Metacritic Games

Delta Force: Black Hawk Down (Playstation 2)

Set in Somalia in 1993, Delta Force – Black Hawk Down is based upon and around the Operation Restore Hope and Task Force Ranger campaigns and follows members of the elite Delta Force and US Army Rangers as they participate in a number of daring raids against the oppressive Somali warlords in and around Mogadishu. Using the original PC version as a basis, British based developer Rebellion is redesigning the game specifically for the PS2. As well as a redesigned single player mode, Delta Force - Black Hawk Down will also have several brand new multiplayer features, including 32 player games online. NovaLogic has also teamed up with the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. A portion of the proceeds from the PS2 version of Black Hawk Down will be donated to the foundation. The SOWF provides college scholarship grants, along with financial aid and educational counseling to the children of Special Operations personnel who were killed in an operational mission or training accident. [NovaLogic]

NovaLogic
Action, Third-Person Shooter
Players: 32
T (Teen)
Developer: Rebellion
Released July 26, 2005

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

58 / 100

Critic Reviews

90 Stuff
With a harrowing 16-mission single-player experience, and monstrous multiplayer arenas, this disc is worthy of your hard-earned per diem, grunt.
80 Maxim Online
If that's not enough carnage, you can also engage in 32-player (50 on Xbox Live) online deathmatch missions, which is technically twice the bloody chaos of "Halo 2."
80 TotalGames.net
Unlike most other FPS titles, combat can take place at great range, as well as up-close when you and you're squad must move house to house.
70 Cheat Code Central
A decent first-person shooter but it's based on the two-year old PC version. In this day and age of military, quad-based, tactical shooter, Black Hawk Down is a bit of a disappointment.
69 Armchair Empire
A relatively simplistic shooter.
68 Game Informer
After squeezing off I don't know how many rounds into untold numbers of bodies, I'm more prone to being lulled into a nice nap than a frenzy. [Oct 2005, p.128]
67 Gamer's Hell
The online support for 32 players might be enough for some to gather their money’s worth, but if you desire a challenging tactical shooter then there are certainly better choices on the market.
65 Game Chronicles
Black Hawk Down’s main problem is that it purports to offer the experience of being the leader of Delta Force operatives in war torn Somalia. But hamstrung game play with shoddy graphics doesn’t cut it.
60 Pelit (Finland)
An average and slightly dated shooter with an interesting background story. The PS2 version is inferior, I would not even dare call it the same game. [May. 05]
60 G4 TV
The single-player missions are fairly mediocre, especially in comparison to other shooters. If you really, really need to shoot virtual people in a virtual desert, then this’ll do.
60 Gaming Target
Delta Force: Black Hawk Down is so last decade!
60 AceGamez
The only reason to get Delta Force: Black Hawk Down is for the online mode and I wouldn't bother getting the PS2 version for online thrills if you have an Xbox, or Killzone for that matter.
60 games(TM)
In order to get any challenge or satisfaction from Rebellion’s dustbowl shooter, it must be tackled on the hardest difficulty setting right away; only then will Black Hawk Down demonstrate any of the depth or well-implemented tactical elements it has to offer. [Sept 2005, p.110]
60 GameZone
Only die-hard war fans will find small satisfaction from playing this title, and you might as well just rent it.
57 GameSpot
Black Hawk Down's dated gameplay design and presentation just don't measure up compared to other modern combat shooters. Though the multiplayer can be fun for a while, the weapon balancing is out of whack, and the implementation of vehicles is contrived to the point of absurdity.
55 Worth Playing
It simply has no place in the current sea of PlayStation 2 shooters; it is far too flawed, far too easy, and lacks far too much of the intensity that gamers pick up tactical shooters for in the first place.
55 IGN
You're pretty much just playing CTF and running around like a maniac. Once that gets old, BHD will get thrown into the closet.
55 PSM Magazine
A plain vanilla shooter dressed in authentic-smelling military gear. [Nov 2005, p.94]
50 GameSpy
One of the ugliest games of this generation, and the majority of Dreamcast games would put it to shame. The textures are cloudy and the player models are cheesy.
50 Sydney Morning Herald
The solo campaign lacks the pizazz of other military shooters, but decent multiplayer options prevent it from feeling pilotless.
50 Computer and Video Games
If more time had been spent polishing the graphics, enemy intelligence, animation and, erm, just about every other aspect of presentation, the good ideas could've had a chance to shine. Sadly, instead what we have is just another bloody war game, and not even a very good one at that.
45 Gamezilla!
What originally was a high quality, entertaining game, has really lost its way and I can’t think of many people who would be happy spending $50 for it.
40 Inside Gamer Online
A gargantuan disappointment. With so many delays, one has to wonder how they spent the extra time. It certainly was not on the torrent of problems facing the game.
40 Edge Magazine
Frustratingly, the game’s on-rails sequences exacerbate its lack of invention, whipping up enemies that often inflict damage before their location is revealed. When a single rocket can end the game by killing you or your entourage, this tests the patience more than a prosaic shooter has the right to. [Aug 2005, p.97]
33 Game Revolution
While not a spectacular failure, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down is just another ho-hum first-person shooter, offering a big multiplayer canvas but little else. I wouldn’t call it as unattractive as a live grenade, but I wouldn’t go jumping on it, either.

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