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Way back in the distant mists of time, Valve created a game called Half-Life. A modern day epic of storytelling and action combined to create one of the most successful first person shooters of all time - but there was more in store. With strong support for a rabid mod community, Valve allowed fans to create new worlds with their technology. Counter-Strike is the most high-profile example of this partnership between developer and community, but there have been others. One of the standouts was a mod called Day of Defeat, which took players into the theater of World War II with an astounding combination of realism and fun. Now, Valve has taken the Day of Defeat mod in-house, refined it and published it through the good folks at Activision. Why pay for something that was previously free? Read on. As a strictly online multiplayer title, Day of Defeat demands that players work as a team to enjoy success, more so than many other team-based online shooters. Choosing from either a British, American or German soldier, your team consists of different classes whose abilities compliment each others on the road to victory. The weaponry is based on real, historically accurate guns, and the amount of missions available is dizzying, to say the least. That's great, you say, but what's new? Well, graphic models have been upgraded significantly for players, items, weather effects, etc. There are new maps available, and the server browsing interface has undergone a seriously facelift.
Day of Defeat supports the usual primary/secondary attack commands, and the weapons available are split into three different categories: sub-machine guns, machine guns, and rifles. Rifles are the most accurate, but the rate of fire is slowest. Machine guns are deadly, but the recoil makes accuracy a real crap shoot, so to speak. Sub-machine guns fall somewhere in the middle, and are my personal favourite. With the ability to go prone and use bipods, you can increase your accuracy while giving away the ability to move. There are many different classes in Day of Defeat - their effectiveness varies, but all are important. The Allies have riflemen, support infantry, snipers, machine gunners and staff/master sergeants. Certain maps allow for Allied paratroopers to make an appearance as well. The Germans have the Sturmtruppe, the Scharfschuetze (sniper equivalent), the MG-Schutze (machine gunner), and their own sergeant and paratrooper classes as well. Getting into a game is incredibly easy, and the action draws you in like a real war movie. Some scenarios will involve destroying or capturing objectives, while others involve controlling territory for a defined amount of time. The new sounds and music in the retail Day of Defeat bring a realistic edge to the battle, and with full voice AND hand-signal support, this is war on a whole other scale. There are a lot of servers and players out there, so you don't have to worry about picking this up and not having anyone to play against - DoD is popular for a reason. Is it worth the money? Unequivocably, yes - it sells for a reduced list price and the new improvements make it worth checking out. If you are a fan of Counter-Strike style games, but want to check one out with a slightly different, grittier pace, you'd do well to pick up Day of Defeat.
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