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Categories: Review
Tags: pc, rts
War. War never changes.Without warning, a fleet of subs shows up off the coast of South Africa and begins peppering the country with ICBMs. All available fighters scramble from nearby airbases and carriers I have sitting off the coast. It’s touch and go, but my boys shoot down all but two missiles. The first one strikes my silo and the resulting explosion eclipses the second missile’s path. If my silo can’t shoot it down, then the southern tip will lie exposed, opening a path for another submarine salvo straight into the heart of Africa.
Rumsfeld would kill for this screensaver.I’m playing DEFCON, “The World’s first Genocide ‘em up,” from Introversion, the brains behind supremely awesome Darwinia. Based on 1983’s Wargames, DEFCON is a real-time strategy game played over a map of the earth.
Stylishly lo-rez, DEFCON hearkens back to every war room scene from any Cold War movie worth its salt. Playing as a general hunkering in his bunker, you begin the game at the highest alert, establishing your nuclear silos, air bases, radar sites, and fleets. As tensions rise from Defcon 5 to Defcon 1, more combat options open up–from aircraft incursions to full-on nuclear strikes.
Population control, the M.A.D. way.At first glance, DEFCON seems involved–and it is, but an awesome tutorial guides you step-by-step. Single player gaming is satisfactory, but you’ll want to quickly hone your skills to enter one of the numerous online matches. Offering support for up to six players, it’s easy to play out DEFCON as a twenty minute slugfest or take a slower path and set up (and undermine) alliances. Fully customizable, players can define their victory settings, game length, speed of play, and more.
How deep is the strategy? Hardcore war gamers might be offended at some of the liberties DEFCON takes. Unit control avoids micromanagement, fallout from nukes isn’t an issue, and calling Mumbai “Bombay” is so 20th Century. Still there’s a lot here to love.
Now Godzilla’s gonna be pissed.My silo managed to shoot down the second missile. Now that I knew where the subs were, I directed planes to their location. The other human player and the AI engaged each other, so I started switching my silos over from air defense to full-on ICBM. I took out Tehran and Bombay, racking up some easy points against the AI and then targeted my Russian neighbors to the north.
Suddenly, Cairo disappeared in a flash. I launched a series of aircraft-based strikes against Moscow’s suburbs–pretty useless, but it moved my opponent’s attention away from Leningrad. A quick sub salvo took out the city and weakened a nearby silo. I followed up with a quick strike against Moscow, which activated the Victory Timer, and then traded blows until I was victorious.
I highly recommend this game, currently available from Steam at the bargain price of $14.95. Shall we play a game? Drop me a line.