Review

by Dave "Marauder" Kratky, Nov 16/2000.

 

Once more my friends, back into the breach with the Yankee special forces. The third incarnation in Novalogic's military shooter series is actually looking good this time around!

First off, let me state that I really liked Delta Force 1. I played it online constantly and despite my friends cries of dismay at it's non-accelerated graphics, I really enjoyed it. (One reason I like it so much is the fact that I actually killed one enemy sniper at just over 1,000 yards. Lets see you do that in Quake!)

The game was innovative. It was a fairly true to life military based shooter. You could see FOREVER. And if you could see it, you could go there. Admittedly you are walking so it'll take quite some time... But you can do it.

Delta Force 2 was pretty decent as well, though I never really got into it. Too many snipers hiding in the damned grass picking people off for my comfort. Mind you, I was one of them.. But none-the-less.

Now Novalogic is back with Delta Force: Land Warrior. A hellovalot more guns. MUCH better graphics. And it's actually a very good game. I'm again getting my ass kicked online big time, but that happens in any new game when I go online.

The voxel (Oh, for those of you who don't know, a voxel is a 3D pixel that can't be 3D accelerated and so look very jaggy... But they can be scaled for distance viewing.....) landscape still exists as it did in the last two DFs, but it actually looks pretty decent this time around. You still get that very odd "movement blur" thing going on when you are running or maneuvering. This "feature" is actually one of the most annoying things in the game, as it makes it virtually impossible to see an enemy moving in the distance. Novalogic is absolutely determined to use voxels for as many of their games as possible from the sound of it... and it's actually very interesting that they've gone this way, as everyone else in existence uses the standard polygon based maps, with definitely borders and textures on all the surfaces. This give the Novalogic games a unique look all their own.... Whether that's a good thing or not is a personal choice. I really don't mind the voxels, most of my friends hate them with a passion. One thing you can't deny though... It's simply breathtaking to be able to see several kilometers in any direction from a hilltop. (Please note that you are likely about to get sniped on your hilltop. Look fast and move.)

 

The single player is actually pretty decent. They've got some nice locales, ranging from the Pyramids of Egypt to deserts & forested areas. All the maps are expansive, as I mentioned you can see for miles. Standard storyline, nothing special... But then who needs a story when you've got this much firepower and terrorists to use it on?

 

One of the things that takes the most getting used to on this game is the zoom function on your weapons. Not all will have zoom of course, but on those that do, you get a scoped view on the right side of your screen..... But only when you are stationary. As soon as you move, the scope vanishes and pops back in when you cease moving. Realistic but very hard to use, as you lose sight of your target as soon as you move anywhere.

I'm not impressed by the weapons models in the game. They look far too cartoony and small. The weapons models are much more impressive on.. Ohhh.. I dunno... Rainbow 6 or Counterstrike. They do their job, but eh... Could be more impressive. The knife animation is still horrible..... *sigh* However, the rocket launcher looks damned sweet!