Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"All it's cracked up to be"

Delta Force is the first shooter I ever played as a kid, and honestly it holds up pretty well today as well. Although the graphics are ancient, (as they were back in the day too,) the long range warfare and tactical expertise that are requirements to play this still will make a person smile broadly as they plan their next attack upon hoards of terrorists.

One of the things you'll first notice about the game are a fair customization process before each mission, you'll be able to change your characters looks (although since this is a fps without cut scenes it makes little difference,) and pick the weapons you'll want to take with you on each mission. (Are you a sniper? Do you like to run and gun? Strategy with a machine gun? Or perhaps you're a stealth expert?) For the most part these customization options will seem limited by today's standards, and back then they weren't as hot as options in the just released Rainbow Six, but they do a good job at giving you freedom over your character nonetheless. As I mentioned, this game came out roughly around the same time as Rainbow Six, and compared to Rainbow graphics, this will unfortunately seem dated, even more so now days when we're used to flashy explosions, heart stopping twists, and mind blowing scenery. If however you're sick and tired of loosing missions because the hostages were killed, or the convoy was unsuccessfully protected after an hour of playtime, Delta Force is your game.

Now I'm not going to lie, it is a hard game to beat, almost insanely so. Take my advice, grab a sniper rifle, extra ammo, and go to town from a distance. Up close combat is nearly impossible due to the sheer number of terrorists verses your man. You do have other teams, however these rarely do anything at all. You have the option to control the other teams by a list of commands (1 for fall back 2 for target my enemy ect.) but you'll never know if it works simply because the area is too damned large to see your team mates, and the communications are limited. In short, this is your war, they're just along for the ride.

Missions are pretty basic, most involve clearing a town or camp of terrorists. There's a few hostage situations, but no fear, they don't get shot at much if your doing your work right. The couple convoy escort missions are just generally a real pain because they leave you in a ravine when the shooting starts, I've died several times in the opening shots. Finally we have our convoy ambush missions, which I love. There's just something satisfying in destroying the first car in a convoy and seeing the rest stop, "Yeah that's right b-words, welcome to my world of pain."

So, does this game hold up? Yeah, I'd play it again in a heartbeat. However I think I'll hook up my PS3, and play a game like Call of Duty instead. It is nice to know that when I get sick and tired of the run and gun tactics in COD, I always have my trusted friend to sit back, relax, and kick some butt on.