The FPS genre might not be my favourite in gaming (it’s platformers, in case you were wondering), but it’s one I still have a lot of love for. From Medal of Honor and Overwatch to Titanfall and Team Fortress 2, I’ve put a lot of time into shooters over the years, and have given pretty much all of them a good old-fashioned college try.

While I like to think that I’m well-versed, there are a few gaps in my FPS resume, such as Goldeneye and Quake, that I’ve intended to play but simply never found the time. The same can’t be said for Delta Force, a series of critically acclaimed tactical shooters from the ‘90s and early ‘00s that flew under my radar to the point that I was unaware it even existed.

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Delta Force was a particularly big hit in China, where it stood out as one of the first multiplayer tactical shooters.

Delta Force Is Back, Baby

With the series lying dormant for more than a decade, there hasn’t been much for Delta Force fans to get excited lately. That’s all about to change thanks to Hawk Ops, an upcoming free-to-play shooter from Tencent’s Team Jade, the developers of Call of Duty Mobile, that aims to bring the series back for both long-time fans and a whole new generation of prospective tacticians.

I recently had the chance to go hands-on with Hawk Ops at a preview event that let me try out two of its three distinct game modes while chatting to Team Jade's studio head Leo Yao about bringing the series back. The first of Hawk Ops' core modes is a more traditional multiplayer shooter experience called Havoc Warfare, which is essentially Delta Force’s answer to Battlefield’s Conquest mode and features two large teams either trying to take control of or defend points around a map.

Right off the bat, the most important thing to note about Hawk Ops is that it nails its gunplay, which feels weighty and satisfying. Considering Team Jade’s past with Call of Duty Mobile, I expected it to be similarly twitchy and fast-paced, but it’s more in line with Battlefield’s heavier and more realistic feel.

“20 years ago, Delta Force used to be very popular in China, especially in net cafes - Delta Force was one of the first PvP FPS games in China even before Counter-Strike. So, five years ago when we knew the IP was ready for sale, we rushed to get it from THQ."

I’m not enough of a gun guy to be able to name any firearms more complicated than a Desert Eagle or AK-47, but every weapon that I used felt responsive and had a hefty amount of kick, just like DICE’s staple series. In fact, there’s a lot about Hawk Ops’ Havoc Warfare mode that reminded me of Battlefield, from its use of vehicles (which I wasn’t good enough to unlock) to its bigger and more destructible maps.

Operators Are The Name Of The Game

As a long-time Battlefield fan and as someone who generally prefers it over COD’s hectic twitch chaos, I’m more than happy about where Hawk Ops is taking its notes from, even if it does feel familiar. Outside of its tight gunplay, the main focus of Hawk Ops’ is its Operators, which work similarly to Heroes in games like Overwatch and Valorant. My preview featured four to choose from, but I quickly gravitated towards Luna, a Recon Operator whose cooldown abilities let her fire a shock arrow that dealt electric damage over time and a sonar arrow that revealed enemy positions like Hanzo in Overwatch.

I also spent a good amount of time with Kai, an Assault Operator who can shoot a barrage of grenades, deploy a smoke bomb, and, after enough time, activate an exoskeleton that boosts his movement speed, which makes him a great beginner pick. I was a little sceptical about the Operator system considering how unbalanced the Specialists felt in Battlefield 2042, but it did make playing Hawk Ops feel more tactical, which is one of the series’ main focuses.

"In China, the mobile game is really popular. When we did Call of Duty Mobile, we never expected that a mobile FPS game would be popular globally. Call of Duty Mobile is still very successful globally, so we know how to do a successful FPS mobile game.”

Even though my first go at Havoc Warfare ended in a loss, my second attempt at the mode went a lot smoother as I got to grips with how to use each Operator’s abilities. At one point, I took out a hallway of enemies with D-Wolf’s grenades, and in another, I managed to fire off Luna’s sonar arrow to reveal which part of the map the enemy team was trying to chokehold. Hawk Ops’ general gameplay isn’t too groundbreaking in the genre, but the Operators do help it feel distinct and satisfying.

Escape From Delta Force

The second game mode I got to experience was Hazard Operations, an extraction shooter mode in the same vein as Escape from Tarkov. I’ve never actually played Tarkov before, but I’m familiar with the general premise- spawn into a map after choosing what to bring from your limited inventory, pick up as many valuable goods as you can, beat anyone who stands in your way, and get out before someone takes you out and grabs your stuff.

All of that is present in Hawk Ops, but with the added caveat of choosing an Operator before diving in, which adds another layer by making you consider what abilities you want to bring in. Considering how challenging I found the previous game mode, I opted to go for Stinger, since his Support type allowed me to heal myself without using any resources.

"The extraction shooter genre is very popular but it also fits the tactics of the Delta Force IP. The pace is not that fast and you have to decide and make some of the tactical decisions. So it really makes sense for Delta Force. All three of these game modes share the tactics and immersion of the warfare, which are the key appeals of Delta Force.”

Even with that skillset and some of Hawk Ops’ most expensive ammo types, guns, and armour in hand, I still died embarrassingly quickly after running into one of the tougher enemy types. Hawk Ops’ traditional multiplayer mode was already fairly challenging, but Hazard Operations dialled that up to 11 by taking away my team and leaving me to fend for myself.

Things went so badly the first time around that for my second attempt, I was advised to head straight for the extraction point, which was a bit of a blow to my FPS ego. This made for a much more peaceful experience, even if I still managed to nearly get my head blown off by an enemy with a grenade launcher. I may not have been great at Hazard Operations, but I can see it being a hit with anyone who wants a slightly different take on Escape from Tarkov.

The third and final string in Hawk Ops’ bow is a remake of the single-player campaign from Black Hawk Down. I sadly didn’t get to try it for myself, but Leo Yao described it as a shooter soulslike due to its difficulty. Colour me intrigued.

Delta Force: Hawk Ops might not offer a groundbreaking take on the FPS genre, but the fact that it comes so close to titans like Battlefield and Tarkov while having its own unique flavour isn’t a bad thing. What really makes it stand out, though, is the fact that it’s offering these seemingly massive game modes for free across consoles, mobile, and PC, something that's very tantalising considering how well it does at replicating the formula. My main takeaway from my time with Hawk Ops is that I wish I’d been able to play more of it, which is pretty good going for a long-dormant series making its comeback.

Disclaimer: Tencent funded press travel and accommodation for this preview.

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