Delta Force 2

I dropped into the tall saw-grass and wormed my way forward in the blue-light of oh-dark-hundred. A faint movement in the distance...enemy sentry. Quietly...oh so quietly, I lift my M40A1 sniper rifle, sight in -- pop. Suddenly the air filled with the whip-crack of incoming fire as an enemy unit charged from my right. Bullets were everywhere. I dropped the sniper rifle and whipped out my .45 when -- blammo. An enemy round blew me to kingdom come. Reset game. Replay mission from the beginning I dropped into the tall saw-grass and wormed my way forward in the blue-light of oh-dark-hundred...wait -- it's kind of boring to read the same ersatz gameplay description again, right? Try playing the same damn mission over and over and over again until you finally beat it because -- grrrrrrowl -- there's no way to save the game! (On my world, earthling, we call it a "save game" function). Geez people, it's a concept that's been around for awhile, why isn't it here? Where is here? It's Delta Force 2, a tactical level game of mission-based commando action from Novalogic, thrusting you into the combat boots of the Army's real-world elite counter-terrorist troops. The mechanics of gameplay are quite similar to those of the original Delta Force. In single-player mode, you'll stage well over 40 missions in two campaigns with several additional stand alone smaller scenarios. As one would expect when playing as an elite covert operative, most missions involve quite a bit of slinking about in the shadows, picking off enemy soldiers who usually outnumber you severely. Single-player mission objectives vary from sneak and kills to hostage rescues to recovery missions.

If you'll indulge me for a moment, I'd like to use the initial action sequence above to illustrate a few of the problems inherent in the game. Remember that "faint movement" that resolved into an enemy sentry? Well, that was something of a guess on my part, because at long range the enemy looks more or less like minute, moving pixels...be a shame if I zapped a far-grazing sheep. How about the enemy round that blew me away? Well, maybe I'm just griping because I got wasted, but there felt like such an element of randomness to getting killed in Delta Force 2. To some extent, that increases realism...remember how shockingly awesome it was in Saving Private Ryan when a soldier in mid-curse would flop over spouting blood because a random enemy shot geeked him? But in DF2, I'd occasionally get popped by a bullet I swear came through a stone wall. And while the weapon sounds are truly awesome -- I mean really, really cool -- once the sh-- starts to fly and rounds are zinging all around you, there are no audio cues to help you figure out if shots are getting closer. And last example form the sequence -- no way to save the game? Say it ain't so...alas, it is so. It's really a shame that this gaping omission exists. What was fun in a mission the first or second time through is just not fun the fourth or fifth time through. It's not that Delta Force 2 isn't overall fun to play. It is. It's just that stacked against the current competition in the genre, such as Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear, Delta Force 2 is found slightly wanting. The voxel-based graphics just don't cut it any more and the Forest Gumpian members of your team (on missions where you're given an AI controlled team) are truly lobotomized, seeming to kick into gear only when you run across certain waypoints...waypoints, which I must point out, seem always to lead you pell-mell into the jaws of the enemy. Swinging back to the graphics, while the outdoor settings were very nicely done...sloping hills, rivers and the like...the indoor settings were clunky and had problems that A-list games just don't have nowadays. But maybe you're a big multiplayer fan, right? I mean, who isn't? Finally, Delta Force 2 will have its moment to shine. While the multiplayer function has been launched (playable on NovaWorld) without all of the offered features playable, it's already a hair-raising good -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- time. Imagine 50 trigger happy commandos running amok, either working in teams or in free for all kick- mode -- it's just a hooting good time. While the single player gameplay gets a "C" from me, the multiplayer easily gets a "B+" or an "A-". Weapon-changes are made much easier with the ability to access your team's armory during play (without logging out) to change your load. Heck, sometimes you're carting around an unwieldy Barret's rifle when you really need a sleek MP-5 submachine gun, right? They've promised to add in the additional features soon, making a good thing even better, I'm sure. Look friends, Delta Force 2 is a good game. It's just not a great one. You won't have a bad time playing it...but if you're tight on cash, there are a few others in the genre that will give you a little more bang for your buck.