Delta Force's "biggest update of the year" adds a radioactive map, Terminator-style enemy agents, and a transport chopper

A new season of Delta Force is imminent, and the free-to-play shooter remains a quietly serious challenger to many of the more talked-about names. Offering both large-scale, Battlefield-style action with its Havoc Warfare mode, and an extraction format courtesy of Hazard Operations, the FPS game continues to outpace many of its rivals on Steam. This weekend alone, its peak player count matches that of Call of Duty, the standalone CoD MW2, and Battlefield 6 combined, and that's before Team Jade has dropped what it's dubbing the "biggest update of the year."

The new Delta Force update is 'Season Meltdown,' and arrives on Tuesday June 30. The developer has just unveiled exactly what's being added, and there's certainly a lot to look forward to, whichever side of the multiplayer game you prefer. In Havoc Warfare, there's a new map, Coliseum, which has a branching event where a Haavk rocket targets the giant arena. If it gets intercepted, debris will rain down on the streets, while if it lands as intended, both sides will push inside for a final showdown.

There are two extra weapons - the RM277 Assault Rifle, and the SVCH Marksman Rifle - plus a range of additional attachments and ammo types. Alongside this comes the new CSV-35 transport helicopter, offering the combination of vertical takeoff and landing with fixed-wing flight speeds. That makes it great at quickly getting soldiers and small vehicles across the map, and it also comes equipped with modifiable weapon systems.

New operator Gabriel 'N-Two' Mercier joins the fray with a rather frosty disposition. His signature grenade launcher fires freezing projectiles that get faster with consecutive shots, and he also carries a tracking stun grenade and a cryo-flask that deploys a freezing gas. This can lock down closed doors along with disrupting enemies in its radius. As your victims get colder, their movement slows until they are completely frozen. This effect also reduces fracture resistance in Operations, and limits vehicle handling in Warfare.

Over in the land of Hazard Ops, there's a new location to visit, the AZ3 Nuclear Plant. This plays host to both easy and normal operations, and as you might expect, boasts some serious radiation hazards. Stepping into leak zones or searching through radiation containers will build up your exposure level. Fortunately, there's a new Decontamination Chamber that you can unlock in your Black Site to improve your radiation tolerance and recovery.

Also lurking in the AZ3 Nuclear Plant is a new enemy boss type - the Neural Device Agent H1000. In what seems to be a pretty clear nod to the Terminator (Studio 369 even describes them as "outfitted with neural devices and jacked into Skynet"), these agents are "fast, lethal, and unpredictable."

The Delta Force 'Season Meltdown' update launches on Tuesday June 30, alongside the season ten mission line. Studio 369 notes that the patch requires a 33.5 GB download, with a Steam update package of approximately 57.3 GB. If you haven't checked in with the shooter for some time, or are yet to do so, this should be a good moment to jump in. Just keep your eyes peeled for those Agents.