First Encounter
By J.N. Cobb
Delta Force®—Black Hawk Down® brings its own brand of gritty modern warfare to the Xbox® video game system. A huge hit on the PC, this title recreates the extremely dangerous circumstances of 1993's Operation Restore Hope, a multinational effort to clean up the war-torn nation of Somalia. The infamous downing of an American Black Hawk helicopter already inspired a big-screen film directed by Ridley Scott. The Xbox game goes beyond that dark incident and gives you a chance to experience the entire American effort in Somalia, where the men and women of the U.S. military fought with skill and bravery on behalf of the Somali people.
Battle in the skies and on the ground.
Delta Force—Black Hawk Down features 16 distinct missions that test your combat skills on foot and behind the guns of the Army's most powerful attack vehicles. You take on the role of a Delta Force squad member or an Army Ranger as you climb aboard heavily armed choppers and land vehicles. When you're a gunner, the game runs on rails, so all you have to do is aim and shoot. On foot, you have more leeway but are far more vulnerable to enemy guns, so you need to seize the initiative while working in concert with the rest of your squad and its support vehicles.
Often, you undertake mission objectives alongside fellow soldiers. These A.I. squadmates respond to your orders, which can be given via the controller or verbally through the Xbox Live™Communicator Headset. As each mission begins, you get a chance to preselect firearms to carry into battle, as well as a knife and explosives. Each weapon is carefully modeled on real U.S. Army ordnance, with a few necessary tweaks to make the console action as smooth and compelling as possible. The best modern-era sniper rifles, sidearms, and submachine guns are all available, including the Army's standard CAR-15 assault rifle, the SWAT team's favorite 9mm Match Bull SMG, and the Rangers' trusted 9mm Beretta pistol. Sniper rifles can be used with high-powered scopes, or with their fixed gun sights (as in the case of the M-21 semi-automatic rifle).
Danger at every turn.
After a step-by-step tutorial that lays out how to crouch, crawl, aim, and shoot, you are whisked off to join the bloody battles that are breaking out in the cities, villages, and desert wastes of Africa. Combat tends to be up close and personal, or at such long-range that you can barely see your enemy without a scope. The game's default load-out will usually get the job done, but you can tweak your weapon choices to compliment your own style of play. Just make sure you've got every contingency covered, because these deep, objective-laden levels are jam-packed with aggressive and extremely hostile enemy forces. After each mission, you will be scored according to your accuracy, enemies and civilians killed, and other battle statistics that you can then upload to the XboxLive leaderboards.
Delta Force—Black Hawk Down has even more action online, where you can test your skills in standard modes (like Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and King of the Hill), along with exciting variants like Search and Destroy and Attack and Defend. Up to 50 players can participate in the same match at the same time, making for some of the largest battles ever seen on XboxLive. The different classes of soldier each have different skills, abilities, and weapon sets, making it easy for snipers, heavy gunners, close-quarters specialists, and even medics to customize their gear to their preferred style of play.
Every squad needs a gunner.
Delta Force—Black Hawk Down succeeds in capturing all the peril and dangerous action of the ill-fated Somalian operation. By blending different gameplay elements with authentic weaponry and brutal urban and desert warfare, the game creates a truly gripping environment that delivers a serious dose of intense military action.
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