Delta Force (Preview)

Delta Force is back, and it’s not tiptoeing in. Developed by Team Jade (a division of Timi Studio Group) and published under the watchful eye of Tencent, this reboot of the iconic NovaLogic series aims to combine old-school military precision with modern, free-to-play sensibilities. Boasting cross-platform warfare, high-stakes extractions, and a fully remade Black Hawk Down campaign, it’s clear the intent is to dominate rather than dabble.

Arriving on PS5 on August 19, after smashing its way through PC and mobile markets, this game makes a bold statement: true tactical shooters aren’t just surviving, they’re thriving. The massive 32 vs 32 Warfare mode feels like a spiritual successor to Battlefield, but with an edge, vehicles, airstrikes, and terrain tactics that demand coordination or end in chaos. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a Delta Force operator without the helmet and real-world danger, this is your battlefield.

Extraction mode, branded “Operations”, redefines tension. Loot, guns, and gear must be carried out through hostile territory with no second chances. One wrong move and your haul is gone. This paves the way for thrilling PvPvE skirmishes, and casual raids against AI (or actual squads) ensure every run feels fresh and unforgiving.

Finally, the pièce de résistance: a complete remake of the Black Hawk Down campaign, once synonymous with military shooters. Original fans will recall the harrowing Battle of Mogadishu, and someone at TiMi Studio Group felt it deserved a modern rendition. It arrives as free DLC alongside launch, a nod to the legacy and a challenge to the new audience.

Bootcamp and Background: Revisiting Legends in a Modern Warzone

Delta Force doesn’t just revive the brand, it pays tribute to the legacy. Originally released in 1998 by NovaLogic, the franchise pioneered voxel-based long-distance sniping and military realism when the industry was still largely pixelated chaos. Now, in 2025, Team Jade reinterprets that realism into a sprawling, multi-mode experience built on Unreal Engine 5, targeting a generation raised on Call of Duty and Escape from Tarkov.

The backbone of the narrative is “Black Hawk Down”, a title loaded with history, ethics, and intensity. Inspired by Ridley Scott’s 2001 film and the real events surrounding the 1993 Mogadishu conflict, the story campaign places players inside a historical high-stakes operation where every room breach and alley crossing is a test of nerves. While modern sensibilities are considered, the campaign does not shy away from brutality or nuance, presenting a raw lens into the horrors of urban warfare.

But Delta Force 2025 also tells a broader story, one forged in its online Operations and Warfare modes. Set in an unnamed but thematically consistent global conflict zone, the world is shaped by geopolitical collapse, corporate militaries, and rogue paramilitary factions. Whether you’re breaching a skyscraper, securing intel in a jungle base, or extracting a downed drone from the desert, the world feels believable, even without explicit exposition.

Game Director Shadow Guo, clearly a lifelong fan, describes this as a love letter to tactical shooters, crafted to let players experience “deep characters, explosive destruction, and top-notch action.” While the story may not have a Hollywood script tying it all together outside of the campaign, it’s the emergent drama from gameplay moments, squad calls, and survival odds that leave the strongest impressions.

Trigger Discipline and Tactical Depth: Gameplay and Mechanics

Delta Force aims for realism, but without shackling itself to clunky mil-sim mechanics. It’s a tactical shooter that walks the tightrope between Battlefield’s scale and Rainbow Six Siege’s precision. Whether you’re repelling rooftop insurgents or sneaking through brush to flank enemy lines, the game thrives on choices that matter, and punishes mistakes like an unforgiving drill sergeant.

In Warfare mode, the 32v32 battlefield is where things get gloriously chaotic. Players hop into tanks, pilot helicopters, and commandeer patrol boats, all while coordinating with squads using tactical ping systems, field radios, and area-specific objectives. It’s not just about twitch reflexes, it’s about who controls the hill, who’s jamming radar, and who remembered to plant claymores behind the point. The dynamic objective shifts mid-match add a compelling sense of escalation, suddenly, you’re not defending a checkpoint, you’re preventing a nuclear warhead from being hijacked.

Then there’s Operations mode, Delta Force’s answer to extraction shooters like Escape from Tarkov or Warzone DMZ. Here, pacing slows down and paranoia kicks in. You’ll enter zones with minimal gear, search for loot or intelligence, and face off against both AI and real players, a tense triangle of unpredictability. Every decision, from which corridor to clear first to whether to trust a solo operator waving “hello,” adds to the nail-biting intensity. The extra layer of looting and extracting brings tactical persistence to the experience, even if you’re not aiming for killstreaks.

The Raid missions offer a PvE alternative that truly tests coordination. These multi-phase missions bring challenging boss fights, high-tech security systems, and escalating environmental hazards. Think The Division’s incursions with a dash of SWAT 4’s methodical room clearing. Enemy AI flanks, suppresses, and sets traps, forcing players to rely on genuine teamwork, not just raw aim.

Underpinning all this is Delta Force’s weapon and gear system, featuring modular gunsmith customization with real-world ballistics. Guns don’t just feel different, they behave differently, an M4 with hollow-point rounds and a suppressor isn’t just quieter, it reacts differently to armor and environment. It’s this level of detail that lets players approach missions with creativity and confidence. Whether you breach loud or ghost through vents, Delta Force ensures no two encounters feel quite the same.

Band of Brothers Reloaded: Multiplayer and Replayability

Delta Force doesn’t just bring back the spirit of tactical team-based shooters, it modernizes the formula with cross-platform co-op, dynamic PvP, and layered replay systems that respect both your time and your skill curve. Whether you’re queuing solo or rolling deep with a five-stack of mic’d-up friends, the game is built to reward coordination and long-term engagement.

