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Slowride
06-18-2004, 08:21 PM
Mohammad Aidid. The name may not mean much to non history buffs or younger folk, but to those who were glued to the television or serving in the military during the early nineties, that name conjures powerful images.

Civil war in Somalia during the early nineties was out of control, which didn’t help the country’s famine condition. The United States military was ordered into the country by the UN in order to establish some type of peace between the warring Somali militias. Even though the US troops loosened the noose, they couldn’t seem to keep the troops headed by Mohammad Aidid in check. This fact was made all too apparent on October 3rd, 1993 when troops from the US Task Force Rangers were ambushed by Aidid’s rebels in Mogadishu, subsequently downing two Black Hawk copters, taking eighteen lives, and inuring many more. The events in Somalia have been celebrated on the pages of a book, the frames of a movie, and even in the gameplay of a PC title. Climax Studios is working on bringing all of the intensity of those fateful events to the Xbox in the aptly titled Delta Force: Black Hawk Down which is due out this fall.

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/926/1087511595.jpg

Even though Black Hawk Down shares its title with the Ridley Scott movie, it does not follow the movie’s depiction of Operation Restore Hope and is in no way licensed by the film’s studio. Delta Force: Black Hawk Down functions on its own as a playable history lesson of the events leading up to and through the disheartening events of October 3rd, 1993. The reason Black Hawk Down plays more like a history lesson than a 1st person account of the conflict is that gamers will play as different men within different regimens so that the story can better be explained. The mission objectives also serve to recount the events in Mogadishu and also to add the spice of variety to this first-person action/shooter. Objectives may ask gamers to bring down a member of the upper echelon of a Somali faction or possibly take out a sensitive communications radio tower. There are other, more heroic missions that revolve around retrieving a fallen comrade and bringing him to safety. There are even situations where your soldier may fire the shot that sinks an enemy ship.

The mixture of mission objectives is a compliment to the varied gameplay styles which will need to be mastered in order to successfully battle your way through Delta Force: Black Hawk Down. The majority of the gameplay takes place on foot, but gamers will have to master the usage of night vision for many of them and will have to known their terrains and how to use them; from dense jungles to cities overpopulated with bad guys. When not running and ducking for cover, gamers will be hitching a ride on a Hummer, trying to pick off baddies with a heavy machine gun, or doing the same from the gunner’s position of a friendly helicopter. It’s the accurate depiction of the events in Operation Restore Hope which draw gamers into Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, but the varied gameplay missions and playing styles will ultimately keep them coming back for more.

The pace of Delta Force: Black Hawk Down is extremely frantic, as I would expect the actual conflict to be like. Adding some sort of solace to the player character’s situation is a small inset compass which accurately illustrates the next way point and also the all-important enemy fire direction. There simply isn’t much you can do when so outnumbered but to find available cover and manage resources as best as possible, especially health packs. Health packs appear to come at a cruel frequency, but this may be changed once the final game is tuned. Don’t expect to receive relief in the form of gratuitous save points either; Delta Force: Black Hawk Down uses the stingy save token system instead of set up save points on each level. This game will prove to be a toughy even for the most seasoned first-person shooter fanatic. The level of realism won’t help much either since most of the battles are one shot, one kill affairs, which is really no different than 95% of the world’s modern combat situations


The particulars are still in the works, but plans are to make this already great looking game and the developers are shooting for 720p support. Somehow, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down doesn’t look like its running on a few year old PC technology which is probably due to the back end work performed by Climax Studios. The guys and gals of Moto GP and Sudeki fame are feverishly working their magic on the final graphics on this thrilling first-person shooter, adding to the already brilliant work laid down by Novalogic. Expect the Xbox chipset to be well taxed after the particle effects and upgraded textures are included, especially if the game plans to run in the anticipated higher definition setting.

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/926/1087511599.jpg

In addition to a sixteen level single player campaign mode is a multiplayer mode with full sixteen player support. In addition, a four player split-screen mode will allow co-operative mission-style play as well as head to head matches. This is a welcomed feature that should drive players form the servers of Counter-Strike and Rainbow Six 3 since the game is of the same vain.

The success of Delta Force: Black Hawk down ultimately depends on Climax’s ability to deliver the hi-res mode and their ability to jazz up the old news graphics. Another issue which plagued the PC game was shoddy enemy and friendly AI, and we all know how much of a title killer that is. Squad based tactical/action shooter are a usually a hit or miss affair; if the AI isn’t of the highest quality, simple cover commands go awry, causing massive hemorrhaging and extreme gamer frustration. Another classic move is the friendly AI team member who seems to prefer lead over the safety of a crate of building wall. If the work is has been put into making the accounts of Operation Restore Hope as believable as possible, the programming of the AI should follow suit. I have faith in Climax and their ability to bring Xbox gamers a high quality console title that doesn’t feel like PC leftovers. We will have more on this intriguing title as its fall release date approaches. Stay tuned!

source (http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox/779/Delta-Force-Black-Hawk-Down/p1)

Sheeyt
06-19-2004, 12:43 AM
I'm not sure about this game.

BoundBruiser
06-19-2004, 01:41 AM
II heard the game was pretty good on computer so I might check this out near the release date.