Earlier this month, MonsterVine was able to attend a hands-on event for Team Jade and NovaLogic’s upcoming co-op PvE campaign, Black Hawk Down, for its free-to-play shooter Delta Force. As the name suggests, the campaign is based on the 2003 video game and 2001 movie. While playing, it was very clear that Team Jade and NovaLogic prides itself on being as authentic as possible while leaning into realism. Because of that, playing the game felt awkward and sometimes in poor taste.
Tactical Co-op Action with Class-Based Gameplay
The second I loaded into a game, I noticed how sharp the graphics looked. The opening shot was like a scene straight out of a war movie. I was flying into a town via a Black Hawk and was tasked with rescuing some people. Each one of my co-op partners had selected various classes that allowed them to perform unique actions. There was your medic who heals, a sniper who shoots from a distance, support who supplies ammo, and your generic soldier.
The second our boots were on the ground, we went into a nearly destroyed building filled with enemies for us to kill. Spaces were tight, and clever tactics were needed to make it out of the first fight. Unlike other shooters like Call of Duty, a single bullet will eat up most of your health and force you to take cover and heal. Unfortunately, my team and I couldn’t make it to the end of the mission, no matter how many times we replayed it. This prompts us to play other levels to get more of a feel for the game.
Each level played a bit differently from one another, too. For instance, on one level, we were tasked with reaching a Black Hawk that had been shot down. Some might even say a Black Hawk Down! This one was unique for a few reasons. The first is that we were racing against the clock on this one. Most shooters sometimes give players a sense of urgency by yelling or screaming, but if you stay put, nothing will happen. Shockingly, that wasn’t the case for Black Hawk Down because the second the mission started, a small timer appeared, and it was a consistent reminder of how quick we needed to be to save the NPCs on the other end of the area. Like the other mission, we weren’t smart enough to make it to the end and save the folks in the Black Hawk that was downed.
There was one last mission my group got to play before we had to wrap things up. This was simple: we were tasked with escorting a group of jeeps from one location to another. But just like our other missions, we stayed true to ourselves and failed horribly. Because every time we reached a checkpoint, enemies would appear out of nowhere with RPGs and blow up the cars we were meant to protect almost immediately.
Black Hawk Down has the makings of a fun game. It’s roughly 4-6 hours long, so if you and your buddies are looking for a tactical shooter to play over the weekend, this is an ideal game. It forces you to play smart, often in tight spaces where every bullet counts, and communication is key.
Although the game was fun, it often felt like it was done in poor taste, and some things must be addressed. While playing Black Hawk Down, the game tries to create a sense of patriotism for its players, and at times feels like military propaganda. For example, the main screen has a soldier looking at a crashed Black Hawk while playing American music in the background. One thing right off the bat I noticed is how the game dehumanizes the people you are fighting against, and this can, at times, be easily taken as if all the Somali people are nothing but mindless killers, which is obviously not the case.
Concerns & Ethical Questions
On top of that, the events on which Black Hawk Down is based still impact many people today, as most of these events had taken place less than forty years ago. The upcoming Delta Force Black Hawk Down sort of paints over these events with a broad stroke, and because of that, it almost idolizes the events of what played out in real life. In reality, real people paid the ultimate price during this period.
Although the American government may have had pure intentions during the real-world events of Black Hawk Down, it arguably left Somalia in a worse state than when it entered. Because of that, playing this game felt off-putting a lot of the time.
That’s not to say you can’t enjoy the game, but some of these things must be acknowledged because there are fun moments to be had while playing with other people. Black Hawk Down is scheduled to be released soon, on February 21.
