In the original Delta Force, you played as a soldier in the US Army's elite
commando and counterterrorist military force. The game overcame its graphical
shortcomings by delivering top-notch action in both single- and multiplayer
modes. Apparently NovaLogic was willing to bet on the same horse again, as Delta
Force 2 uses yet another voxel-based graphics engine, but like its predecessor,
its gameplay is good enough to buoy its less-than-stellar visuals.
Delta Force 2 offers around 45 single-player missions, including 25 sorties
split between two campaigns and 20 stand-alone scenarios, in which you must
prove yourself against large and heavily armed terrorist armies. In most cases,
you'll work alone or with a handful of computer-controlled support teams. Most
scenarios involve a clandestine attack-and-destroy mission against enemy bases,
though many also include hostage rescue, recovery of stolen assets, and other
commando-style objectives. The game also contains a powerful mission editor that
lets you craft complex scenarios with relative ease and even provides thorough
documentation for it.
The mission design in Delta Force 2 is generally excellent. Not only are most
scenarios more difficult than the missions in the original, but they also seem
realistic and believable. Although some are definitely influenced by Hollywood
(one stand-alone mission conjured memories of the train attack scene in Lawrence
of Arabia, for example), even these are a lot of fun from beginning to end.
Gameplay is very similar to the original Delta Force; once again, it emphasizes
lots of long-range sniping punctuated by the occasional close-quarters ballet of
full-auto panic fire. In many missions, you can work your way slowly towards
the objective by moving and sniping until only a handful of indoor defenders
remains. In other missions, time is more of a factor. Direct assaults are almost
always a sure recipe for disaster, despite the game's ludicrously dangerous
default mission waypoints. For this reason, most missions tend to last awhile -
30 to 45 minutes on the average. Also, you cannot save during a mission, so a
lucky shot fired by the final bad guy requires you to start over from the
beginning. Another potential problem is a glitch that lets some enemies see and
shoot you through wooden or even stone walls. Fortunately, this bug only reared
its head on a handful of missions, and always in the same place, but it will
undoubtedly irk some players.
Yet another possible problem is the graphics engine. By using the enhanced Voxel
Space 32 3D engine, NovaLogic made a design decision that adversely affected
both Delta Force 2's gameplay and its viability on store shelves. Because the
game uses grainy voxels instead of crisp polygons, much of the long-range combat
in the game boils down to hunting for moving pixels. Also, because of the
exclusively 32-bit graphics engine, Voodoo3 owners are left out in the cold: The
game will only take advantage of hardware acceleration (which really only
affects objects like trees, buildings, and vehicles anyway) on 3D cards based
upon 32-bit graphics chips.
Fortunately, Delta Force 2 looks pretty good on a fast system. Even with the
inherent blockiness of the voxel engine, the settings and characters look fairly
lifelike. In fact, the gently rolling hills and impressive water effects make
many of the maps quite beautiful, especially with 32-bit color enabled. Still,
the frame rate was very choppy at 800x600 resolution on a 450-MHz Pentium II
with a TNT2 card, though it looked fairly good and ran smoothly at 640x480. It
took switching to a GeForce 256 card to make the game playable at 800x600.
Unlike its graphics, Delta Force 2's sound effects deserve special
praise, since they are some of the most convincing weapons effects you're likely
to hear in a computer game. The M249 SAW in particular has to be one of the
coolest-sounding weapons ever. Other effects, such as the zing of near misses
and the bloodcurdling screams of your victims, help to create a highly
believable environment that will keep you on the edge of your seat and tuned to
the action at all times.
In addition to the sound, the gameworld itself is immersive and dynamic; enemy
units respond in various ways to gunfire - some come running, some drop prone,
and some seem to ignore the offending noise completely. These varied reactions
ought to keep you on your toes, since you'll never know in advance. Also,
because many of the missions are chock-full of enemies - dozens in some cases -
you are forced to hide in tall grass as often as possible, which is a new
addition to Delta Force 2. Though the grass looks like little more than big
pixelated blobs on the ground, it does add a welcome element of stealth. It also
works for the terrorists in some cases, as bad guys who drop prone in tall
grass become nearly invisible.
Other new features include airborne insertions for particular missions. This is
simply an automated parachute drop at the beginning of some of the scenarios,
but it does add a little element of excitement - especially when you find
yourself dropping right on top of an enemy patrol. Also, the game's interface
has been cleaned up and improved; you now have access to a minimap at all times
without sacrificing room on the screen.
However, much like in the original Delta Force, your computer-controlled allies
are virtually useless if you deviate from your preplanned mission waypoints,
which nearly always take you on a suicide run directly through the heart of
enemy defenses. That's because they move based on triggered events, most of
which require you to walk over a waypoint. Thankfully, you can modify the
waypoints using the new commander's screen. You can also use this screen to
coordinate the movements of your teammates during multiplayer games, which are
one of Delta Force 2's greatest strengths.
Online sessions on NovaWorld are lively, frenetic firefights that are almost
certain to turn the game's harshest critics into fans. Delta Force 2 is one of
the most exciting and enjoyable online gaming experiences out there, despite
the fact that some of the promised features haven't yet been implemented. The
game supports as many as 50 players at once and features a wider array of
weaponry than before and a new armory building that lets you change your weapon
loadout without logging out. However, the new game modes, including attack and
defend, search and destroy, and team flagball, are not yet available on
NovaWorld. Fixed gun emplacements, which are by far the most intriguing of the
new features, are not yet available either. But NovaLogic plans to roll these
features out over the coming weeks. Performance on NovaWorld is good over 56K
connections and even better over a fast pipe like ISDN, cable, or DSL.
Delta Force 2 is a great single-player game with an impressive multiplayer
component. Owners of incompatible video cards should make sure the game is
playable and palatable before buying it, but otherwise the game should have a
widespread appeal among fans of tactical action games. While it doesn't deserve
as high a rating as the first Delta Force since the two are so similar, Delta
Force 2 can't be beat for free-ranging commando combat.
System Requirements
System: Pentium II or equivalentRAM:64 MB RAM
CD-ROM: 4X CD-ROM
Video Memory: 2 MB VRAM
Mouse: Yes
DirectX: DirectX v6.1
- Download all 3 parts
- Right click on part 1 and choose extarct here
- Install the game
- During Installation use given cd key
- Play the game
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