Delta Force: Land Warrior Preview

When NovaLogic released Delta Force in the fall of 1998, the game was lauded for successfully delivering great counterterrorist gameplay in its single-player mode, as well as a frenzied, yet lag-free multiplayer experience. It was a refreshing break from that year's countless entries of me-too first-person shooters (Half-Life excluded, of course) that offered the same, tired formula of fetching keys and collecting health. And yet, one of Delta Force's major drawbacks was the use of a voxel terrain engine, a technology that's been a NovaLogic staple since Comanche. While the voxel-based engine provided for expansive outdoor environments with an extremely far viewing distance, the technology didn't support any 3D acceleration whatsoever, which lead to substandard performance on even the fastest PCs. NovaLogic attempted to remedy this performance problem by integrating a limited amount of 3D acceleration in Delta Force 2, but the game still chugged along at a choppy pace.

Larger images in gallery

It seems that the third time's a charm for the Delta Force series, as Land Warrior, the latest chapter in NovaLogic's tactical first-person shooters, will finally have the much-anticipated full 3D acceleration support. Combined with the signature Delta Force gameplay style, Land Warrior should undoubtedly yield the game that fans of the series have been wanting all along. The game was first announced from the show floor of this year's E3, and excitement within the first-person shooter and tactical-combat communities flared instantly. Since then, however, NovaLogic has given the game only a limited amount of coverage - even the official Delta Force: Land Warrior web site is still under construction.

We recently had the chance to play Delta Force: Land Warrior, and we were impressed to find that the performance problems that plagued the first two games had been completely resolved at no expense to the gameplay. This preview will provide you with new information, screenshots, and art based on our hands-on experience with Land Warrior. Additionally, we interviewed the producer of the game, Wes Eckhart, to find out more details that weren't covered during our playtime. We're also kicking off the first in our five-part character feature, where we profile Land Warrior's five main protagonists in detail. We'll be updating this feature every Friday. And last, as an added bonus, GameSpot is premiering NovaLogic's Delta Force: Land Warrior demo, which you can download by clicking on the image to the right. This demo features one of the five characters, Cole "Gas Can" Harris, as well as the first level from the final game.

Let's take a look at some of Land Warrior's details.