DEFCON

There are two kinds of strategy game players. First, there are the kind of people who are proactive- that is, they love the ability to build up an empire, destroy neighboring countries, and build upon what they have. Then, you have the ?other? kind of player- the kind of person who builds his country only to cause hell and destroy other countries. A good example of this would be the kind of player who played Command and Conquer: Red Alert just to get the ?Nuke? ability and blow the hell out of anything that moves. Of course, most games don't support this kind of game play because it's generally called being a jackass- but there is finally something out there that supports the ?other? kind of player. That game is DEFCON.

DEFCON is a game that just asks to be on the front page of CNN. In the extremely simplistic game, players take possession of one or more existing countries with one goal: destroy everyone else. Given a standard amount of nuclear silos, airports, naval fleets, and radar, the player is charged with turning every other country into a nuclear wasteland.



DEFCON has to be one of the simplest strategy games I have ever played. The game is broken into different ?sections? of time- based on the real life measurements of readiness for the US Armed Forces. This goes from DEFCON 5 (Peacetime, ergo no fighting, time to place your fleets) to DEFCON 1, in which the whole world is encouraged to rip loose every nuclear weapon in their arsenal. This is a very intuitive (and slightly freaky) way to break down the game play itself- but that doesn't even begin to explain how enjoyable the core game play is.

I don't think I would admit it elsewhere, but the tag line ?Everybody Dies? is a great line for DEFCON. Upon playing DEFCON, I realized one thing: when given the opportunity, I am a sick animal who loves to destroy things. Not that I'm embarrassed about that, however- in fact, this kind of gross dehumanized black humor makes the game unique. Nowhere else in gaming culture will you see bonuses based on how many millions of innocent civilians you kill. Nowhere else will you see encouragement to bomb large cities in order to kill as many man, woman, and child as possible. And nowhere else will you see all of this done in a kind of serious way- to the point where I was left wondering if DEFCON was real or fake.

Of course, I should comment on the core game itself. The graphics are about as simple as they get- vector based graphics, all 2D, on an enlarged map of the world with small dots representing cities. This is intentionally made to resemble a screen that one would expect in some sort of secret meeting room (Think the board from ?Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb?). The sound is very basic as well, the only music in the game consisting of a very spooky pseudo-orchestrated theme that sets the tone for the entire game. All of this is crammed into what is approximately 60-80 megabytes, which is impressive considering the vast depth of the game. The small size of the game makes it perfect for STEAM and other online game networks- which is exactly where it resides, for the sweet price of $14.95. With a download that only takes about 20 minutes, DEFCON is a sweet deal for those looking for something to kick back with for a cheap price.



This game is not for everyone. God, I doubt it would be for 50% of the gamer population. DEFCON is a game that is best known as black comedy that isn't funny- a kind of entertaining game that can only be enjoyed by those who have open minds and relaxed personalities. If you have no issue with ?purifying? London, or ?nuking the hell out of? Tokyo, you will definitely enjoy this game. However, as I learned by playing this in front of a lot of people, DEFCON has a nasty tendency to offend those with peaceful minds, who view this game as a sick perspective on a Cold War fear.

But forget them. Time to nuke Italy.

4.5 star(s) out of 5

Discuss More PC Games More Strategy Games