DEFCON is a real-time strategy game created by independent British game
developer Introversion Software, developers of Darwinia, Multiwinia,
Uplink, and Prison Architect. The gameplay is reminiscent of the "big
boards" that visually represented thermonuclear war in films such as Dr.
Strangelove, Fail-Safe, and especially WarGames.
The game has been available by download since September, 2006 through
Introversion's web store and Steam. In the UK it was released for the high
street shops on June 15, 2007 and for a limited period included the developer's
first game Uplink. On April 5, 2007, US publisher Encore announced they would be
publishing the game in the United States, and had ordered an initial
50,000 copies of the game for retail. Gameplay
Players are given a 1980s vector graphics computer-themed world map, a
varied arsenal of nuclear and conventional weaponry, and a primary
objective: destroy as much of the enemy's population as possible while
having as little of one's own population destroyed as possible. A typical game
will see civilian casualties numbering in the millions while players try their
hand at annihilating their opponents. In most games, all sides take heavy
losses, but the player with the highest score wins. Players' scores are
determined according to one of three schemes: Default, Survivor or Genocide;
though functionally identical in a one-on-one conflict, each scoring scheme
suggests large differences in strategy in larger multiplayer conflicts.
Gameplay time can be varied by configuring the speed at which events
progress from real-time to 20* real-time. Most games last 30 to 40
minutes while real-time gameplay can last more than eight hours, depending on
the mode of scoring. There is also an "Office" mode of play in which the game
is permanently real-timed and can be minimised to run in the background of
other computer activities, allowing the player to check in only when important
events take place, and only for so long as it is necessary to modify the
standing orders of each of the player's assets.
The game offers six territories that may be selected by a player or assigned to
an AI opponent. These include: North America: Includes all of the
contiguous United States, mainland Canada and Alaska. Also includes Banks
Island, Victoria Island and Baffin Island from the Canadian Arctic
Archipelago. Latin America: Includes Mexico, Central
America and all of mainland South America. Also includes Tierra del Fuego.
Europe: Includes all of mainland Europe except Russia. Also includes Great
Britain, Ireland and Iceland. Africa: Includes all of mainland Africa
as well as Madagascar. Russia: Includes all of mainland Russia.
Asia: Includes all of mainland Asia except Russia, Georgia, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Malaysia, Turkey and the Sinai
peninsula. Also includes Japan. All territories have a population of 100
million by default. = Pacing and DEFCON levels =
DEFCON is a streamlined real-time strategy game, with no unit production,
resource collection, or technology tree upgrades. Players choose and position
their forces at the beginning of the game. A countdown system prevents games
from disintegrating prematurely. Gameplay begins at alert level DEFCON 5
and counts down to DEFCON 1. Each upgrade in alert level brings more
possibilities. Once DEFCON 1 is reached, the game
proceeds until a certain percentage of the total number of nuclear missiles
available to all players have been launched or destroyed. Once this occurs,
a victory countdown begins and the final score is announced when this countdown
runs out. = Multiplayer and alliances =
A DEFCON game can host up to six human or AI players. Alliances can be formed,
broken, or renegotiated at will with human players. Alliances with CPU
controlled players can only be set at the start of the game. Allied players
share radar coverage and line of sight, but there is no allied victory and there
is only one winner. This means that almost all alliances are broken by the
end of the game. Lead designer Chris Delay explains:
We've seen alliance members shooting overhead friendly planes down because
they believed the planes were scouting the area for targets in preparation for
a strike. This results in arguments in the chat channels, followed by
skirmishes at sea, followed by retaliation, before finally the whole
alliance collapses and everyone starts nuking the hell out of each other. It's
awesome. The chat system features a public
channel, in which all players may communicate, as well as channels private
to specific alliances, and direct player-to-player private messaging.
Multiplayer modes You can set up a LAN network game with
your friends. = Diplomacy mode =
All players start as members of a single alliance, and attempts to stay on top as
the alliance disintegrates. The score is determined not by the enemy population
killed, but by which territory has the highest percentage of survivors at the
end of the game. = Office mode =
In office mode, the game runs in real time and cannot be sped up. The game can
be quickly forced to the background making the computer available for other
use. While the game continues to run in the background, a system tray icon will
notify the gamer of certain events as they occur. The office mode hotkey,
sometimes referred to as the boss key, is activated by striking the escape key
twice in rapid succession. A game in office mode lasts no more than six
hours. The boss key is available in all game modes, but it is designed for this
mode in particular. = Units =
DEFCON uses a real-time line of sight system common to traditional RTS games,
where only enemy units within radar coverage may be seen. However, a nuclear
missile launch from a silo or submarine is automatically detected by all
players, which reveals the location of the unit launching the missile. A
nuclear missile launch from a bomber, however, does not reveal the location of
the bomber. Most units have several operating modes
for different functions, and require several minutes to switch modes. For
instance, ordering a missile silo to switch from offensive launches to
missile defence will leave it inoperative while it switches.
