These new mustard bottles make a lot of sense, I’m thinking. Putting the nozzle on the bottom? Genius.
After a successful squirt with little liquid mess, my ear perks up at the rumble of a distant explosion. The report of an echoing female voice cuts through the noise, softly crying out in a dissonant aria, lulling me back to my chair. As I round the corner, the screen lights up in a flash, and the names of cities I’ve never been to fade into view. Kiev. Budapest. Four million dead. Six million dead. Back at my post, I begin to furiously issue retaliatory orders, but it’s too late. I left my station to get a Sprite during Defcon 3, and my country is now alight with white nuclear fire. This is global thermonuclear war, and every minute counts.
Starting a match of Defcon is a simple matter of choosing to join or create a game. Featuring several modes of play with various rule sets, such as an office version that stretches the game to six hours, there are enough options to keep things fresh. While waiting for humans to join, you can choose the amount of computerized Skynet-style players, as well as which territory you will represent. Each territory has its own natural geographic differences which can vary your strategy. North America is remote and made vulnerable by its size and coastal expanses, whereas Europe is surrounded by enemies and yet more easily defensible given its compactness.
You command your forces from the perspective of a zoom-able 2D world map. Scrolling is achieved through the keyboard (with a default of WASD) or the mouse, and is satisfyingly easy. Crisp neon lines brightly mark your nuclear rivals by color coding. Russia might be highlighted by a fashionable teal green, or America outlined in a sinister red, depending on your preference. A minimal interface unobtrusively peeks out from the bottom corner.
Once the actual game begins, and the timer slowly ticks down towards all-out attack, one is struck by an immediate sensation of paranoia. The fog of war is in full effect, and your view of enemy movement is limited. This feeling of isolation is not at all lessened by the chilling musical score. The serene sounds of a female chorus juxtaposed with the surreal noises of coughing, crying, and cold electronic music creates an innovative, yet appropriate tone of quiet hysteria. The world is coming to an end.
After hastily placing missile silos, radar bases, airfields, and naval fleets, the situation has often already escalated to Defcon 4. You have only a few short minutes before conventional hostilities break out, and now is the time to plan. Is it wiser to recruit allies into your coalition, or go it alone as a rogue state? Is it better to stab your friend in the back, or stab him in the front? Armed with a tenuous scheme, your battleships and carriers begin automatically firing on enemy units. Fighters scramble into the skies, soaring through enemy territory to scout for targets. Submarines slowly sidle up along coastlines, deadly payloads in
tow. Defcon 3 has arrived.
At its core, Defcon distills global warfare strategy to its simplest form, and cranks up the pace to a rapid chaos. Slowly counting down from Defcon 5 to Defcon 1, you are moved inexorably toward confrontation. It is a game of risk and reward, of choice and consequence. Destruction is assured, though it is not always necessarily mutual. The question is when and where to commit your forces, and the various solutions have their pros and cons. Using fighters as scouts can be advantageous, but enemy missile silos in their default air-defense mode will quickly shoot them down, leaving your territory vulnerable later on. Committing submarines to defend against enemy fleets can prove efficient, but each submarine carries five medium-range nuclear missiles that won’t be increasing your enemy’s death toll if they aren’t in range of a target.
However, in a game that is anything but conventional, we’re not all that interested in ordinary warfare. Defcon 2 is another uneventful milestone on the path to Armageddon, so I recommend taking a breather. Have a smoke. Make a sandwich. Lung cancer and extra calories are the least of your worries now. Nevermind that while you’re gone, your best friend has put up an iron curtain and betrayed your trust. Nevermind that bombers are now creeping closer to their targets in anticipation of impending launch orders. Nevermind that your fleets have been reduced to burning hulks on the high seas by enemy submarines set to attack mode.
The first game of Defcon you play will go badly. You will be stunningly obliterated. One can not underestimate the importance of coordination and preparation, and these take time to perfect. After the world leaders start the pie throwing at Defcon 1, you live or die based on how well you have executed your plan. Anti-missile defenses are handled by your silos, and it takes a significant amount of time to switch them to their launch mode. Should you absorb an attack first, minimizing your losses by utilizing your defenses? Or should you attempt to preemptively knock out your enemy’s silos before he can respond in kind?
Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes your enemies may choose to attack each other, leaving you to pick at their carcasses like a nuclear vulture. It is this element of unpredictability, along with its unrelenting pace, that sets Defcon apart from similar games. Chaos may be harrowing, but it can also be captivating. There is a kind of enchanting beauty in a strike that is successfully orchestrated. With dozens of missiles soaring from every possible location, arcing their way down towards your defenseless cities, you may actually find that you enjoy losing almost as much as winning.
In this way, Defcon succeeds at what it set out to do in providing a fast, fun, approachable strategy game. While it may not be something you’ll be playing for weeks on end, it provides enough depth to justify an impulse purchase on Steam, especially considering its low price. This is a game that you will play in-between Warcraft raids, or perhaps during a particularly boring class. It is solitaire for the 21st Century, meaning it is probably on steroids, and is all the more entertaining for it.
Back in my war room, things are looking bleak. Half an hour ago, the world was in a relative state of peace. Settling in to my job as the aerospace defense commander of Europe, I figured I had it made. What could possibly go wrong? Mere minutes later, I’m taking a nervous sip of my Sprite as bombs stream down upon London like snowflakes.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to answer to the Coca-Cola company.
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