Just as the film Black Hawk Down sets out to reproduce specific elements of the events of Mogadishu, so does the game.
The designers clearly want the player to feel like what it's like to be pinned down in the middle of a busy street not knowing where the bullets are coming from or when the next militia member will try to flush you out.
The pace rarely lets up. The first mission sits you on a Humvee with a 50 cal gun and within seconds you're mowing down waves of crazed gunmen, some of whom ride on converted pickups ("Technicals"). Then, it's a hike over a hill and you jump onto a Black Hawk and man a minigun from the air.
The early missions give you a mixture of jobs, including protecting food convoys, rescuing other soldiers and blowing up a radio station at night. The final set of missions are based around the events of the film, with you fighting to get to a downed Black Hawk, protecting its occupants and running the Mogadishu Mile back to the Stadium.
In terms of bang for your buck, the missions do not disappoint. You are often confronted with multiple targets hiding behind obstacles and mixing with unarmed civilians who you must avoid shooting. This means that you can't just run amok in a street battle shooting anything that moves, you have to keep a cool head and check your targets. ;-)
It's also important to stay behind cover and check around every corner. If you're used to just walking around and shooting, you'll be picked off over and over again.
The game is not without its flaws.
While many Somalis will shoot randomly in your direction, some are real crack shots. I suppose a few might have developed some skills after six years of civil war, but the ones manning the .50 cal turret guns always seem able to bring you down with a couple of shots.
Your teammates aren't the brightest of soldiers either, but then that's not the point in single player mode. If you want human behaviour from your teammates, go online in Multiplayer.
The missions may not be totally accurate, but if they were, there would be the "four hour wait holed up in a house waiting for the convoy" mission which would be almost as unpleasant to play as it must have been to live through.
In all, it's a fun game and very easy to get immersed in. It mixes street fighting, building-clearing, long-range sniping and a lot of high energy action. Worth playing even if you haven't seen the film.
7.5 / 10
The designers clearly want the player to feel like what it's like to be pinned down in the middle of a busy street not knowing where the bullets are coming from or when the next militia member will try to flush you out.
The pace rarely lets up. The first mission sits you on a Humvee with a 50 cal gun and within seconds you're mowing down waves of crazed gunmen, some of whom ride on converted pickups ("Technicals"). Then, it's a hike over a hill and you jump onto a Black Hawk and man a minigun from the air.
The early missions give you a mixture of jobs, including protecting food convoys, rescuing other soldiers and blowing up a radio station at night. The final set of missions are based around the events of the film, with you fighting to get to a downed Black Hawk, protecting its occupants and running the Mogadishu Mile back to the Stadium.
In terms of bang for your buck, the missions do not disappoint. You are often confronted with multiple targets hiding behind obstacles and mixing with unarmed civilians who you must avoid shooting. This means that you can't just run amok in a street battle shooting anything that moves, you have to keep a cool head and check your targets. ;-)
It's also important to stay behind cover and check around every corner. If you're used to just walking around and shooting, you'll be picked off over and over again.
The game is not without its flaws.
While many Somalis will shoot randomly in your direction, some are real crack shots. I suppose a few might have developed some skills after six years of civil war, but the ones manning the .50 cal turret guns always seem able to bring you down with a couple of shots.
Your teammates aren't the brightest of soldiers either, but then that's not the point in single player mode. If you want human behaviour from your teammates, go online in Multiplayer.
The missions may not be totally accurate, but if they were, there would be the "four hour wait holed up in a house waiting for the convoy" mission which would be almost as unpleasant to play as it must have been to live through.
In all, it's a fun game and very easy to get immersed in. It mixes street fighting, building-clearing, long-range sniping and a lot of high energy action. Worth playing even if you haven't seen the film.
7.5 / 10