DEFCON

I previously enjoyed Introversion Software’s Uplink and Darwinia, both ported to the Mac by Ambrosia Software. I really looked forward to DEFCON, Introversion’s next title after Darwinia. After all these years, I finally got around to playing it. Based on screenshots and reviews, I knew it evoked memories of WarGames, the 1983 movie about the threat of nuclear war. As with Darwinia, the game’s graphical style was quite unique and certainly effective for the subject matter. Colorful vector graphics represent the action on a world map. Everything plays out in real (but sometimes accelerated) time. When a new game begins, you quickly deploy radar stations, silos, airbases, and naval fleets. Naval units include battleships, carriers, and submarines. The action picks up as the threat level ticks down from DEFCON 5 to DEFCON 1. At DEFCON 3, combat begins. At DEFCON 1, nuclear weapons come into play. The goal is to inflict casualties on your enemies and prevent casualties in your own cities. A running score is shown on screen. Things can swing widely at the end, taking a player from first place to last place and vice versa as the final volley of nukes reach their targets.

So far, I have been battling different combinations of computer AI opponents and having a lot of fun. DEFCON also supports multiplayer games against human players on the internet or a local LAN. I haven’t tried that yet.