by theygamesTeam Jade’s hit shooter Delta Force is doing its part to revive the dying art of co-op chaos. Based on Ridley Scott’s Academy Award-winning war epic Black Hawk Down, the FPS game’s new campaign adds a fresh coat of paint to a genre classic. Rather than treading into threats unknown with an AI-controlled squad, you’ll bear arms with your friends in a pulse-pounding retelling of the Battle of Mogadishu.
What makes Delta Force’s approach to action refreshing is the focus on teamwork over bulldozing your surroundings. Overcoming adversity together is often the mark of some of the best FPS games out there, pooling all your efforts to survive by the skin of your teeth. That feeling is immediately apparent here, as the campaign’s first chapter pushes you to rely on smart tactics to infiltrate a heavily guarded compound crawling with enemies. You could go in all guns blazing, but you’ll likely find a one-way ticket to a grizzly demise. Instead, hold your position and observe your surroundings.
In our recent Delta Force interview, game design director Ricky Liao stresses the importance of authenticity. Instead of playing out vital moments through highly detailed cutscenes, the sheen of Unreal Engine 5 puts you directly into your operator’s boots. “We want to make Delta Force players feel really immersed and engaged with the universe we are trying to build, and feel like they are really on the battlefield,” says Liao. Environments replicate the tight-knit nature of the 2003 game of the same name. Traveling down narrow streets, unaware of what lies around the next corner, is more intense than ever. The real hammer to drive this point home is the chilling helicopter crash.
Undoubtedly one of the most spine-tingling moments in the movie, this tragic event plays out with equal measures of horror and gritty gunplay. Securing the crash site requires delegation between your squad, whether that’s searching for potential survivors, or scouring the environment for incoming danger. Equipping a versatile loadout is vital here, and it’s recommended each teammate brings something different to the table. Players can leverage different classes for success, alongside an arsenal of weaponry to cover any kind of skirmish. Prefer to observe your surroundings with a trusty scoped rifle? Or do you prefer to move in formation, using assault rifles or SMGs to win mid-range firefights? No one is left behind when it comes to playstyle, echoing the same ethos of Delta Force’s large-scale multiplayer battles.
Gunplay is visceral across the campaign’s seven chapters and rarely relents for a breather. Roaming the streets behind enemy lines is enhanced by impeccable sound design. Worn boots scrape across the dirt, emphasizing every piece of debris you kick up as you progress deeper into an unknown fate. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got one of the best gaming headsets or rely on your humble speakers, as fights unravel with a bombardment of weapon sounds that’d make Michael Mann jealous.
Chapter four serves as a crowning achievement in this regard, too. Laying down your traditional weapons for the might of a mounted LMG, this level is all about guiding a convoy through hails of bullets. Calling out to your team to quickly defeat opponents never gets old, but there’s something deeper that Delta Force is harkening back to: the era of grittier military sim shooters. The early 2000s was a bright spark for the beloved sub-genre, but that focus on tangible realism has somewhat dwindled over time. While the Black Hawk Down campaign is in different hands, Team Jade’s vision appears committed to rejuvenating the thrill of good old-fashioned co-op gameplay for modern players.
Team Jade makes the campaign feel approachable to new and seasoned FPS fans. If your session host unlocks another chapter, everyone in the party gets access. If you do decide to go it alone, know that you’re not a bullet sponge. It doesn’t take many hits to be immobilized, adding another layer of tension.
The Delta Force Black Hawk Down campaign is free to play, available now, and even includes exclusive rewards for finishing it. So before you rally all your friends together, make sure you all meet the Delta Force system requirements to get equipped for the fight ahead.