Delta Force Boosting was a series of tactical shooters back in the late 90s and early 2000s, developed by NovaLogic (primarily for PC) and various other companies for consoles. And despite its critical success for those few short years where gaming’s advancements accelerated across every visual and auditory field, I’ve never actually heard of the series. Which I find a bit odd as I used to play a lot of shooters when I was younger. Now, I might have preferred ‘Unreal Tournament 2004’ and later on ‘Battlefield 2’ in those years, but even then, I’d expect a game like this to carry more headspace than the likes of ‘Shellshocked’. Regardless, the series died when NovaLogic eventually dissolved once the HD era of games came to a turn, like so many other games and companies.
And while Delta Force might’ve been a receptive hit back in its day, I couldn’t fathom why Team Jade, part of Tencent’s TiMi Development Group, would be interested in taking up the IP and creating their own shooter out of it. It’s not like it’s a household franchise of sorts; you’d think you could just make another brand by slapping some military-affiliated words together a la “Charlie Hawk Alpha” or “Firestorm Beta” or some nonsense.
But regardless of what I think, Team Jade has put together a game that features an extraction game type, infantry game modes that rival long-running shooters like ‘Battlefield’, and a campaign that recreates the “Black Hawk Down” film that features tactical gameplay completely different to the aforementioned game modes all for free. On top of that, the game is not only available on PC and very soon consoles, but a mobile version of the game also exists and runs parallel to the other versions. Crossplay will be available between PC and consoles for the multiplayer, but cross-saving is available everywhere and any unlocks you earn (and gamble for) will be available everywhere.
It’s an ambitious title for sure. Call of Duty’s Warzone attempted to do a similar bridge between platforms and failed spectacularly considering its brand strength. And yet, Team Jade has displayed little issue in maintaining support and adding content across all its platforms. I’m impressed. So much so that, before Tencent even flew me out to their Playa Vista-based US headquarters to try out buy Delta Force Boost on consoles, I started playing the game for myself. Mind, I don’t play shooters as much as I used to as a kid, but I still enjoyed playing Battlefield 4 or Halo these are games that I could play to take a load off, turn off my brain, and activate it if the enemy team is becoming sufficiently sweaty enough that I need to actually get into gear lest I be cannon fodder.