Delta Force 2

"A great combat simulator!"

Delta Force 2 is quite possibly one of the best games I have ever played. It's like Golden Eye on steroids. It mixes guns, explosives, and knives with multi-player action over the Internet.

Game Play

It's one of the realest combat simulations to date. It's fun because you can be a sniper with a rifle, be risky and try and knife someone, or be RAMBO and run around the map like a crazed lunatic with the fully automatic saw. You can carry two or three weapons at a time and, if you need it, you can bring some bullet proof equipment like a kevlar vest. They also have scuba gear and underwater guns when you are feeling a little fishy. You also get grenades for when the going gets tough. The weapons are based on real guns as well. I like the M4 Carbine because it's a burst weapon that can be used to snipe or for close range combat and it comes with a nice little grenade launcher! The single player missions are challenging because the game is just like real life where if you get hit, chances are you will go down. They have quick missions if you just like playing a covert ops mission every once and a while and also a campaign in which you try to stop terrorists in many missions with special mission objectives. I like the feature of being able to pick your spy. There are a bunch of choices, including gender, race, etc. and you also get to pick your arm patch, which tells people where you are from (They have flags from many different countries including, Israel, Russia, and the good old USA). The game sets up strategies it thinks will work for you and picks the guns it thinks best fit the level, however, if you don't like 'em you can just pick your own weapons and try out your own strategy! Another nice feature of this game is the ability to make your own maps to play. And in the campaign and missions, the mission briefings map out the level and tell you possible routes you can take and also where your team will be as well. One of the funny multi-player features are the buildings. You are being shot at and you make it in to the building ... phew! ... NOT! Depending on the building and the gun your opponent is using you can get shot right throw the house. And other buildings can be blown to bits with one or two rockets or grenades. One downside is that it is really choppy when you are in multi-player games. There are also a few cheaters playing as well.

Audio/Video

I like the graphics a lot because they put a lot of work into the characters and when you are close up to an enemy they aren't blocky. And if you know what a person looks like and you are sniping them you can tell its them by the details of the character. The sound effects are cool too. In single player your friends tell you ''There's a sniper by the plane!'' or other details according to the level and where you are. Not only do your partners say things, but you can too! There are hot keys on the keyboard so you can say things like ''I'm going in!''. If you have a microphone on your computer, you can record yourself and play it back over the Internet to your teammates or enemies. This isn't common, but I have heard a few. There are a variety of sounds for gunfire and also sounds for when it hits something like dirt or metal (they differ, cool!). There are also blood curdling screams from your enemies or you when you get shot. And there is a cool little song right when you get in to the game and are selecting your soldier and mission or multi-player game. And how could I forget the woman that reads you your mission briefings?

Story

You are an operative working covert ops missions for Delta Force against international terrorists. In the missions, the terrorists have stolen a deadly virus and it is your job to find it before they use it on the innocent people. Simple enough?

Replay

This game will keep you coming back for more because you may not like to play the missions once you beat them but you just switch to multi-player where the challenge never ends because there is always someone better than you. I switch off practicing my snipe abilities, rushing, and knifing. You never know when any of them can come in handy. Knifing is especially fun because in multi-player you get a plus 3 bonus if you get a knife kill.

Overall

Overall the game is pretty damn good. The only drawbacks are the multi-player being choppy and a few of the enemies in single player being complete idiots or complete cheap asses. Definitely worthy of a nine.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/12/01, Updated 01/12/01