Ever play Risk and think "this game should have nuclear weapons"? If so, this game is for you.
User Rating: 9.3 | DEFCON: Everybody Dies PC
This is hands down the best game I have played this year. The strategy is deceptively simple: deploy your bases, maneuver your units, and when the game reaches DEFCON (defense condition) 1, nuke the holy $#!% out of everyone else. The innovation in this game results from how they perfected the gameplay, graphics, and mood of the game. You might think from the basic nature of the units in this game that it's simple and repetitive. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The nuances of base placement, unit deployment, and each of the game's seven regions can make each match feel very different. And if you want even more variety, you can experiment with the game's different play modes. These modes changes the rules in a small way, but often radically alter the strategy needed to win. For those of you who look for more than just gameplay, the graphics in this game are great too. They don't excel in the "holy crap, that looks real" way, but in the same sort of simplistic beauty that Darwinia, the company's previous game, captured. The world is displayed in neon wireframe sure to make you feel like you're in an underground bunker, directing the last war the world will ever see. Look at the screenshots. My description here just doesn't do the game's beauty justice. These graphics are a big part of the mood of the game, which also is perfect. The haunting soundtrack and subtle ambient cues bring the game alive. Meanwhile, the stark, white messages proclaiming "New York hit, 22.8m dead" convey, in a brilliantly detached way, the scope of the conflict. All of these pieces come together to make you feel like one of the last people alive on Earth. The final bonus of this game is the price. I could buy two games like this for the price of one "mainstream" game, and spend twice as much time playing them. If you don't have this game, go buy it. You'll never think about global thermonuclear war in the same way again.
