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 Delta
Force: Black Hawk Down is a decent first-person shooter
but it's based on the two-year old PC version. In
this day and age of military, quad-based, tactical
shooter, Black Hawk Down is a bit of a disappointment.
One
the other hand if you're a bit of lone wolf you might
just really appreciate the simplicity 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 too with the interface or with
the Xbox Communicator. 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.
Based
on actual events, 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
hatred for Americans. The incident began as a news
report and then ultimately became a novel, a movie,
and a PC videogame in 2003. While the story is timeless
the game is somewhat dated.
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
lets 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 multi-player modes and
co-op modes to boot.
 The
character and class that you choose is persistent
and will continue to evolve kind of like a RPG but
with no actual leveling-up. Your skills will increase
commensurate with your gaming skills, most specifically
your reflexes and aiming. It's not easy seeing some
of the enemies in the distance, especially with the
four-player split screen which I don't recommend using.
The streets are filled with enemies and innocent civilians.
It's up to you to discern among them. Whatever you
do, don't hit a civilian.
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 which is great news for
the sniper. You can also use binoculars to locate
the enemy but unless you've got a high-powered sniper
rifle you're not liable to hit him 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 also use them
to shoot on-rails. They are indestructible and with
unlimited ammo you will be at a very unrealistic advantage
as you mow down the hordes of angry Somalians.
Areas
such as the deserts are barren while the streets are
a labyrinth teeming with sadistic killers. The maps
can be huge and as a result some of the graphics take
a nosedive. The textures are blurry and the colors
are weak. 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.
 There
were games a-plenty being played online and it wasn't
a problem finding a good connection. The developers
claim that there are tons of maps available from the
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 this
one a shot. Pun intended.
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Based
on the real missions set in 1993, which inspired the
book and the movie. Delta Force Black Hawke Down is
going to be the largest online game of its kind for
the PS2. It will allow 32 players online while this
sounds impressive it may just be a bit lag filled.
The game is going to be a revamped version of the
popular PC version and while using the Azura graphics
engine. The game is boasting that it will have the
most realistic graphics that will recreate the war-torn
story and the levels are going to be very detailed.
News of the Xbox version has been released as well
and both seem to have the same feature except the
Xbox version will probably feature a 16-player online
mode.
The
real test for the PS2 version will be the ambitious
32-player online mode. It would be great for players
if this would play smooth and lag free. It would be
the largest online game ever available for the PS2
if they can pull this off. While the Xbox version
seems to have the same options and both versions look
good from the early screen shots. Both versions will
also feature a 2-player Co-Op mode as well as a ton
of new and impressive weapons. The game will be a
FPS shooter and many are looking closely at this one.
I have included the screen shots taken from the PS2
version and have listed features for both versions.
Take a look at the screen shots and you may agree
this one does look interesting.
PS2
Features:
