
Already completed missions can be accessed from an "instant action" list. Completing a mission saves the campaign progress and usually unlocks a new one. While the campaign is linear, most of the time three missions are available at the same time, allowing the player to complete them in any order.

Like in earlier Delta Force games, the campaign in Black Hawk Down is divided into distinct missions. The player is usually accompanied by a squad of three AI-controlled soldiers, whom the player is able to give simple commands such as the order to hold fire, hold position or throw a grenade. Many of the series' trademark features, such as bullet ballistics and later weapon sway, were abandoned in favour of simpler action-focused gameplay.


While all earlier Delta Force games focus on long distance outdoor combat and have open ended mission design, Black Hawk Down focuses on close quarters combat in urban environments with heavily scripted missions more similar to the then-recent Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. The gameplay in Delta Force: Black Hawk Down differs heavily from earlier installments in the series. The final mission features an alternate history, in which the player and a team of operators carry out the assassination of Mohamed Farrah Aidid. During the latter section of the game, the player will still play as that soldier, but is now sent to the 3rd Ranger Battalion and the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, commonly known as Delta Force. They are assigned to 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, taking part in Operation Gothic Serpent, a military operation conducted during the Battle of Mogadishu on October 3, 1993. Following the third mission, the player assumes the role of the same soldier. They take part in the Unified Task Force peacekeeping operation during the Somali Civil War. The player begins the game as a soldier with Task Force Ranger, commanding three team members: Huck, Mother, and Preacher.
