It doesn't take long to get exhausted at E3. You're bombarded with insane visuals, blaring annoucements and bored looking women in bikinis.
What does this have to do with Delta Force: Black Hawk Down ? Nothing really but it wasn't one of the titles I was planning to examine in much depth at E3 ... until people started banging on about it being one of the games of the show. So with a bit of help from a friendly Electronic Arts employee I blagged my way into the Novalogic booth which was otherwise sealed from plebs on the show floor. Lucky I did.
The concept for Black Hawk Down is pretty simple. Use the subject matter from the recently released Ridley Scott film of the same name and combine it with an enhanced version of the Delta Force game engine. Enhanced is a bit of an understatement really as DF:Black Hawk Down looks light years ahead of Land Warrior and even the soon to be released Task Force Dagger. There are also a number of new gameplay innovations that have also been added. Check them out.
* Take control of air and ground vehicles including Attack Chopper’s and Humvee’s.
* Open fire from vehicle mounted weapons including the 50 Caliber fixed machine gun.
* Engage the enemy in Close Quarters Battle and Delta Force’s signature long-range engagements
* Utilize an arsenal of authentic weapons as used by US Special Forces during Operation Restore Hope and Task Force Ranger.
* New AI system that enables enemies to intelligently track the player.
The build we spent time with still had a long way to go before it was near finished product level but it still showed a lot of promise. Our enthusiastic Novalogic demonstrator showed off just how powerful the new engine was by demoing the sequence where the troops are dropped off onto the tops of buildings. The size of the maps is pretty impressive and they also seem far more detailed than previous Delta Force games.
As mentioned before BHD is a big step up from previous titles but its not just a visual upgrade tacked on to a movie license. According to the Novalogic employee we spoke to they are aiming to add gameplay innovations like 'realistic building materials'. This essentially means that the materials that form the structures will react realistically ie you can take out the wall of a building with a grenade to use the element of surprise and shrubs and bushes won't be bullet proof!
We don't want to give too much away just yet as we'll be coming back with a full preview pretty soon. In the meantime check out these screenshots and rest assured that Black Hawk Down is shaping up to be one of the top cinematic FPS experiences of 2002.
