• Ohhhh yes. Definitely. This is one of the finest mission packs ever released for RS in my opinion, and the sheer number of games using it on Gameranger now should be ample proof of that. LuNgBuTTeR, Akira, Peybak and everyone else at ATWAR who contributed to this mod should be heartily congratulated.
  
  
• It comprises a single player campaign with 5 maps, new uniforms, weapons, reticules, textures aplenty as well as multiplayer maps and missions.
  
  
• The single-player campaign starts you at Fort Bragg, in a training session - which is OK, but nothing really to write home about - but it immediately introduces you to the single most impressive element of this mod: the sound. The helicopters roaring overhead are a harbinger of things to come - and with my otherwise completely useless soundblaster card the sounds really do resonate around you.
  
  
• But its from the second map on, once the mod places you in Mogadishu during Operation Restore Hope that this comes to life. You're dropped about two blocks east of where Chalk 2 was dropped in the real raid - and all hell promptly breaks loose.
  
  
• The ambience is perfect: burning piles of rubbish litter the streets, floors and doors creak onimously, and gaping holes have been punched through the facades of most buildings, offering perfect sniper perches for the opposition - and they use them. Rusty, corrugated iron, graffiti, it's all here. These maps FEEL real.
  
  
• You will not only find yourself staging the initial raid to grab Aidid's advisors, but later come across both Blackhawk crash sites, in missions stretching from eliminating all opposition to escorting wounded pilots and rangers from the combat zone. The defend mission in the custom missions menu is particularly hair-raising.
  
  
• LuNgBuTTeR and his team have worked wonders with this mod, and with the aged RS engine. These levels are better than anything in Ubi's official expansion Black Thorn, and that didn't even include new uniforms. And it's got the moving helicopters first glimpsed (briefly) in Takedown, although here used to much better effect. Veeery nice.
  
  
• And the new uniforms are great - D-Boys, 2 ranger skins, SOAR, and 10th Mountain Division are represented - all (with the possible exception of the 10th Mountain uniform, which seemed a trifle washed out) of which are some of the best we've seen outside Coco's work. The weapons (again, except the slightly blurry M-16) are of equally high quality, particularly (again) in the sound department: the silenced M4 is a thing of great joy to play with. Tangos have equally delightful firepower: the first time your entire group is wiped out by an RPG is quite a wake-up call. And it's one you'll keep getting, particularly if you play as badly as I do...
  
  
• The multiplayer maps are BIG. You really need a minimum of 3 vs 3 to play them properly, although a smaller CQB map has thoughtfully been included, entitled "Blackhawk Down Small" which works fine even for 1 vs 1. Start points never seem to place you at a disadvantage and are close enough to guarantee a firefight within 30 seconds or so of straight running.
  
  
• But its the sounds that make this mod: the whirring of helicopters overhead, the constant crump of distant explosions, the rattle of AK fire all around you - superb. It really captures the feeling of dropping you in the middle of a warzone and adds enormously to the tension.
  
  
• The only two criticisms with the sound are that the tangos themselves seem to have kept their original RS voices, which is a little disappointing, and there are many places in the map where your footsteps suddenly cut out, leaving you with the rather strange sensation of floating.
  
  
• Everything runs fine on my old G3/466 with a Radeon, although it stutters a little at times. Anything less than a Radeon, though, and you may have problems.
  
  
• While we're on bugs, the assassinate Aidid mission also seems to have a bug which freezes the game(only on the Mac side), so stay clear of it for the moment, until the promised patch should fix it.
  
  
• With new briefings (including lengthy essays on Somalia and the blackhawk), uniforms, weapons, and some great single and multiplayer maps, this is a truly great mod - and a great tribute.
  
  
• Download this baby now - It's made me boot back into OS 9 for the first time in months!

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Blackhawk Down Overall Rating - 9.5 of 10

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• ATWAR
  
• Black Hawk Down Info page
  
• Download Blackhawk Down Mod for Mac [25.4MB]
  
• Download Blackhawk Down Mod for PC [26.1MB]
  
  
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