Ground units Ground installations are immobile, and
can be destroyed by nuclear attack. Radar dishes provide broad radar
coverage, but can be destroyed by a single nuke. They enhance other defense
installations; for instance, a missile silo's firing range far outstrips its
radar range. A radar dish can be destroyed if a fighter or bomber runs
out of fuel or is shot down directly over it.
Missile silos have two modes: launching nuclear missiles or shooting down
incoming missiles and planes. In the attack mode, a silo has ten ICBMs that
may be fired at any target in the world, though doing so alerts all players and
reveals the silo's position. On defence, a silo automatically fires
surface-to-air missiles effective against enemy planes and
missiles—however, the limited rate of fire means the silos can be overwhelmed
by many incoming missiles. Unlike most units, silos are hardened against
nuclear strikes, taking three hits to destroy, although each strike eliminates
half of the silo's nuke stockpile. Airbases house bombers and fighters plus
a complement of five spare SRBMs to reload bombers that have launched their
missiles. They launch planes and provide a landing point for aircraft, and also
build new fighters automatically throughout the game. However, fighters
are only built if there are less than 5 fighters already in the airbase, and the
airbase can only hold a maximum of ten fighters and bombers each. Airbases take
two hits to destroy; on the first hit, half of the airbase's currently landed
aircraft and missiles are destroyed. Ships
Naval units are organized into fleets of up to six ships which move and fight
together. Fleets must be placed in territorial waters at the beginning of a
game. Ships may move through the ocean, albeit slowly.
Carriers act as mobile airfields, scrambling fighters and nuke-equipped
bombers, along with four spare SRBMs to rearm empty bombers. They are also the
most powerful anti-submarine warfare escorts, armed with sonar and depth
charges that quickly sink nearby subs. With no surface guns, they are helpless
without their complement of planes. Battleships are tough and carry powerful
guns effective against surface fleets and aircraft. They are vulnerable to sub
and bomber attacks, so are safer with carrier escorts.
Submarines carry torpedoes and an arsenal of five nukes. Sub attacks are
dangerous against enemy ships, though subs are easily killed by carriers. Subs
are invisible to radar but carry no radar of their own; they may use active
sonar to pursue other naval units, at the risk of exposing their position.
Their real power comes from their missiles, which can devastate coastal
cities, or quickly hit defences before a full-scale strike. Subs must surface to
fire nukes, leaving them open to counterattack before they can fire all
their missiles; the launch also alerts all players to the sub's location.
Aircraft Aircraft are launched from other ground
and sea units. Typically they operate autonomously after launch, but bombers
and fighters can also be controlled while airborne.
Fighters are light and fast, making them good at reconnaissance and interception.
They are most effective against other aircraft, though they can attack ships
as well. They have a fairly short range, forcing them to return to a base or
crash for lack of fuel. Bombers carry a single SRBM missile that
may be fired at a nearby target. Bombers have a long range to deliver this
payload, but are vulnerable during the trip. Unlike silo- and submarine-based
nukes, firing the missile does not alert everyone to the launch, making it a
stealthier option. They also have a conventional attack that does heavy
damage to ships. Nuclear missiles
Nuclear missiles deliver a devastating payload. A direct hit on a city will
kill half of the current living civilians. Between one and three hits
are required on the hardened buildings that players place to destroy them.
Missiles can only be shot down by silos in defense mode, which have a small
random chance of hitting the missile with any given shot—a hit will cause a
limited detonation in the missile, yielding minor casualties if a city is
directly beneath, or damaging or destroying a facility if one is below.
Once launched from a silo, submarine, or bomber, missiles cannot be retargeted,
though they can be disarmed in mid-flight. Missiles can also target
sea-based units and will destroy any aircraft caught in their blast radius.
= Mods = The game gives enough to make simple
unit, text, and map modifications. The user has the ability to edit any part
that the files give out, but the user cannot go beyond the max limits for the
options or change the size of the units. There is an official forum that holds a
mod board, and a user-made list listed on the official website.
Reception Reviews of DEFCON have been mostly
positive with a Game Rankings average score of 83.3%, and a Metacritic average
score of 84/100. 1UP.com said, "this just may be the
finest piece of 'budgetware' ever produced, with every bit as much to
offer strategywise as RTS games three times its cost," praising the
"elementary" interface and calling the strategic depth "enormous." 1UP also
praised the visuals, calling it "one of the best-looking PC games all year."
Edge said DEFCON was "worth it for the presentation alone." Eurogamer commented
that it was "the least ambitious of Introversion's games in terms of
design," and "its limitations are ones of the game's basic scope," while
praising DEFCON "as pure and direct a game as its inspiration."
See also DEFCON
Nuclear War WarGames
References External links
Product home page DEFCON at MobyGames
"Everybody Dies in DEFCON", Interview with Chris Delay, programmer
of DEFCON