After going hands-on with the latest Delta Force build ahead of its launch into public beta this week, I stepped away from my PC with mostly positive feelings. CoD Mobile developer Team Jade’s revival of the iconic series doesn’t bring anything particularly groundbreaking to the table with its multiplayer offering, yet the free-to-play FPS may burrow its way into my gaming rotation with its polished gunplay and moreish action.
Upon loading into Delta Force I was greeted by two very different experiences to sample: the Battlefield-esque Havoc Warfare and the Tarkov-lite Hazard Operations. Havoc Warfare is certainly a valid descriptor for the more traditional multiplayer game mode. Within the first ten seconds of loading into a 64-player game of Hill of Iron, a vehicle-filled king of the hill mode, I was dead, picked off mercilessly by a sniper perched on Ascension’s rocky clifftops. Piloting new character Toxin, a support-based operative who utilizes an uzi by default, it was clear that I would need to make liberal use of whatever cover was available to me out in the field to avoid an untimely end.
Delta Force’s hero shooter elements are, at the very least, better defined than those in Battlefield 2042 – the bar is on the floor, granted, but Dice’s much-mocked installment in the large-scale warfare series is the closest point of comparison. If you’re coming from the flashy, dashy Omnimovement-filled Black Ops 6, the mobile menaces that are D-Wolf and Vyron, the Assault-class operators, will feel the most natural. Engineers Uluru and Shepherd are the heavy-set defense specialists, while Recon maestros Luna and Hackclaw are perfect for intel gathering and subterfuge. Finally, the aforementioned Toxin stars alongside Stinger as the Support duo in charge of keeping the squad topped up on buffs and health.
From my time out in the field so far, I’ve found that utilizing a mix of Delta Force operators is imperative to give your four-strong squad the best chance of popping off – a shocking revelation for a tac shooter, I know. I wouldn’t say these abilities are as game-defining in the most hectic modes within Havoc Warfare, but their impact shouldn’t be underestimated. Of course, in classic shooter fashion, your teammates often scatter to the four corners of the map, which does make me worry that the game’s meta will quickly become defined by the most self-sufficient characters.
Having been blitzed by snipers, tanks, and the ensuing chaos of the battlefield, I left Toxin behind and switched up my approach to the game. Taking a step back from the meatgrinder, I perched myself up on a hill as the sharpshooting Luna. With a much broader perspective of the battlefield, I parked the ‘main character’ approach and diligently took to my recon cover role with significantly more success, racking up kills as I shifted around the higher terrain.
I wasn’t impervious, though, as long-range fire and regular flanks from hostiles ensured I couldn’t camp a spot (camping’s for nerds, anyway), and had to keep an ear out for footsteps. Fortunately, even Delta Force’s sidearms can hold their own against heavier weaponry in close-quarters combat, and I came out on top of multiple gunfights that in other games would’ve, quite frankly, been illegal to win.
Any shooter worth its salt is defined by high-quality gunplay, and Team Jade has nailed it. I came in worried that it would take a few too many cues from its CoD background, mismatching the less frenetic movement (only D-Claw has access to a slide) with a lightning-fast time to kill that offers little time to react. The experience is incredibly tight, with each of the Delta Force weapons possessing a firm weightiness that feels fantastic in hand – even the pistols. The same can be said for its vehicles, which massage the power fantasy only hulking, tons-heavy war machines can.
Once I had been blown up a sufficient number of times, I hopped out of the Havoc Warfare playlist and delved into Hazard Operations. Sitting somewhere between Warzone’s DMZ and Escape From Tarkov on the hardcore-o-meter, Team Jade’s attempt at the increasingly popular extraction shooter sends you and two other players on sorties to gobble up loot from various locations like a trio of camo-clad magpies. Following the standard formula, you get in, get yours, and get out, all while avoiding death to bots and other players. It’s all very basic stuff, with a few locked doors and puzzles to navigate here and there, but it’s also an approachable, competent gateway into the subgenre.
The clearest takeaway from my time with Delta Force is that Team Jade has focused on the basics, ensuring the core loop functions as intended and won’t leave players frustrated and itching to jump into competitor titles. There’s plenty of potential here, and the game runs buttery smooth on my Ryzen 5 3600 / RTX 3070 rig – a treat considering games seldom arrive in early access with this level of polish. You’re not getting the big cinematic feel as you would from the likes of Battlefield 2042 and Black Ops 6, but there’s plenty of time to add the bells and whistles down the line.
The live-service shooter space is a tough nut to crack. In recent years, we’ve seen plenty of newcomers come and go as the titans of the genre continue to demand your attention with seasonal content and the inevitable grind that comes with it. Delta Force, if anything, follows the checklist approach to modern FPS design, rarely veering off the beaten track. It’s safe, but it’s executing on the fundamentals to the point that Team Jade has a solid base to build from over time, and I can’t wait to see how it evolves post-launch.