I’ve enjoyed Arcane Alpacas’ £13 (until Aug 27) homage to Delta Force from the outset, but I’m enjoying it even more since leaving Alaska. The venues in the Nukes in the North campaign were often gloomy and grassy, making spotting foes surprisingly tricky. As vegetation tends to be sparse and skies cloudless in Drug Disruption’s Mexican levels, there’s less chance of blundering into trouble.
In a perfect world the devs would have added AI squad-mates during the Early Access year. Drones, and the Apache gunships and off-map artillery sometimes available, are bally useful but no substitute for an eagle-eyed comrade or two close at hand.
Ideally, the AI and detection code would have matured more too. I like the way enemies use smoke and suppressive fire, but, yesterday evening, I really shouldn’t have been able to escape this situation…
…totally unscathed.
Taking the game’s title literally, I’d decided to embark on one of the Mexican episodes armed only with a Ka-Bar, then scavenge the firearms and grenades necessary to complete the objective – destroying several fentanyl ‘kitchens’.
This masochistic approach made the first ten minutes on the ground deliciously tense. Hunting for a suitable assault rifle or SMG donor – someone isolated and approachable – I realised too late the patch of long grass I was hiding in was slap-bang in the path of a four-man patrol. There was nothing to be done except await the inevitable. Maybe, if I was lucky, I’d be able to shank one of the cartelites before the end came.
But the end never came. DD’s usually pretty observant goons tramped past without noticing the prone prat at their feet. Counting my blessings, but also slightly disappointed, I sat tight until the patrol was some distance away.
Not long after I found a firearm donor. His Calico M950 allowed me to obtain an AKM which in turn opened the door to the blood-spattered L85A2 which I used for the remainder of the mission.
Why on earth are members of a Mexican drug gang toting modern British Army assault rifles? Your guess is as good as mine, but I’d be sad if Arcane Alpacas ever decided to regulate and rationalise enemy arsenals. One of Dagger Directive’s many delights is scavenging eclectic kill kit from the corpses of your victims.