can kill you in swamp areas. The best example of this is the mission "Irene", where the U.S. assault force begins in their air base, flies in Mogadishu in a fleet of helicopters and proceeds to execute the mission to arrest Aidid's lieutenants.

The game isn't overly difficult, since most weapons will kill enemies with a single hit and can be fired with minimal recoil. Sometimes it feels like a shooting gallery, though - with 200 rounds for your sniper rifle and about a mile between you and them, you feel pretty much invincible. The game does overwhelm you with lots of enemies who are pretty stupid but are decent shots. The most common deaths come from either snipers that you didn't spot or from peek-a-boo RPG soldiers, who can quickly end a rail shooting sequence. You will still find ammo boxes and health items lying around, although they aren't nearly as common as they are in more arcade-like shooters. Each mission comes with a preset amount of saves you can perform at any time you wish, but after you run out you cannot save any more. This encourages you to think before saving, and you will usually have a fair amount to last you throughout each level. Black Hawk Down is difficult enough to provide a fair challenge, but not enough so that you'll want to stop playing.

The game throws in a robust map/mission editor, and gives you the choice of replaying each singleplayer mission that you've beaten. However, like most Delta Force games, a huge amount of the replay factor comes from multiplayer.

Black Hawk Down's multiplayer is a lot more fleshed out and complex than past Delta Force games. The game features four basic classes, each of which have their own specialties. You have the gunner, who has more endurance, moves slower but is the only class that can use the powerful heavy machine guns. Then there's the sniper, which is the only class that has sniper rifles and touch-triggered claymore mines. Next is the medic, who can revive fallen team mates. Last but not least is the CQB class, which has the only silenced weapon in the game - the MP5 - available to it, as well as the longest reach with the combat knife. The game has a feature called Progressive Spawn Points, or PSPs. In team games, both teams have one spawn, and there are many other spawns littered around maps that can be captured and used by either team. Black Hawk Down multiplayer also has Humvees and Black Hawks, but these cannot be controlled - instead, they move around maps on rails and all you can do is take control of the weapons inside, which is rather disappointing. There is a large amount of game types, which include the regular deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag and king of the hill, as well as a single flag CTF variant called Flag Ball, and some attack/defend team game styles. The multiplayer has a rather steep learning curve, but it is very rewarding to play. The game is able to host 50 players with a minimal amount of lag - this may not seem impressive now, with what the Battlefield series is a capable of, but it was pretty good for its time.
Score: 9/10

Summary:
Pros:
+ Awesome singleplayer and multiplayer
+ Great mix of realism and arcade elements
+ Amazing atmosphere and presentation
+ Crazy draw distance
+ Bundled map editor is great
Cons:
- Weak AI
- Vehicles are basically guns on rails in multiplayer
- Multiplayer has a steep learning curve

If you're a Delta Force fan and don't already own this game, then get it as soon as you can - it's definitely the best out of the entire series. Heck, newbies to the Delta Force series will find enjoyment in this game as well.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/22/08

Game Release: Delta Force: Black Hawk Down (US, 03/23/03)