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Watching a new shooter appear in the video game industry is like watching a new lawyer graduate. Eventually, you’ll wonder if all of them will find their footing. While some do and cling around for years and even manage to rise to the top, others stay quietly in the back. Delta Force: Hawk Ops might be a case of the former. Even if it’s in its alpha stages, it is already looking more promising than any other large-scale shooters we’ve seen lately, and it even has one of the most welcoming extraction modes I’ve played.
A Proper Tactical FPS Tailored For Everyone
Let me start by saying that I am not a devoted FPS player. Yes, I play them sometimes with my friends and join a few hype trains of new shooters launching almost monthly. But when I approach any of them, I follow one single rule: the one-match rule. Since most of these games don’t have the most in-depth story, and you’re in it for the gameplay, the first match is crucial. It is your first impression of the mechanics, gunplay, and other systems, so if the first match isn’t ideal, it’s uninstall and move one, at least for me.
Luckily, Delta Force: Hawk Ops passes with flying colors because my one-match rule went out the window when I realized I started playing at 8 pm, and it was 1 am already. Yes, that’s how hooked I was. But why did I, a casual FPS player, spend five hours stuck to the screen to the point that I forgot to say good night to my wife? Was it the large-scale destruction I was able to cause on a tank? Was it the team-based extraction shooter mode? Or was it the easy-to-understand yet in-depth gun customization system? Yes. It was all that and more.
Delta Force: Hawk Ops offers a tactical haven to all types of players. If you’re someone who’s really into ranked matches, tactical communication, and team strategies, you can do that in any of its modes. On the other hand, if you prefer to cover your eyes and shoot in all directions, praying to hit someone, that works as well. It is a welcoming experience with so many things to do that I can’t even grasp how the full product will look. And while I have a few worries about its future, it’s looking great so far.
Chaos on the Battlefield
Let’s start with the best of Hawk Ops: its gameplay. For me, a proper FPS needs two things: fast pacing and excellent gunplay. If you miss any of them, people will start leaving. At first glance, Hawk Ops has both of them. In its Havoc Warfare mode, or the Battlefield-like mode for newcomers, you join the attacker or defender team. If you’re the former, you must control several points on the map until you reach the enemy’s base. The more points you capture, the more respawns your team will get. Defenders have infinite respawns and need to keep attackers at bay.
To achieve any of the two abovementioned objectives, you have many tools at your disposal. Take Operators, for starters. Each one of these characters belongs to certain archetypes. You have D-Wolf, your assault-type character who’s great at pushing enemy lines and even has a gauntlet that launches grenades. Luna (my favorite) is the recon character and is able to mark enemies or do shock damage with her arrows. There are more operators you can unlock, but these two were the ones I tried in most matches.
While the skills of every Operator sound great, every single one needs an arsenal, and Delta Force: Hawk Ops doesn’t disappoint. You have a few weapons at the start. However, you unlock more guns as you level up. Yet, the best thing about each one is how deep the gun customization runs. Many might not like it because you need to level up the gun to unlock new weapon parts. Since I play gacha games almost religiously, that was fine by me. I know the ins and outs of repeatedly using currency to level up weapons. Yet, a few people will find this tedious.
Still, once you unlock these parts, you can make the wildest gun there is. Take a normal assault rifle, for example. You can place a long-rage scope to make it almost sniper-like. You can calibrate certain weapon parts to increase control at the cost of handling, and so on. In my case, I built my ideal marksman rifle to take to Havoc Warfare, and I felt accomplished. After all, not everyone will have the same weapon, and how deadly you are will depend on your skills and how well you adapt to the arsenal you tweak as your Operators and guns gain levels.
Finally, for those who prefer to be behind the wheel instead of spamming their sprint button, there are many options, too. You can find gun emplacements around the map ready for you to use. And you can even call in vehicles for your squadmates and you to drive. I only got inside a tank once and had a terrible driver in it, so I preferred my time on foot. Still, nothing beats the epicness of watching a helicopter crash next to you while you watch a tank destroy a wall in the distance.
Leave No Loot Behind
So far, I’ve only scratched the surface of Delta Force: Hawk Ops and its large-scale mode. However, there’s another thing many will want to try: the extraction shooter mode or Hazard Operations. In this team-based extraction shooter, you and two other players enter a somewhat large map to gather loot, shoot enemies, fight enemy NPCs, and extract to sell that loot and buy better equipment before you repeat the process.
Since we’ve had an influx of extraction shooters lately, it isn’t surprising to see Delta Force: Hawk Ops take its shot at it. Lucky for us, it does it well. While it doesn’t have the realistic injury systems like others nor the in-depth stamina management for your character, it is simple enough to let you try it for a while without overwhelming you. You drop into the zone, stick with your team as you enter buildings, grab loot, and play inventory Tetris, and extract. Add to that a few enemy NPCs, bosses, and mini-games to hack and unlock safes, and it is quite the interactive mode.
For once, I think the lack of realism is great. It makes the game mode welcoming for everyone and not too scary. In other games that focus on extraction, I tend to quit after a few matches. Here, however, earning and unlocking equipment is quite easy, and since you can bring all operators to this mode, their skills are a boon at every moment. For instance, I was in a team that had two Lunas in it, and we were able to mark enemies constantly, making exploration much safer. Of the two modes, it is hard to pick a favorite one, but I’d say I prefer this one a bit more just because I like the more tactical and stealthy approach to its missions.
The Usual Live Service Shenanigans
Out of all the great things about Hawk Ops, there’s something that worries me: the live service model. Everything is fine until the FOMO hits, and I can see that hitting this game hard. Take the alpha test, for example. You already have limited-time events that, while not hard to complete, require you to grind many matches repeatedly. Also, since most weapon upgrade currency comes from missions, you need to spend considerable time in the game to build a proper gun or unlock a new Operator.
So far, the game has been quite generous at giving rewards, but every live service has a wall that stops players, and that’s when the true grind begins. Or worse, when the monetization tactics come in. Yet, we still don’t know how the latter will work. Hopefully, they won’t be too aggressive because Hawk Ops is a terrific FPS game with two engaging game modes and a lot of potential. As long as the developers focus on expanding these modes before anything store-related, we’ll be good.
A Large-scale FPS With Potential to Stay Afloat
Despite its competition, Delta Force: Hawk Ops seems to understand what players want. It offers in-depth tactical modes for veterans while never overwhelming its newcomers. While I feel the grinding might become tedious, it is only necessary if you really want to unlock everything. So far, everything seems to reward player skill over weapon upgrades or Operators. Still, I worry about how the live service systems will affect the game. Will they be friendly enough to keep us coming, or will they sink this promising ship? It’s still uncertain.
And yet, even during its Alpha test, it is one of the most polished FPS I’ve played lately. Performance on Ultra settings is great, the gunplay is superb, and the gameplay is addictive. My only gripe is the convoluted UI, especially in the events and daily quests pages, but it isn’t something that affects the hands-on gameplay, so I can live with that. All that remains is to wait and see how Hawk Ops fares in this crowded market. But right now, it is an entertaining game everyone should try.
