Climax brings Black Hawk Down to Xbox

UK-based developer Climax is handling the Xbox port of NovaLogic's Delta Force - Black Hawk Down, adding Live support and co-operative missions along with various new maps, modes and tweaks to the arcade-oriented shoot-'em-up ahead of a planned late 2004 release.

The game was on display at E3 last week in pre-alpha form, demonstrating the port's console FPS style control scheme (with no aiming assistance) and sections of the 16-mission-strong single-player game. Lone soldiers will probably also appreciate the AI tweaks Climax is touting.

The Xbox Live modes are bound to receive the most attention though, both critically and in terms of development, and NovaLogic went on record saying that there's a good chance of the game supporting as many as 16 players when it launches. There will also be split-screen and Xbox-exclusive co-op, voice comms and new maps and modes for the multiplayer component.

The Xbox port is due out later this year, and interestingly a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which has been set up to provide educational grants, financial aid and counselling to the children of soldiers killed in action. Which is obviously to be encouraged - although there remains a school of thought which asks if it's still too soon to be making entertainment product out of a conflict that occurred just over ten years ago.