Freelance Review: DEFCON
Today's review of DEFCON comes from Monkeybomb! Class, please give him your undivided attention.
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Overview:
DEFCON is a stylish global thermonuclear war simulator. I can't say it any more simply than that. So I'll try to say it more complicated-like. Take the movie WarGames, blend in just a little Tron, pour into a strategy skillet, cook on high until you can hear the screams of the dying and you get DEFCON. Starting with just a map of the world as your template and, indeed, only interface, you take the role of supreme commander of any one of 6 global superpowers. Gameplay is simple but addictive - deploy radar, silos, airbases and ships, scan for your enemies and then wait for someone to push the button.
Shininess:
To say that this game is stylish would be trite, so let me... wait, I said stylish, didn't I? Well, it is indeed one of the niftiest looking games I've played in a while. For a gaming world full of 3D FPS titles - hell, we have 3D card games - it's extremely refreshing to see a game where the entire world is depicted on a flat 2D plane. Some of you might be saying "Flat 2D plane? Pfft, if I don't have to spend $400 upgrading my computer then I don't want to play it." You people can leave right now. Seeing a map of the world lit up in softly-edged neon primary colors really makes a guy wish he could go back and take those art classes in college. All moving objects on the screen leave a fading trail behind them in their team colors. Large explosions are denoted with bright white circles that quickly fade into the black background. Clicking the Radar icon dims the background and throws highlighted halos onto the map. It's little touches that make this game's graphics really impress the user. The music is fitting for the content. Ominous, foreboding and sometimes a little sad, the music ties into the theme of genocidal world destruction quite well. If you zoom in you can even hear the coughing of the victims as their radiation sickness sets in. Really.
Funness:
DEFCON is a timed game. As time runs down, you progress through the increasing levels of alertness, from DEFCON 5 (placing static forces, can't move anything yet) to DEFCON 1 (holy crap 4.6 million Londoners just died). Nukes can't fly until DEFCON 1 and at that point you are almost always faced with the tough decision of launching yours first or waiting the enemy's onslaught out. Your nuclear silos also act as defensive turrets, of a sort, but they can only be in offensive or defensive mode at any one time. If you're launching your nukes you'd better be sure there isn't a rain of hot death coming down on your head currently - or possibly just off your radar. Is multiplayer included, you may ask? Verily so. In fact it's entirely built around the multiplayer experience. So much so that the default settings will advertise your game on their game management server for other DEFCON players to see immediately. You can turn this setting off if you're a recluse, but who really wants to sit alone and play against the computer all day? Okay, so I played a few games against the moderately impressive AI, but I just didn't want to look stupid when I went out and played some public games. Having done that, I gotta say that there is something exciting about trying to sneak a fleet of nuke-capable subs all the way across the Pacific and then seeing your enemy's cries of "HAX!" as you launch a volley of missiles at them from their very beaches. It's almost as much fun when one of their fleets finds you and you have to try to lose them. It should be noted that there have been some communication problems with authentication and multiplayer management servers during the launch period, but that is a testament to how successful and fun this game really is. The servers have been flooded with new players. These issues have started to clear up already and I expect them to disappear by the time you read this review.
Worthiness:
For the price at which someone can purchase this game, one should be really hard-pressed to find an excuse not to buy it. A sub-$20 (sub-$15 before taxes on Steam) price point makes it a no-brainer for most discerning gamers. In the past I have shelled out much more money for games that I have played half as much as I've already played DEFCON. Just don't go into DEFCON expecting the hectic experience of modern RTS games. 
It's definitely a thinker and the rather detached aesthetic of the interface really gives you the feel of being a general locked in some sub-basement war room with assistants tappity tapping on keyboards all around you. Giving that feeling with such a clean interface earns the game bonus points. As long as the multiplayer connection problems clear up, this game is another winner for indie developer Introversion. And take this word of advice - play DEFCON with some friends. Playing against random internet people is fun, but finally being able to get back your friend Gary for that thing with the Elmer's Glue back in third grade by nuking the hell out of him can't be beat.
What say you?!