Years ago when the original Half Life was the released, there were a slew of community created modifications that were created to add additional gameplay once the initial venture ran its course. Among the many that were released, Day of Defeat was one of the few that stood out with its unique game play features and World War II theme. Jump ahead a few years later and with the much anticipated release of Half Life 2, so was the eagerness for the mods and total conversions that would be released for it, including Day of Defeat. Using the Source engine that Half life 2 was built on, it was certain to be a mod that was visually stunning matched with the same gameplay that made it so popular in the first place.

The premise of Day of Defeat seems pretty simple at first. It’s the US Army versus the Germans, or rather the Wehrmacht, and you fight for occupancy of maps which is marked by several flags spread out all over. When you and your team mates have captured and have possession of each of the flags all at once, the battle is won. Although it seems pretty straight forward, Day of Defeat goes a lot deeper than that in its gameplay. When the game loads up, your first course of action is to decide which team you want to play on, the good or the bad. Once you square that away, then you decide which one of the six classes you want to play as. Each class has its own weapon load out ranging from the usual sniper and rocket launcher, to the machine gunner, rifleman, assault and support. As well, each of the six classes have 2 alternate weapons that range from pistols and knives for the GI’s to shovels and Lugar’s for the Axis. Each of the six classes also has their pros and con’s. The assault and support classes have low damage and as well as low range and accuracy, where as machine gunners have incredibly high damage but need to be immobile and rest their heavy gun on the ground, sandbags or a ledge to be effective. The rockets are good for taking out sniper nests and machine gunners, but can’t fire while moving at regular speed.

Once the battle is started, Day of Defeat incorporates a few features that make the gameplay more interesting and unique from other First Person games on the market. Not being able to jump and shoot at the same time is a sigh of relief for those of us that can’t stand the crazy, jumpy, shooty players that drive you up the wall in other games. Also you aren’t able to shoot and sprint at the same time either. When you do fire off a few rounds, either crouching or dropping to the ground in the prone position greatly increases your accuracy as opposed to standing, not to mention giving your opponent less of a target to hit. In most FPS games, the run and gun approach is the way to go, but you will quickly realize that in Day of Defeat, it’s all about team work; working together and not being the gung-ho hero. If you don’t work as a team, you’re not going to get very far. The game allows you to use either built-in voice chat with a mic to talk verbally to your team as well as in-game voice commands that you can choose from a list. When you aren’t yelling out or listening to commands, there is a radar map in the top right corner that allows you to see streets, buildings, paths as well as team mates and where your objectives are.

All of these are used to work together with your team and to bring about a victory for your side. Being that there are no med packs or armor vests to pick up, no medics to come chasing after you to heal you, running out in the middle of a fire fight is not the smartest idea and keeping your head down and behind cover is a smart move to living longer. When you do catch your opponent with a bullet or two, blood appears where they were hit as well as spattering the surroundings. Not a new feature in games these days, but in the Source engine, along with the ragdoll physics, it is done quite nicely. Not only are the characters and animations done very nicely, but just about everything in the game looks excellent. The maps are all creations of realistic looking, war torn cityscapes, which have been blown up and demolished. Each map is loaded with alleys and streets to give you many routes to your goals as well as building and tunnels to enter. Windows and rooftops are havens for snipers, while sand bunkers and long streets are a machine gunners best friend. Each map is scattered with tons of objects such as tanks and jeeps and there are even planes that can be seen flying over head at times. Certain objects that are scattered around can be moved about as well as shot and broken. Watching an enemy run past a clay pot, while you mow him down and shatter the pot at the same time is something that just looks cinematic.

Being that Day of defeat is a multiplayer only game, it’s a given that playing experiences will change depending on the servers you play on. Some servers will be a great experience, while others will be full of trash talking hooligans, but anyone familiar with online gaming will come to expect that. Regardless of what servers you play on, the games’ graphics are top notch and the features will always be the same across the board. When all's said and done, those gamers that have been burnt out by the onslaught of World War II games in the past, Day of Defeat is one that stands out and should be given a try. Whether or not you own Half Life 2, and although the game is multiplayer only, the game can be picked up with a price tag of a measly $20. Also if you have a fear of going out into the sunlight, you have the ability to purchase the game over Valve’s Steam application and downloaded straight to your computer. Day of Defeat is not only a great looking game, but an enjoyable WWII multiplayer experience that gives you more than your money’s worth.