Delta Force Xtreme PC Review - 3DAvenue

[DevilDog#1]

About a decade ago, Novalogic released what is quite possibly still to this day the best game they have ever released. That speaks volumes to how well received Delta Force was because Novalogic has been no slouch in gaming since that time. With BlackHawk Down their latest game on its way to Xbox, they needed something to keep the PC fans happy and to do this they have updated Delta Force for a new generation. Once again Novalogic has proven that Delta Force was and still is their best game and to make it even more value, the game is only about half price.

[DevilDog#1]

Delta Force is split across three campaigns with each played individually. That is you can begin them in any order and start another one without completing one you have already started. The three campaigns are set in real world locations; Peru Chad and Novalya. Each become more difficult as they progress where the Novalya campaign is more difficult than the Peru campaign and so on. They don't combine together to form one super campaign and overall the game feels like a mission by mission type of game rather than a mission affecting another and links being drawn.

Delta Force Xtreme is played from a first person perspective and is a squad based combat game. It's like Ghost Recon except with actual military soldiers rather than specialised units. The crux of the game is based around way points. You move to preset waypoints in each map with the commander updating your status each time. Most of the time you have to destroy something, clear the enemy force out or find some intelligence. There has been no change since the original game so those of you who played the older game will be quite familiar with what has to be done in each mission.

Delta Force is by no means an easy game however. Novalogic always goes for realism and Xtreme is no different with one or two close range bullets enough to take you down. Although you can't save anywhere in a mission, each time you successfully complete a goal, the game secretly keeps your position tracked as long as you don't quit the mission before it is complete. We found this to really make us want to keep playing, because rather than having to do some tedious and hard tasks again, we could get the mission done quicker and do only what we had not done already.

The same can be said about the enemy. Sneaking around is the best option in this game, because the further you can pick someone off the better. At close range, you haven’t got much of a chance of survival so using cover such as grass and trees is the better option. It also makes for some tense gameplay as you wonder whether they have seen you when you misfire, or whether you're covered enough. The enemies are quite smart but other than the Joint Operations improvements, there is not much addition to the original game. They still stand around and shoot at you without taking cover and generally it’s a case of power in numbers rather than brains.

While the game does have three campaigns, generally you fight in the same style of environment. Open woodland is where the game is usually set but there are a number of obstacles you must overcome to be successful in Xtreme. Charging into a township is not going to work because the enemies do have some have brains and will hide. You really have to move slowly until you know the locations of enemies because they can pick you off any time. The closer you can get without being seen the better. Enemies also hide in water and long shrubs, making them hard to pick off. Not as hard as the original game; the Joint operations engine makes sure of that.

Where the game has really improved is its graphics. Using the Joint Operations engine, it is hard to believe that this is a remake and not actual a sequel. Those who played the original will hardly recognise the mission structure other than goals such as acquire intelligence. The characters do have some strange animations for movement however but this is not an issue and really the gameplay makes up for any flaws with the graphics. Sound effects like the original game are super impressive, with bullets ricocheting off objects and no music to speak off giving a very war-like atmosphere. One major change with the game however is the inclusion of vehicles controlled by either you or the AI. This has removed a lot of the lengthy walks to a mission objective and again freshens up the action.

Novalogic has also revamped the online portion of the game which is no doubt what made the original game such a success. Via Novaworld you can play against up to sixty four players in the one map with a number of game modes on offer. This is one very big reason to pick this game up.

Delta Force Xtreme is a game that could have just been a rehash but Novalogic have once again shown quality over quantity is what makes their games so fun to play. The original Delta Force was cutting edge at the time and while Xtreme is a bit of a mission pack, it’s cheap and offers excellent offline and online gaming for under fourty bucks

[DevilDog#1]

Game: Delta Force Xtreme
Publisher: Vivendi
Genre: Action
Platform: Computer
Date: 23-May-2005 03:05 AM
Author: Simon Hutchinson