Delta Force Black Hawk Down
Matthew Cash
For Novalogic, the Delta Force series put them at the top of their game and kept them there since the beginning. In 2003, they decided to change the series to a more arcade-like feel to it and while I love the tactical edge of the first and second, this style is really fitting, actually making online matches much faster-paced and fun.
Lets talk about the campaign for a brief second. This game's campaign, like the movie Black Hawk Down, takes place in Somalia in 1993. Though, the game doesn't take an ultimately linear approach to the story like Call of Duty or Halo, but gives you a list of missions and you must complete at least one of these missions to unlock a new one. However, Novalogic didn't make this campaign to be the main attraction to the game. It's straightforward shooting, but it's fun and has some variety in the objectives. Other than that, there's nothing special.
But multiplayer is the biggest part of the game and is hosted by Novaworld, Novalogic's own free multiplayer service. While I never played this back when I was 6 (2003!), I've been playing online considerably since about the middle of May and have had many hours of fun on there. There's non-stop action when you enter the room, whether it be a co-op server, Team Death Match, Deathmatch, or any of the other standard modes.
However, I'll warn you that this is not CoD 4. You don't have rankings, perks, new weapons, etc. Instead, you have your skill and you ability to have fun. If you can't go into an online game without those features, this isn't the game for you. However, this game is still remarkably fun and Nova still updates the servers for a polished online experience. Anyway, the best part about the multiplayer is the knowledge that you'll probably never play a map twice. There's a large amount of user maps on the game due to the easy to use map editor (we'll get to that later) and, at that, still a large amount of users. There's usually 800 users on in the middle of the day on the Black Hawk Down servers and, if you get the expansion pack, around 10 people on the Team Sabre servers. At night or early morning, about 2 people in TS and around 350 in BHD. So, yes, you'll always have several hundred players to go up against and there's dedicated servers in there as well.
Getting into a match of any type is very much entertaining as you'll die QUICKLY. You can only survive 2 or 3 shots, so don't go in expecting to be Superman. When you die, however, you can wait for a medic to revive you, you can spawn at the default spawn point, or you can spawn at designated spawn points your team has grabbed during the match. You can also choose what weapons you want at some of the armories near these spawn points. There are different classes (CQB, Medic, Sniper, and Gunner) and you can choose your appearance from a Delta Force member or one of SAS. There are many weapons, ranging anywhere from an AR15 (though the game calls it a CAR 15 for some odd reason. Spelling error?) to a Barett .50 Cal sniper rifle and AT4. There's at least 15 weapons in total, really. However, all of these weapons are available to players as soon as they go into multiplayer, though some classes are limited to specific weapons (ex: Medics can't use M60's or sniper rifles, Snipers can't use assault rifles, etc.).
In the end, this is just as good as the rest of the Delta Force games. I know what you're thinking, though: this isn't a classic. Tell it to the fans, people. There may be a lackluster campaign, but it provides a good few hours of fun, though the only reason to recommend Team Sabre is for the ability to play on the server "TIO COOP WORLD" as the 2 extra campaigns in this expansion are buggy. The multiplayer, however, is where this game really shines. Chances are good that you'll have just as much fun as I did when playing this game if you forget about any kind of leveling and prestige system. In short, this is where Delta Force was at it's peak and it'll last just as long to me as Mario or GoldenEye 007.
This has been classified as a classic game as such games do not end with a review score for differentiation purposes. Side effects may include chronic diarrhea, headaches, stomachaches, dry mouth, loss of vision or hearing, drowsiness, constipation, or, in some rare cases, death may occur. Ask your doctor if this review is right for you.
For Novalogic, the Delta Force series put them at the top of their game and kept them there since the beginning. In 2003, they decided to change the series to a more arcade-like feel to it and while I love the tactical edge of the first and second, this style is really fitting, actually making online matches much faster-paced and fun.
Lets talk about the campaign for a brief second. This game's campaign, like the movie Black Hawk Down, takes place in Somalia in 1993. Though, the game doesn't take an ultimately linear approach to the story like Call of Duty or Halo, but gives you a list of missions and you must complete at least one of these missions to unlock a new one. However, Novalogic didn't make this campaign to be the main attraction to the game. It's straightforward shooting, but it's fun and has some variety in the objectives. Other than that, there's nothing special.
But multiplayer is the biggest part of the game and is hosted by Novaworld, Novalogic's own free multiplayer service. While I never played this back when I was 6 (2003!), I've been playing online considerably since about the middle of May and have had many hours of fun on there. There's non-stop action when you enter the room, whether it be a co-op server, Team Death Match, Deathmatch, or any of the other standard modes.
However, I'll warn you that this is not CoD 4. You don't have rankings, perks, new weapons, etc. Instead, you have your skill and you ability to have fun. If you can't go into an online game without those features, this isn't the game for you. However, this game is still remarkably fun and Nova still updates the servers for a polished online experience. Anyway, the best part about the multiplayer is the knowledge that you'll probably never play a map twice. There's a large amount of user maps on the game due to the easy to use map editor (we'll get to that later) and, at that, still a large amount of users. There's usually 800 users on in the middle of the day on the Black Hawk Down servers and, if you get the expansion pack, around 10 people on the Team Sabre servers. At night or early morning, about 2 people in TS and around 350 in BHD. So, yes, you'll always have several hundred players to go up against and there's dedicated servers in there as well.
Getting into a match of any type is very much entertaining as you'll die QUICKLY. You can only survive 2 or 3 shots, so don't go in expecting to be Superman. When you die, however, you can wait for a medic to revive you, you can spawn at the default spawn point, or you can spawn at designated spawn points your team has grabbed during the match. You can also choose what weapons you want at some of the armories near these spawn points. There are different classes (CQB, Medic, Sniper, and Gunner) and you can choose your appearance from a Delta Force member or one of SAS. There are many weapons, ranging anywhere from an AR15 (though the game calls it a CAR 15 for some odd reason. Spelling error?) to a Barett .50 Cal sniper rifle and AT4. There's at least 15 weapons in total, really. However, all of these weapons are available to players as soon as they go into multiplayer, though some classes are limited to specific weapons (ex: Medics can't use M60's or sniper rifles, Snipers can't use assault rifles, etc.).
In the end, this is just as good as the rest of the Delta Force games. I know what you're thinking, though: this isn't a classic. Tell it to the fans, people. There may be a lackluster campaign, but it provides a good few hours of fun, though the only reason to recommend Team Sabre is for the ability to play on the server "TIO COOP WORLD" as the 2 extra campaigns in this expansion are buggy. The multiplayer, however, is where this game really shines. Chances are good that you'll have just as much fun as I did when playing this game if you forget about any kind of leveling and prestige system. In short, this is where Delta Force was at it's peak and it'll last just as long to me as Mario or GoldenEye 007.
This has been classified as a classic game as such games do not end with a review score for differentiation purposes. Side effects may include chronic diarrhea, headaches, stomachaches, dry mouth, loss of vision or hearing, drowsiness, constipation, or, in some rare cases, death may occur. Ask your doctor if this review is right for you.