Tactical shooters are usually associated with Counter-Strike, Rainbow Six, and Ghost Recon. Around 2000, another franchise established a niche for itself – NovaLogic’s Delta Force. The gulf in quality from Rainbow Six was very apparent, but it still persevered through the years with one run-of-the-mill sequel after another. Intriguingly, it follows a similar path to Ghost Recon, transforming from a tactical shooter into something more streamlined and mainstream.

While Tom Clancy’s once-future soldiers went open-world in titles like Ghost Recon Wildlands and Breakpoint, Delta Force opts for a different approach – bargain bin Battlefield, circa 2042. Such are the bargains that it’s entirely free-to-play and opts for large-scale PvP warfare where two sides compete to capture sectors on a map a la Conquest. There’s a ton it successfully embodies including the Operators and their separation into roles, the myriad of vehicles, right down to the squads – yet it seemingly lacks the soul.

"I’m not too keen on the Operators’ designs. Shepherd, Uluru, and Vyron come across well enough, but D-Wolf is skirting credulity, while Hackclaw and Luna come across as characters you’d see in mobile shooters."

Delta Force isn’t a bad game, though, providing a decent alternative for those who want a break from Battlefield 2042. The amount of polish is also surprising, especially with the solid performance. However, the magic DICE’s franchise manufactured over all its years on the market feels like just that, lacking any organic agency.

As it launches into open beta worldwide, Delta Force features two modes – Warfare and Operations. The former is a 64-player mode, where two teams of 32 players (divided further into multiple squads of four) assail different sectors on the map. There are variants available – like Blitz, where there’s no base respawn, and Siege, consisting of a single sector with multiple points and each team having limited tickets. I spent most of my time in Hill of Iron, a King of the Hill variant where your M1A4s, LAV-AAs, Assault Helicopters, and more were commonplace, but the goal to capture and hold various sectors remained the same.

When hopping into a match, you can choose from eight Operators divided into four roles – Assault, Support, Engineer, and Recon. Engineers can repair vehicles and cut through fences with a welding gun; Assault has faster movement speed and makes for stronger infantry; and so on. Three Operators were locked from the outset, but they each bring unique abilities to the table. For example, Luna’s Detection Arrow can scout out an area and detect any hostiles nearby.

And that’s all well and good, but I’m not too keen on the Operators’ designs. Shepherd, Uluru, and Vyron come across well enough, but D-Wolf is skirting credulity, while Hackclaw and Luna come across as characters you’d see in mobile shooters. The fact that they have cheesy lines also doesn’t help, like Luna saying her enemies will get shafted. Get it? Because arrows have shafts. It’s even more humorous since you’ll likely never kill an enemy in PvP with an arrow.

"The Battlefield bones are solid and reliable, even with the lack of destructible environments as a non-factor. A campaign is in the works, but there’s no indication of its arrival."

Beyond abilities and somewhat annoying personalities, each role can only access certain weapons. If you want to take down vehicles on foot, Engineers with Stingers and AT4s are a must. The weapon variety is otherwise fairly robust, with a decent array of assault rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, sniper rifles, and whatnot, each customizable with different attachments. Sound design, especially weapon noise, could use a bit more oomph but otherwise, the weapons provide enough of a responsive kick.

Each map visually looks quite good, with Ascension and its rock lands – including a prominent vantage point for snipers – standing out compared to Threshold’s extensive pine forests. Texture quality and atmospherics are pretty decent, with performance steady even with extensive chaos, be it aerial bombardments or tanks rolling through and helicopters soaring overhead (even if some pop-in is occasionally noticeable). I’m a bit divided on the overall design, though. They flow well enough and offer distinct points of interest, whether you’re scaling the giant rock or navigating through the tunnels on Ascension, but they feel a little too plain at times.

It’s all the better for rolling through with vehicles, even if I couldn’t figure out the helicopter controls for the life of me. However, Rushing an objective with little time left and annihilating everyone with an LAV-G1 can feel very good. Though vehicles can feel oppressive (and not just because of the mode variant), there are options for counter-play, including mounted AA guns for helicopters. While the current selection whelmed more than anything, several others will be available at launch, so I’ll reserve some judgment.

Overall, Warfare is solid – not especially amazing, but not completely throwaway. The Battlefield bones are solid and reliable, even with the lack of destructible environments as a non-factor. A campaign is in the works, but there’s no indication of its arrival. That leaves Operations, an unorthodox mix of PvE and PvEvP, which is more than a little inspired by Escape from Tarkov.

"The injury system also takes a page out of Tarkov’s book with an injury system, where body parts can be broken, max health reduced, and vision blurred, and different items are necessary to deal with them all."

I say unorthodox because, from the outset, you have maps to face off against AI combatants to extract loot while also dealing with other players (solo or in a squad). The cheesiness is apparent once more as your commanding officer tells you to “shoot, loot and time to scoot” regarding the gameplay loop. If you die, everything is lost.

The injury system also takes a page out of Tarkov’s book with an injury system, where body parts can be broken, max health reduced, and vision blurred, and different items are necessary to deal with them all. There are missions to complete, and depending on the materials, you can upgrade different departments back at your base to unlock new items.

Though I mostly spent time on Space City, the map is pretty robust, with multiple extraction points and intriguing structures on top of bosses. Facing off against an enemy that utilized ground drones felt harrowing, and Operator abilities arguably shine more here. While I wouldn’t put it anywhere near the top in terms of overall quality, especially with the lack of unique events and relatively easy AI, it’s far from disposable.

Those seeking more of a challenge can try out higher difficulties or engage in raids like Operation: Serpentine. The latter is a PvE activity supporting up to three players and features four stages with no threat of losing your loot. The downside is that enemies are more lethal, making it tough to surmount solo. As you level up, you’ll unlock new options at the base like the Auction House for buying or listing items to sell and shopping. I like how you can meet the other Operators, manning different stations and completing supply requests. It’s a nice touch and lacks much by way of annoying voice lines.

"Whether it can sustain long-term interest is another matter entirely, but with Battlefield more or less deposed till the next instalment, you could certainly do worse when it comes to clones, at least in PvP."

Progression is your standard earning XP from matches to level up and unlock new weapons. Using a weapon more will also unlock further attachments to customize it, but there’s otherwise an array of daily logins, challenges, and rewards to claim that became way too dizzying to keep track of. Some of it is essential to Operations, but there’s nothing noticeably pay-to-win (unless you count XP tokens for faster leveling).

Overall, Delta Force is a competitive shooter unabashedly ripping off from the best, be it Battlefield or Tarkov. However, it does so in a much more competent manner than expected, even if it can all feel rudimentary. Nevertheless, with its low barrier to entry and relatively minimal bugs outside of the odd person hanging outside of a vehicle, it’s worth checking out. Whether it can sustain long-term interest is another matter entirely, but with Battlefield more or less deposed till the next installment, you could certainly do worse when it comes to clones, at least in PvP.

This game was reviewed on PC.