Originally developed by NovaLogic, their last official Delta Force game was Delta Force: Xtreme 2 released in 2009. Before Call of Duty was heralded as the king of tactical shooters, there was the Delta Force franchise. It rejected arcade-style gameplay and instead focused on realism, becoming one of the pioneers of the genre. NovaLogic eventually went defunct and the rights to the series were purchased by Tencent, who have revived the franchise Team Jade.
Since the Black Hawk Down Campaign is a separate paid component, this review will focus exclusively on the two multiplayer modes the game offers: Warfare and Operations.
OPERATING WITH THE OPERATORS
Though the game is a military shooter at its core, the presentation starkly contrasts the previous games. Previous games tried to mimic the look and feel of the real Delta Force operations during the 90s. You had period-appropriate weapons, vehicles, and architecture seen through the eyes of a blank-slate protagonist. Here, things are different. Instead of the 90s grounded, you have a near future. Instead of a blank slate, you have the hero shooter approach. A cast of highly trained operators, each with their own backstory and passive and active abilities.
Operators are separated into four categories.
- Assault – Mobility and damage.
- Support – Healing or buffs.
- Engineer – Vehicle and area control.
- Recon – Map awareness.
You have tanks, helicopters, APCs, and the stuff from your favorite gun catalogs. And then you’ve got the operators, who are each equipped with a piece of advanced gear. You can use D-Wolf, the exoskeleton-equipped assault, for some high-speed flanking, or you can use Stinger and stay behind the lines, riddling your allies with health needles. The operators are designed in such a way that they excel in different scenarios, encouraging the player to swap and experiment. It might sound like the fantastic elements will create an aesthetic clash, but they don’t. It’s usually just one piece of advanced machinery, with everything else being standard. The sci-fi element isn’t alien flashy. It appears practical like you’re dealing with a prototype build or a first official model.
Sounds a bit like Battlefield 2042, right? This is some not-so-subtle foreshadowing.
The only overpowered operator at the moment, in my opinion, is Luna. Luna’s passive ability lets her highlight enemies whenever she deals damage. Her ultimate ability lets her shoot an arrow that scans for enemies, with a scan radius depending on the arrow’s trajectory. Her shock arrows are also good for pinning enemies. Her passive also synergizes with vehicles and mounted guns. Considering positioning plays a key role in all modes, it can be very easy to foil the enemy’s plans as Luna. Stupidly easy even.
Each operator has its challenges and levels, with each level unlocking parts of its backstory and customization options. While it is small, I appreciate how the developer has tried to make you connect with them. Lore excerpts you unlock by leveling an operator’s profile also shed light on the world of Delta Force. However, given the type of storytelling the game is currently going for, it’s easy to forget there is a greater world. The current customization options for operators are scant, currently most unlocks will be sprays and voice lines. My favorite operator by far is Roy “Stinger” Smee, the medic. Besides being really fun to play, he has this unrelenting optimism.
CUSTOMIZE TO YOUR HEART’S CONTENT
The current selection of guns is very good, with each of them having a sea of available attachments and different stats. Low-tier attachments are straight upgrades, providing small but meaningful bonuses, while higher gear usually comes with a tradeoff. The guns are modeled nicely, sound, and feel powerful. You can also fine-tune certain attachments to better fit your criteria, which is a great feature. If you’re familiar with any modern military shooters with gun customization, you’ll know that attachments can vastly change the experience.
In Warfare, new guns are unlocked with levels; if you extract in Operations with a gun you don’t have, you’ll unlock it. It’s a nice little way to encourage players to swap modes. Attachments in Warfare are unlocked by leveling each gun, either through regular gameplay or by using XP consumables. Unlocking all attachments for each gun might take a while, but as long as you do moderately well and cycle guns regularly, you’ll have a few options. In Operations, guns and attachments are immediately available and can be purchased with in-game currency. Each class in Warfare is restricted to different firearms.
WARFARE – FUN BUT MESSY
Building on that not-so-subtle foreshadowing.
The most popular Warfare mode is Attack and Defend, identical to Battlefield’s Rush mode. Like Rush, you have two teams battling over a large map split into sectors. Each team is separated into squads of four. Attackers need to capture all objectives while having limited respawns. Taking over all objectives in a sector grants attackers extra time, respawns, and opens the next section of the map. Defenders need to push the enemy until the timer runs out or the attackers have no more respawns. Besides contesting objectives with infantry, both teams can utilize vehicles and air support to get an edge. The good news is Attack and Defend borrows from the best parts of Battlefield. The bad news is that it also borrows the worst parts of Battlefield.
In the best situation, you’ll be experiencing a grand battle where coordination and teamwork will result in a bombastic victory, where you change your playstyle according to the situation and coordinate with your squad—running from cover to cover while bullets and debris fly over your head—controlling choke points and mounting a daring assault with air or ground vehicles or decimating foes with artillery strikes. Movement is good, crouching or prone offer different advantages and there’s a lean feature to make sure you can spray without getting sprayed. Combine that with the great sound design and destructible environments; there’s a sense of chaos that few shooters have managed to replicate. When everything is going as intended, you feel like you’re stuck in a Michael Bay movie. That is nothing short of awesome.
