Delta Force Urban Warfare PS1 Review

Delta Force Urban Warfare is a first person action adventure shooter that was developed and published by Nova Logic for the PlayStation back in the year of 2002 and the game would follow the story of a military Delta Force operative trying to get Justice for a lot of his team members that were killed during a mission which resulted in many casualties. 

The game's storyline itself spans a total of 12 missions, anything from bank robberies to hostage negotiations, assault elements on offshore oil rigs among many other different types of situations and environments in which you'll have to engage in. 

The game itself would also get a re-release on the PlayStation Network, PS3 and PSP in 2010 and the game would also receive mixed average reviews across a multitude of different games magazines and articles and received a score of 70 on Metacritic with generally favorable reviews stating that many players had enjoyed the experience of the game most notably the action sequences but the storyline and the atmosphere in which the game presented is what captured people's opinions and attention the most. 

But while saying that the game does have some very very nice visuals and graphics and if anything it's definitely one of the better looking FPS Shooters seen on the PlayStation one and essentially because this game fully utilizes 3D environments and graphics and while it does have a good setup in terms of what's accessible to the player the controls unfortunately can come across as being a little bit clunky which was a common practice among many first-person shooters seen on the console during that time. 

Even the combat elements themselves with shooting isn't as well refined compared to other popular shooters seen on the system if you especially compare it to the likes of Quake 2 which is considered to be one of the best shooters ever seen and not just on the PlayStation one. 

But in saying that Quake 2 is a very different style of FPS shooter as it is more arcade focused than than anything else where is which Delta Force there's definitely a different element to it where it does focus a lot more on strategic elements it's not a case with the likes of Quake 2 where you can literally go in all guns a blazing and then destroy everything that gets in your way, with Delta Force you do have to take more of a different approach. 

You have to really think about conserving ammo and to be always mindful and aware of your surroundings because enemies can take you out very very quickly and you'll notice that with certain missions in the game because there are certain dynamics that play up with regards to how you approach a variety of the missions in the game. 

In some cases when you're in the bank level at the start of that level you have to utilize stealth and remain unseen so you have access to a taser which you'll have to knock out enemies using non-lethal methods so that you can complete the objectives within that mission but then later on you'll end up having to utilize various weapons to fend off various enemies and terrorists that have infiltrated the bank so that you can survive until help comes. 

So the game does have some really really cool elements and even for myself personally having spent time playing the game the one aspect I do really like is I do really like the visuals but I really like the story. 

It definitely has a really good atmosphere and vibe to it that really suits the whole aesthetic that it's going for. It kind of reminds me of games with likes of Half-Life and even other shooters that I would have played on the likes of the PC. 

So it definitely has that going for it but unfortunately just the controls is somewhat lacking and in saying that the game does definitely become a lot more difficult the further into the campaign that you get especially when you start to get through about half of the missions when you're about halfway through the game the game definitely increases in its difficulty especially on one of the levels where you have to save a scientist that's held up on the top floor of an office building and you have to deal with various kind of security guards and other terrorists that are also hunting them down to try and kill him and that level can be very very difficult because you have extremely low ammo reserves and even have results and you just have to be very very mindful of how you engage with enemies. 

Sometimes you kind of nearly have to put yourself in a position where they come to you but sometimes that isn't always the case sometimes they'll just stay in their position and you have to go to them so you have to make sure you try and do it in a way without at least taking damage and again because of the lack of ammo you have to make every shot count because sometimes depending on the weapon types it can be very hit and miss in terms of how easily or how long it will take for an enemy to go down.

In some cases it might only take one or two shots to put an enemy down but then in other cases you can end up using the full clip so it can be quite random and even with regards to the shooting mechanics I found even though like I do really like the game I found the shooting mechanics and even the Collision detection to not be as good compared to some other games out there as when you do shoot, sometimes it just completely misses the target and it just feels like that your input has no real reflection of the outcome. 

Coupled with that and the likes of the sluggish animations of the characters you're facing against sometimes give you a different impression because sometimes you feel like you're not doing any damage to them and then before you realize that either you've been taken out or you've wasted that much ammo on them and then you've nothing left then for the next encounter. 

So it definitely is a mixed bag in terms of the combat physics seen in the game and that's probably its weakest feature in all fairness to it. 

It's just one of those games that unfortunately it's going to take quite a few tries for you to figure out all of the unique elements that's in the game. 

Just be mindful that you'll have to take your time and you just have to be completely aware of all your surroundings at any given time and also be more so aware of your ammo reserves because you can only carry a limited quantity of ammo at any one time and especially on later missions where you might only start off with like say a pistol or a handgun and you might only have one clip in it but you have to take out three enemies using that one clip which you can only imagine that's quite difficult to do especially considering the dodgy kind of combat and collision elements seen in the game especially when bullets are hitting the opponents. 

Sometimes it doesn't register so it can be very very finickity and very fiddly because even with regards to the controls with other games you can usually move the cursor around the place so that you have full freedom of movement, in this game you don't really have that as such and if when you do do it it's very fiddly and it's very sluggish. 

So the chances are by the time you've actually gotten to even have a chance to shoot at someone chances are you're already dead and that will be a proven point in later missions you'll see that for yourself. 

Now it's not to take away from the positives of the game there is a lot of really good positives about this game and when you look at it as a whole regardless of its flaws it's still one of the best FPS Shooters on the PS1 but just wouldn't be as refined compared to other games out there with the likes of quake and among many other games that would have been seen or that are equally as popular seen on the system. 

If you're a fan of FPS shooters especially PS1 FPS shooters and you really like the whole aesthetic and the military Vibe that's going on then Delta Force Urban Warfare I definitely recommend you try out. 

I think it's another game that you can add to your list of games to play or even revisit it if you're a fan of the game so I'd love to know your thoughts on Delta Force Urban Warfare for the PlayStation if you have played it yourself and if so what do you think of the game overall. 

Would this be your favourite FPS shooter seen on the PlayStation 1 or maybe not so much? 

I'd love to hear whatever story you do have in the game so be sure to share it in the comments below and be sure to keep watching to see more content on other games similar to Delta Force Urban Warfare, you can check out the blog where we will be diving into the iconic elements of these classic video games and as always keep those gaming memories alive...