Multiplayer is the beating heart of Delta Force, especially in Warfare mode, which feels like a love letter to classic large-scale shooters like MAG or Battlefield 4. With full crossplay across PC and consoles, you’re never short of players or mayhem. What sets it apart, however, is how it encourages thoughtful squad composition, a recon drone user, a breacher, a heavy gunner, and a medic don’t just look cool on paper, they synergize meaningfully in the field. The squad command system lets leaders issue real-time orders, boosting XP and encouraging structure over chaos.

Meanwhile, Operations mode’s high-stakes extraction loop scratches a different itch. Here, each run feels like a standalone story: did your squad escape after trading shots with another crew, or did you greedily overstay and get mowed down by a chopper patrol? The roguelike tension of losing gear makes every decision meaningful. It’s surprisingly social too, cross-comms with other teams mid-match, hostage negotiations, and double-crosses create unpredictable narratives that keep players coming back.

Replayability is driven by more than just daily missions and seasonal unlocks. Delta Force integrates an operator progression system with branching paths, specialize in stealth takedowns, drone warfare, or breaching explosives, and you’ll unlock gear and perks that reflect your style. This keeps gameplay fresh even when maps and missions repeat. There’s also a meaningful New Game+ tier for Raid missions, offering new layouts, tougher enemies, and rotating modifiers.

Community involvement also plays a big role in longevity. The devs have leaned into player feedback during betas, with plans for regular patches, seasonal updates, and event-based raids. Better yet, the game doubles down on its no pay-to-win mantra, offering purely cosmetic unlocks that still let you show off your grind, including operator skins, weapon decals, and even emotes like “Hostage Dance” (yes, really). Whether you’re logging in for a quick firefight or settling in for a weekend extraction marathon, Delta Force ensures the challenge stays sharp and the camaraderie even sharper.

Tactical Realism Meets Hollywood Gloss: Graphics and Sound

Delta Force flexes its tech muscles with a visual presentation that’s nothing short of cinematic. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, the game delivers a gritty, near-future aesthetic that is both functional for gameplay clarity and spectacular when it needs to be. Whether you’re clearing rooms in a neon-lit favela or ducking for cover as a Black Hawk tears past above you, the fidelity here punches way above its free-to-play weight class.

Character models are meticulously detailed, especially the operators. Tactical gear, facial animations, and even the wear-and-tear on armor change subtly between missions, adding layers of immersion. The environments are no slouch either, desert maps shimmer under heat haze, while jungle zones make clever use of foliage and dynamic lighting. Destructible environments are another highlight. Doors can be breached (or blown apart), cover degrades under sustained fire, and explosions leave behind realistic scorch marks and debris patterns. It’s not quite Battlefield-level destruction, but it’s more than enough to force players to adapt their positioning on the fly.

Lighting and particle effects add drama without turning missions into Michael Bay set-pieces. A flashbang in a tight corridor feels genuinely blinding, and smoke grenades bloom convincingly with volumetric thickness, offering actual tactical utility. And if you think night ops are just reskinned daytime maps, think again, NVG use alters contrast, soundscapes, and even AI behavior, creating distinct mission rhythms after sunset.

Sound design is arguably one of Delta Force’s biggest strengths. Guns don’t just sound good, they sound right. Each weapon has punchy audio feedback with believable echo, chambering sounds, and distant crackles for long-range fire. Footsteps vary across terrain, which adds tension in close-quarters and helps distinguish between teammates and enemies. The score subtly shifts between orchestral swells and ominous ambience, but when the action ramps up, dynamic music cues kick in to add just the right adrenaline boost. Voice acting is a bit hit-or-miss (some lines veer into Saturday morning cartoon villain territory), but squad barks and enemy chatter generally get the job done.

Delta Force might not be chasing photorealism like Escape from Tarkov or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, but its art direction, performance optimization, and audio mix deliver a gripping and coherent experience that rarely falters, even in the heat of 64-player battles.

Final Thoughts: A Return to Glory or a Mission Too Ambitious?

Delta Force is not just a reboot, it’s a mission statement, one that aims to modernize a beloved tactical shooter while respecting its legacy. From large-scale Warfare chaos to high-tension Operations extraction, and the nostalgic return of Black Hawk Down’s iconic campaign, it’s clear that Team Jade and TiMi Studio Group have poured genuine passion into this revival. And in many ways, it shows, in the flexibility of its modes, the careful attention to team dynamics, and the high production values that feel at odds with the game’s free-to-play model.

Yet, Delta Force walks a fine line. The variety of modes means it’s always got something fresh for returning players, but it also risks spreading itself too thin. Balancing 32v32 PvP, PvEvP extraction, and a narrative campaign, all under one roof, is no small task. While the beta build shows plenty of promise, the success of the final product will depend on post-launch polish, community support, and how fairly the monetization system is handled. So far, their “No Pay-to-Win” stance feels genuine, but time will tell if that holds.

For long-time fans, the Black Hawk Down campaign is the real emotional centerpiece. Whether you played it on PC in 2003 or never touched a Delta Force game before, this modernized version hits a satisfying blend of respect and reinvention. It’s not just a museum piece, it’s a chance to feel like a hero again, under fire, outnumbered, and radioing for extraction as a Little Bird swoops overhead.

Delta Force is shaping up to be more than just another tactical shooter. It’s an ambitious, community-driven attempt to remind us that strategy, camaraderie, and heart-pounding realism still have a place in modern gaming, and when it all clicks, it feels like a return of something special.

We prepared this review with a closed beta code of the Delta Force for the PS5 version provided by TiMi Studio Group. We haven’t give a score and will wait for the final build launching August 19 and after the global lauch of the console version is released, we will share our final verdict.