Delta Force: Land Warrior

NovaLogic

PC, MA15

Review: Peter Eley

Delta Force is one of the more thoughtful war games around and is based on an elite US tactical squad of the same name.

Land Warrior, the third instalment in the series, takes its name from research by the US military establishment to create high-tech super-troopers.

Land Warriors's basic kit includes goodies like GPS, laser-sighted weapons, night vision and a computerised helmet to integrate it all.

The game includes much of this gear and creates a real futuristic feel. You see the world through a heads-up display with various indicators, including friend or foe and location readouts.

The two previous Delta Force games featured large combat arenas, where enemies had to be stalked and engaged at a distance.

It offered a change from the pure shoot-'em-up action games and needed careful planning and tactical awareness.

Land Warrior is in the same mould, while offering even more firepower options — more than 20 realistic weapons including the fearsome individual combat weapon which fires huge 5.65mm rounds and 20mm air-burst grenades.

It's great fun, but usually more conventional automatic weapons and long-range sniper rifles will be more use.

The earlier games suffered from some graphics problems, but Land Warrior uses new technology to deliver a good-looking, fast game.

The result is a 30-mission game with a variety of good-looking landscapes.

Scenarios centre around eliminating threats to world security, such as sabotaging a mercenary group's power plant, assassinating an assassin and rescuing hostages.

There are five special forces units to choose from, each with a special characteristic, such as hand-to-hand fighting, or explosives training.

Obviously, you have to pick the best unit for each mission.

And when you've completed the set game, you can create your own missions with an editor.

Multiplayer mode is solid, with the usual deathmatch, capture-the-flag, and king-of-the-hill modes.

While it's great fun, some of the more subtle points of the single player game become lost.

E-mail: peter_eley@herald.co.nz