Day of Defeat

I just found this game on a recommendation from a friend, and... wow.

I get this game out of nowhere, and I am shocked. I have no idea why anyone is playing Counter-Strike with this game right there beside it.

Graphics:

Oddly enough, this game has slightly better graphics than Counter-Strike. The skins are FAR better, especially the weapon ones. The models were about the same, but the hitboxes work far better on the Day of Defeat ones. The grenades are WONDERFULLY done (visually). When they go off, the screen shakes, there is a cloud of dust, and rocks pelt the ground. The levels are very well done, and yes, they did the Saving Private Ryan level. One thing that kind of bugged me was the grass/weeds. You can use them as cover, but its like a 16 pixel thing that's 3 feet wide. A LITTLE more detail would have been nice. To sum up, NICE work all around basically, the serial numbers on the guns were an excellent touch but the half-life engine is sorely falling behind in the graphics department. Good job considering what they had to work with.

I give it a 7 out of 10 for graphics, a very well done game graphically.

Sound:

This game is the best example for how sound can take something and just make it far far better. You hear far off machine gun crackles, soft thud's as artillery hits distant targets, and the whine of planes overhead. Once you hear sounds close in, you'll experience the fun of listening for low-flying fighter-bombers, incoming shells with their high-pitched whine, the slam of a shell hitting the earth near you, and the rain of small stones as the dust settles. Each gun sounds like it should, except the pistols. They sound remarkably like one of the rifles, yet do almost no damage. The tell-tale smack and ping of bullets hitting all around you really gets your blood going (and your characters feet moving), and the CLACK CLACK CLACK PING! of the garand rifle emptying it's clip all add to the very realistic feel of the game. In one level when you take the key middle position of the Bridge, you hear in either German or English (according to who took the bridge) a message telling you that it was just taken, and that it needs to be held. You have a HUGE list of radio calls you can make, and if you are German, the text will be english but you'll yell it in German. You can even hear your opponents shouts! Once you play this game (it helps to have surround sound and bass jacked like I do), you'll appreciate why most soldiers will tell you the sense the remember almost as much as smell was the sounds of battle. The sound effects for this game make SUCH a huge difference in both gameplay, and my overall grade ;D

I give the sound 9.75 out of 10. Just the pistols bug me, other than that the sounds are amazing. The ambience is incredible. WOW!ed me.

Level Design:

This game now reigns near supreme in my list of favourite levels. It ACTUALLY beats 2fort, something no level besides cs_italy (which, now that CS ruined jumping, is no longer very good) has accomplished. Every level I have played so far has VERY good flow, except one or two which were too one sided (and not dod_overlord, which is OBVIOUSLY meant to be one-sided). In fact, one level had a VERY bad idea which was: charge across a bridge at a building full of snipers... sure thing. Levels like dod_zaphod and dod_thunder have a very good playability, and can entertain for hours without letting down. Although my playstyle was... not the best in some of DoD's levels *coughKOLNcough*, I did enjoy playing them all. This is one of the few games that rarely has a game-winning single chokepoint. All too often I play levels where once you have one spot, you win. Can't dislodge people, you just win if you're there. This game (in any level I've played at least) doesnt have that. In fact, as far as I can tell there are at least 3 ways into any given main area. Usually far more. Excellent work on the maps, truly supreme.

I give Day of Defeat's level design 9.5 out of 10. Almost every single map I've played is top notch.

Realism:

This game really hits the nail on the head when it coems to realism. Single shots, to pretty much anything that isnt a leg or arm, are FATAL. Yess Counter-Strike lovers, getting shot in the heart.. KILLS you. Getting shot in the kidney... KILLS YOU. Liver? DEATH! This is usually done with the rifle, but even some of the SMG (Sub-machine Gun) rounds kill in 2 shots, sometimes less. A headshot kills every time (yeah, even a 9mm round through your skull kills you), and you life-metre is almost always either full or empty. Occasionally a grenade blast wont kill me, but I'm pretty much dead. You have a stamina bar, which prevents constant jumping or running all the time. That's right everyone, you CANT run all the time. Also, when you go Prone (lying on the ground) you make one of a noise doing so. Guns like the Assault Rifle, the BAR, and the Sub-Machine Guns CANNOT be fired long distance, almost at all. You CAN go prone and fire them, but you wont hit much. This is a GODSEND once you've played a game like Counter-Strike where Assault Rifles are the be-all end-all of warfare. You cant just crouch, fire one or two shots and have them hit right where you want. THe gun kicks, you dont have a scope, it's not gonig to happen. Also, the machine guns were balancedd VERY well. Dislodging them (especially without grenades) can be very tough, but getting them SET UP in a good place is about as hard. The sniper rifle has no crosshair when you arent zoomed, and is VERY hard to aim while you are moving. Many a time I've had to hit the ground, hit zoom and pray I can shoot before they hit me. One problem I had with the realism was the pistol useage. Yes, the Luger 9mm sucked. It was inaccurate, the safety didnt work, it jammed, it was weak, it just plain suckeed. But the 1911 is a VERY good gun. It was made to "Stop a charging 200 pound man in his tracks." Well if said man was half-dead and blind, this gun gets that job done. I understand for the sake of balance it couldn't be an AMAZING gun, but it's godawful. I hit a guy 5 times with it and he lived! Short of that, the Realism was VERY top notch.