When Half-Life hit the
shelves in ’98, it was hailed as being the First-person-shooter genre’s
lifesaver. It breathed life into a stale genre, and is to this day considered
one of the best PC games by many. It continues to thrive not only because of
its compelling adventure, but because of its easy-to-develop-for multiplayer
engine. There are tons of mods available, and some have even been picked up and
made available as standalone games, such as Counter-Strike. Day of Defeat is
the latest to use the Half-Life engine for multiplayer gaming, and it’s just as
good as ever.
Some might say "Bah! This
game looks like crap." And it’s true that, graphically, Day of Defeat doesn’t
hold a candle to more recent games. After all, it is using the technology
introduced back in 1998. But considering this, it actually looks pretty decent,
and oftentimes is much more detailed than Half-Life itself. This supposedly
weak engine is not such a bad thing. It not only means that basically anyone
with a PC from the past five years can run the game fairly well, but also,
people on slower connections don’t have their PC bogged down with graphics
problems.
First off, I need to say
that I have a 56k connection. I’ve experienced lag with lots of online games,
from the fairly good Team Fortress Classic, to the reasonably slow Quake III and
Counter-Strike, to the nearly unplayable Deus Ex. You wouldn’t believe the look
on my face when I first started up a game of Day of Defeat. Not only was my gun
firing almost immediately after clicking the mouse button, I was actually
scoring kills and earning points within minutes. I could compete with the
people on broadband, which is pretty freaking amazing (and speaking of – those
guys generally had pings of less than 20).
Now that I’m done praising
the amazing connection speeds, I’ll tell you some more about the game. Anyone
who’s played an online game should be in pretty familiar territory. There are
two main game types. The first, and the majority you’ll be seeing, is a simple
yet deep game of holding five command points. Each command point is represented
by a flag, and there are usually one close to each base and a few in the center
of the stage. Some flags can be captured by simply touching them, but others
require two or more people to stand by them while they are gradually changed to
represent your team. Once one team has all five points captured, they win. The
other game type, which seems to be less popular, has one side trying to complete
certain objectives while the other tries to prevent that from happening. You
might have to do things like blow up tanks or capture a fuel truck. But if you
can’t do it in a certain amount of time, the either team wins. Both modes of
play are pretty darn fun and addictive.
The game takes place during
World War II. You’ll have the choice of picking between the Axis and the Allies
(and on a few maps, the British). When you join a game, you must join the team
with fewer players. This helps keep things fair. You’ll then choose a class,
based on your weapon of choice. There’s a wonderful assortment of guns, from
rifles, submachine guns (tommy guns!), sniper rifles, and even powerful machine
guns that need to be set on a tripod for any degree of accuracy. Each weapon
has a stat breakdown, with varying degrees of power, range, accuracy, and so
on. There are also handy weapons like knives and grenades, too.
There are a number of nifty
innovations in Day of Defeat. Most notably, there’s the stamina bar. This bar
drops when you perform certain actions, such as jumping, preventing you from
using cheap tactics like you can in some other online games. Sprinting is a new
feature that also drains the meter – when holding in the sprint key, your weapon
drops to your side, but you can run very quickly. There’s also a handy onscreen
map that shows your teammate’s positions and the locations of key points, as
well as outlining the map.
And what maps. These are
some of the best level designs I have ever seen in an online game. There’s a
wide range of scenery, from city streets to tarnished war zones and brushy
forests. Each is loaded with tons of hidden passageways and sniping
opportunities. There always seems to be more than one way to get where you want
to go. Though it can be overwhelming when first playing on a map, you’ll soon
learn how to get around, and you’ll feel like a real pro when you show this game
to your buddies.
Topping off this immersive
experience is the sound. When you’re not in the midst of stunning gunfire or
explosions, you’re communicating with your team. There are about thirty pre-set
voice commands that anyone can use, but the real fun is talking into your
microphone and having someone talk back. It may not be the first time this has
appeared in a game, but it works extremely well in a game such as this. There
is nothing like you going "Let’s go get the flag!" to the guy next to you, then
each jumping out of a window 30 feet above the ground and trying to hold the
flag (where you almost get shot if it weren’t for his hasty "Watch out! To your
right!").
Day of Defeat may be using
some pretty old technology here, but it uses it to its advantage, making it very
accessible and very lag-free. The game is incredibly immersive and addictive,
and promotes team-work like nothing else. I have had so many memorable moments
and have met some great people. Now go out and buy it – and excuse me while I
go play some more.
Gameplay: 9.5
Innovative and solid, Day of
Defeat is incredibly addictive and deep. You won’t get bored here.
Graphics: 7.0
Despite its age, Day of
Defeat doesn’t look that bad, with good animation and great level design.
That’s not to say it’s great, though – it can’t compare to newer shooters.
Sound: 9.0
The sound effects are
amazingly realistic, and using your microphone to talk to your team is immersive
and fun. Pump up the volume and put your headset on.
Difficulty: Medium
The game is easy to hop into and learn, but takes a fair amount of time to learn
the control nuances and the secrets in many of the levels.
Concept: 8.5
Though the basic concept of
holding command points or completing simple objectives has been done before,
it’s never been this fun, with superb level design and cool innovations like
sprinting and the onscreen map.
Multiplayer: 9.5
This game is solely an
online game. There’s no offline mode. As far as connection speeds and
communication go, it’s all top-notch, even on a slower connection. When someone
on a 56k can actually compete with broadband folk, you know the developers did
something right.
Overall: 9.0
Day of Defeat is an insanely
fun, insanely addictive, experience. The very nature of the game promotes
teamwork and communication, and there are always memorable moments to be had.
Technically, too, the game is excellent, providing a (surprisingly) nearly
lag-free game for people on 56k and up. This game is not to be missed. Go
check it out.
