Get ready to tackle entirely new top secret military operations in this sequel to the hit shooter, Delta Force. Take on the bad guys over the smoothest Voxel Space 3D terrain ever created. In Delta Force 2, as in the original, you're a member of the U.S. military's elite anti-terrorist detachment, Delta Force. It's a first-person action game, but it's based on reality; you use real-world weapons and tactics in real-world hotspots, capturing terrorist bases, rescuing hostages, destroying enemy structures and weapons.

Delta Force 2 improves on the original in just about every area. It sports enhanced graphics for smoother-looking terrain and convincing weather effects; new weapons; a more cohesive, story-driven campaign; more realistic ballistics; improved multiplayer support; and better control.

The original Delta Force's High Standard .22 caliber pistol has been replaced by the Heckler & Koch SOCOM .45 caliber suppressed pistol. It's "silenced," just like the High Standard, but has much greater stopping power thanks to a round that's twice as big. In addition to the 5.56mm M4 carbine with an underslung 40mm grenade launcher, we also have an M4-shotgun combo that replaces the grenade launcher with a 12-gauge shotgun -- special forces soldiers call it the "Master Key" because it's handy for opening doors and clearing rooms. Also new will be time-delay grenades. To take better advantage of the ability to move underwater, you'll be able to choose a pistol and rifle that can fire metal darts while submerged. In Delta Force 2, weapons will fire tracers only where it's appropriate, and certain appropriate weapons will have laser sights.

In addition to the new weapons you can carry, some missions will feature fixed emplacements -- heavy machine guns and grenade launchers -- that you can capture and use to your advantage.

Weapons in general are being treated even more realistically in Delta Force 2. In the original game, the trajectory of a bullet was only affected by gravity; now, it'll also be affected by wind, so a sniper setting up a long-range shot will have to take wind speed and direction into account, as well as bullet drop. Bullet penetration is another new factor that makes combat more realistic -- if an enemy is hiding in a tent, a barn, or some similar structure, it won't be as if he's in a concrete bunker; you'll be able to shoot through those barriers and hit him, just as you would in the real world.

Voice-Over-Net is the built-in push-to-talk technology that lets players on NovaWorld speak to each other rather than having to type messages. Because it's built in, it requires no special configuration; if you've got a full-duplex sound card and a microphone, you're ready to use it. (Virtually all current sound cards are full-duplex)