Delta Force: Black Hawk Down

"Singleplayer is good, but Multiplayer is MUCH better!"

Delta Force: Black Hawk Down is based upon the missions of US troops ion their peacekeeping mission in Somalia in the early 1990’s. This game is not based on the film Black Hawk Down; rather it includes missions that occurred before the film as well as the mission from the film. However, most people already probably know this so lets get right to the characteristics of the game itself...

Gameplay:
Delta Force: Black Hawk Down is an interesting FPS in that it seems to be confused as to whether it is a tactical or run-and-gun shooter. While this might seem on the surface to be a negative quality, I feel the dual nature of this game is actually a benefit. While the controls feel more like a Quake or Unreal type of game (quick and responsive), the tactics that must be used are far more like Ghost Recon. While you could run around like a loon as in a Quake, this will quickly get you killed in most circumstances. The main reason for this is because there are TONS of hiding places that can almost entirely conceal a sniper. Because of this, it is usually necessary to move while crawling or in a prone position in order to avoid being too easily visible.

There are significant differences between the single and multiplayer portions of the game. Below are some of the main issues for each:

Single Player:
I think most people would find the most faults with the SP portion of the game, however this is not to say that it is bad. The SP game is rather linear, with much of the time being spent in a Humvee turret or on a Black Hawk minigun. These shooting segments are fun, however, the player is more or less in control of a turret only. While it is possible to jump out of the Humvee at any time, it would take so long to reach your destination that this is really impractical. Once you get out of your vehicle (and you do in every mission) the game does open up somewhat, however, you will still feel like you are being pushed from point A to point B.

The main problems I have with the SP missions are that they are too short (mostly under 8-10 minutes), the AI is incredibly stupid (the “Skinnies” will often spin around in circles or stare at you rather than shoot), and they can be a bit linear. The positive aspects are that the missions seem authentic and they are generally fun despite their flaws.

Multiplayer:
Multiplayer is where this game shines, and few FPSS fans are going to complain about this aspect of the game. The maps are HUGE there are lots of great places to hide. Many of the buildings are climbable or can be entered, and there are various emplaced guns (such as 50 cal. Machine guns or grenade launchers) that can be used. Also, most MP maps include Humvees or choppers that one can ride in, however, in my experience these usually get you killed rather than help you. There are a good number of gameplay modes such as death match, team death match, attack and defend, capture the flag, etc. Also, there are 4 character classes to choose from (medic, sniper, Close combat, and machine gunner) but the weapons that each class can use usually overlap with another class.

I have encountered some problems with servers such as them freezing or not loading properly, however, this is fairly rare. A potential problem for players with low bandwidth connections is the fact that you can be booted from a server if your ping is too high. This has happened to me a few times and I play on a 128 kb connection, so 56kb users might want to consider this.

Graphics/Sound:
Graphics are generally very good. The water effects are great (much like Morrowind) as are the lighting effects and gun models. Player models are not bad, however they do lack a certain amount of detail, but this is probably due to the massive nature of the maps. Overall, the graphics are quite nice and most players won’t be disappointed.

Sound effects are excellent whether they are the gun shots, impact noises, ambient noises or radio chatter. The music is not that great with much of it being corny electric guitar rifts. If one can ignore some of the music, than there is really nothing to complain about at all regarding BHD’s music.

Playtime/Replayability:
The SP game is short but the MP game will attract gamers for a long time to come. Add to the already great multiplayer all the maps and mods that will be released and it is clear that this game will have a loyal multiplayer following for quite some time.

Overall:
If you like FPS’s than chances are you will like this game. Fans of both arcade and tactical FPS’s will likely find something they like in BHD. Anyone who is a fan of the movie or watching war coverage on the news will definitely want to give this game a go.

P.S. The game is much better than the demo. I originally was not going to get this game because of the demo, however, the finished version is a huge improvement over the demo.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/03, Updated 04/20/03