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Delta Force: Black Hawk Down (Xbox): 4 Reasons to Buy

Delta Force Black Hawk Down Cover

Delta Force: Black Hawk Down (Xbox): 4 Reasons to Buy

NovaLogic’s 2005 console release of Delta Force: Black Hawk Down is a competent first-person shooter, but it’s based on the two-year old PC version. In this day and age of military, quad-based, tactical shooters like Call of Duty, Black Hawk Down ends up feeling just a bit out of step with the times.

One the other hand, if you’re a bit of lone wolf you might appreciate the straightforwardness of Black Hawk Down. There are tons of modes that don’t require much in the way of teamwork. In the single-player mode you will be flanked by a handful of AI soldiers that you can issue commands to with the interface or the Xbox Communicator headset. Commands are not the focus of the gameplay and serve only to offer you more flexibility. The bots will hold their own without being told what to do – and even at that, they won’t win the battle for you regardless of what commands you issue.

Screenshot from Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, depicting a soldier firing a rocket launcher at a car from first-person view.

Based on a True Story

Based on actual events, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down is the story of a pair of American choppers that crashed in the streets of Mogadishu in 1993 amidst an angry mob of enemy soldier and civilians armed with weapons and a deep resentment toward Americans. The incident began as a news report, and ultimately became a novel, a movie, and a PC game in 2003. While the story is timeless, the game is somewhat dated.

Screenshot from Delta Force Black Hawk Down, featuring soldiers in the desert.

Excellent Online Play

Online play is incredible. You can find servers that will accommodate up to 50 players. Teamwork is not thrust upon you; you can get pretty far in the game just looking out for number one. An abundance of modes let you play just about every variation of Deathmatch, King of the Hill and Capture the Flag, just to name a few. There are split-screen multiplayer and co-op modes to boot.

The character and class that you choose are persistent and will continue to evolve, kind of like a RPG without any actual leveling up. Your skills will increase commensurate with your gaming skills, most specifically your reflexes and aiming. It’s not easy picking out some of the enemies at a distance, especially with the four-player split screen. The streets are filled with enemies and innocent civilians. It’s up to you to discern among them, though firing upon civilians will instantly penalize you.

Play How You Want

Classes available to choose from include sniper, medic, assault, and melee. They have the ability to jump, lean, roll, kneel, and lie down in ambush. This is especially great news for the sniper, who benefits from staying low and hidden. All classes can use binoculars to locate the enemy, but unless you’ve got a high-powered sniper rifle you’re not liable to hit them from a great distance.

The maps are huge, and unlike the PC version there are some vehicles, but they come with restrictions. They are only available on the larger maps and you have no control over where they go. You can use them to shoot on rails. They are indestructible and provide unlimited ammo, so you will be at a very unrealistic advantage as you mow down hordes of enemies.

Areas such as the deserts are barren, while the streets are a labyrinth teeming with danger. The maps can be huge, and as a result some of the graphics and framerate can take a nosedive. The textures are blurry and the colors often have a washed-out look. Even with surround sound, you can’t pinpoint the exact location of the enemy’s gunfire. It’s just a sound effect thrown in for ambience that can’t be used as a tool.

Easy to Find a Match

There were always plenty of matches being played online, and it wasn’t a problem finding a good connection. The developers claim that there are tons of maps currently available only to PC players that will be made available for Xbox and PS2 users in the future. Even without them there is still a lot of game here for the money.

If you’re interested in a straightforward shooter with no storyline getting in the way, then you might want to give Delta Force: Black Hawk Down a shot. Even with some dated graphics and gameplay mechanics, the online modes alone make this a game worth playing.

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