At worst, you’ll witness the same cheesy tactics that made many never touch Battlefield. Entire squads of snipers hunkering around the edge of the map. Grenades and other explosives are being thrown in all directions. People are rushing your spawn point. Or enemies capturing all your objectives using the “3 vehicles sitting in a corner” strategy. Attack and Defend is all about giant battles in giant maps where you need to control one or two specific spots at a time, so it’s expected that many players will resort to rat tactics to win. It’s not cheating. Players are free to approach however they want. You can still make a comeback. Clutch moments are pretty tense. You can still have fun. But having warfare on a grand scale will always open the door to cheap tactics.
I also noticed that the mode is more forgiving on attackers than defenders. Should attackers perform well in the early and mid portions of the match, then all lost time and manpower is completely negligible. Securing a sector can grant 100 or 115 extra respawns. This has resulted in a lot more pressure playing as a defender and some matches feeling like a stomp. Some, not all.
The point is, think of any scenario that made Battlefield’s gameplay feel cool or gimmicky and it probably applies here. Attack and Defend has plenty of fun moments and frustrations.
The other game modes include a practice mode, another iteration of Attack and Defend, and some King Of The Hill. The modes are not bad but the same cheesy tactics apply here and the enjoyment is not on the same level as regular Attack and Defend. They are a good palette cleanser but not the main draw.
LOOT AND SCOOT
Unlike Warfare, Operations is the game’s extraction mode, combining PvE and PvP elements. Warfare is faster and more about a relentless onslaught, while Operations puts way, way more value on tactical gameplay. Movement is slower, there’s resource scarcity, inventory management, no health regen, a armor system, stamina, status effects, and skills are tweaked.
Teams of 3 are randomly dropped in a large, detailed map, with different loot, points of interest and difficulty settings. Before each drop you’re given the chance to gear up, either with items you’ve purchased, been gifted or scavenged in a previous run. Or if you’re new or want to play it safe, you can use a premade build. Once you’re dropped you’re free to do whatever you want. You can complete missions, map specific objectives, scavenge, hunt down bosses or enemy players. Loot is randomly generated and the only real objective is to extract with as much of a profit as possible. Dying/failing to extract means losing all loot save for items stashed in your extremely limited safe box.
Between regular gameplay is the Black Site, the player’s hub. Levelling up allows the player to upgrade and unlock different stations. Stations offer new items, crafting opportunities or passive bonuses. Items gathered can be sold, or used for crafting and upgrades. Item value/rarity uses your typical RPG color system. White being common/cheap/weak, purple being rare/expensive/strong etc. There’s a undeniable sense of progression as you improve your stations, acquire items and get richer. Skulking around corners, checking entry points, being mindful of your condition and supplies, while trying to get rich.
You need to pay close attention to your surroundings and sound. It feels dynamic and fresh. Some of my tensest moments in Delta Force were with Operations. Because survival can be tough there’s an incentive to help your squad, moving around like an actual military unit and sharing resources. Should teammates extract with items that belong to you, said items will be given back, which is amazing. It’s a good way to segment friendliness between teammates while preventing bad faith actors from stealing your gear.
The loadout system (for better and worse) allows you to handle matches however you wish. While the most common premade loadouts are not the strongest and can’t be modified, they do offer different approaches, are free, and at least you won’t start the game completely defenseless. If you do extract with a premade loadout, you’ll have the ability to customize it or sell it. That’s a nice compromise. The auction house system allows you to prepare accordingly while making as much of a profit as possible.
The problem with Operations, is the loadout system can lead to some unfair moments. The difficulties only affect the PvE elements, with higher difficulty maps requiring a minimum gear value. In the image below I was playing in Zero Dam on easy. The most straightforward terrain, the starting map for new players, with the easiest objectives and enemies. It’s the map where players are most likely to use low-tier premade builds. Yet my opponent decided to sneak in a fully kitted marksman rifle, with ammo level 3 or higher, effectively rendering any armor I have useless. The problem is, there is no limit to the amount and type of gear you can bring to a match.
If your opponent is using ammo that is equal or above your armor level, your armor is effectively meaningless. You lose durability and take full damage. The disparity between gear levels can be so high, gunfights can become a question of who spent more rather than who has the better skill. Your enemy can tank half a magazine, while they two tap you. You can wander around with a SMG and level 1 armor, and stumble on a player kitted with purple rarity armor and a machine gun. The gear system works well in higher difficulty maps where you’re supposed to invest in better stuff to deal with the PvE element. I’ve managed to defeat high gear players with low level guns through stealth and cooperation. Because you paid more doesn’t mean you’ll automatically win, it just means you have a stat advantage.
Having a gear value cap would fix the problem. It would force new and experienced players to consider their approach based on resource limitations. Putting less reliance on RNG and more on skill and teamplay. Having a post game killcam would also be very useful. Also, you really, really need good headphones and a mic for this.
CHEATING IS BAD, M’KAY?
I mentioned how players using rat tactics aren’t cheating. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t actual cheating being done.
I’ve unfortunately had to report quite a few people. And even more unfortunately, a fair chunk of my reports have proved positive. Most commonly, you’ll see cheaters using auto aim for some quick headshots or wall hacks. In a single week the developer has managed to ban over 1000 cheaters, going as far as publicly shaming some of the offenders in a Steam update post. Cheating in free to play games is sadly very common, especially during launch. That being said, I am glad the developer is trying to maintain a positive environment.
CONCLUSION
I did not expect to sink so many hours in Delta Force. The presentation solid, the gunplay good, the operators (save for Luna) were fun to play. While Warfare and Operations do have some room for improvement, I found myself enjoying the two modes amidst moments of frustration. It’s definitely worth a try.