This game might not be very impressive by today's standards, but for 1998 it was an incredible achievement. My first experience with it was a demo on the disc of F-22 Lightning 3. It contained one level. But I can't tell you how many times I replayed that level.
What distinguishes Delta Force from most shooters of the time is how it throws you into an enormous voxel map and gives you a complete freedom in how to approach objectives. There's even optional stealth here. You are also allowed to pick out your loadout. And, although there aren't many weapons to choose from, each lends itself to a different playstyle. There's MP5, an automatic weapon for close range, M4 that shoots in bursts and has a scope, clearly designed for mid-range, and there's two sniper rifles. In addition there's M249 if you really wanna go in guns-blazing.
The scale of maps is insane for 1998. One time I tried to reach the edge of the map, and after a couple of minutes of running I got bored and gave up on the idea. I honestly don't know if they do have edges. And the maps are entirely traversable. Just like in real life you can climb almost any hill, it's only a matter of time. The steeper it is, the slower you climb.
The shooting is a mix of realistic and arcady. Both you and the enemies can be killed in one or two shots, so this becomes more about shooting first. Thankfully their shots are indicated by red lines, so you can always trace their position. Otherwise the game would've been too difficult (IIRC that's what they did in the remake).
There seems to be no draw distance limit, which makes the environments stretch into the horizon, and just looks stunning. Again, there was not a single game in 1998 that could render anything at such distance. I have no idea how they achieved this, but it probably has something to do with the voxels.
Delta Force is a perfect blend of strategy, suspense and action with a flavor of realism. It does feel dated in many aspects, but it's still a strong foundation for the series and holds up well on its own too.
What distinguishes Delta Force from most shooters of the time is how it throws you into an enormous voxel map and gives you a complete freedom in how to approach objectives. There's even optional stealth here. You are also allowed to pick out your loadout. And, although there aren't many weapons to choose from, each lends itself to a different playstyle. There's MP5, an automatic weapon for close range, M4 that shoots in bursts and has a scope, clearly designed for mid-range, and there's two sniper rifles. In addition there's M249 if you really wanna go in guns-blazing.
The scale of maps is insane for 1998. One time I tried to reach the edge of the map, and after a couple of minutes of running I got bored and gave up on the idea. I honestly don't know if they do have edges. And the maps are entirely traversable. Just like in real life you can climb almost any hill, it's only a matter of time. The steeper it is, the slower you climb.
The shooting is a mix of realistic and arcady. Both you and the enemies can be killed in one or two shots, so this becomes more about shooting first. Thankfully their shots are indicated by red lines, so you can always trace their position. Otherwise the game would've been too difficult (IIRC that's what they did in the remake).
There seems to be no draw distance limit, which makes the environments stretch into the horizon, and just looks stunning. Again, there was not a single game in 1998 that could render anything at such distance. I have no idea how they achieved this, but it probably has something to do with the voxels.
Delta Force is a perfect blend of strategy, suspense and action with a flavor of realism. It does feel dated in many aspects, but it's still a strong foundation for the series and holds up well on its own too.
4 Comments
Well, still I envy you. The only game we had at school was that DOS game where you had to type words fast to prevent your character from dying. It did not have any music and just made horrible noises with the PC speaker lol
Lol, I remember stuff like that. We had a few good games at my school that were snuck on by the older kids. The first Rayman and Lemmings for example. Even contributed some myself from my dad’s old PC discs he had laying around like Beach Head. They weren’t great, but they helped the school day go by.
I would genuinely enjoy such games at the time, even at home. Your school sounds pretty cool.
TheQuietGamer
1 year ago