Realism has become a genre standard for an these days. DoD is no exception and the quest for realism has been balanced against providing an enjoyable experience well. You die very quickly, there's no super Kevlar to soak up the bullets, and a gun like the kar98 kills in one shot. Even when you have the reinforcement system and you know you'll be respawned the ease with which you die will mean a slightly more cautious approach to your play. Crucial to the new mantra of realism is the way in which the weapons are dealt with. Aiming the gun is very similar to the system in Operation Flashpoint, perhaps even 'inspired' by it because it is basically the same method. You have two cursors, one in a locked position and one that roams around slightly as you move. Once you're stationary the second cursor lines up with the first and you have your aiming reticule. This combined with the recoil each weapon has makes getting a long distance, accurate shot difficult and this is a good thing. It makes 'spray and prey' tactics less effective which means most of the time skill will beat luck.

As stated before DoD is classed based. You don’t purchase your weaponry, rather you select what type of soldier you want to be. That soldier then has the tools associated with that role. The classes themselves offer no surprises, basically rifleman, assault infantry, support infantry, machine gunner and sniper. This is replicated for both sides, with over 14 main guns in the game. There’s always something for the player to experiment with.

The weapons themselves are balanced very well, no gun can completely dominate. There is a minor annoyance with the grenades which need a little bit of tweaking. Blasts can go through walls which will leave you slightly bewildered as to why you’re dead. But as a whole they achieve what every fps needs and that’s guns that are satisfying to use, and this is done with panache. A unique aspect which helps set DoD apart from most other games are the rifles. Allies are equipped with the Gerrand, and the M1 Carbine, while the Germans have the choice of the Kar98 and the Kar43. Most games centre on assault rifles with rates of fire in the hundreds of rounds per minute. Taking on the enemy with a bolt rifle is really unique and it forces you to make those shots count. Apart from anything else it’s very gratifying to repel an enemy assault with just five well-placed shots. Alongside the rifles are the machine guns, pistols and sniper rifles of the other classes and they really do provide a good variety of guns to choose from. Another nice touch is the heavy machine gun, .30 cal for allies MG34 and 42 for axis, which can have a deployed bipod both when prone and when near certain objects such as a window ledge.

Graphically things may look a little dated but are still more than acceptable, the player models are detailed and the guns all look good within the confines of an ageing engine. Newer Para models naturally look the best but in future releases the other models and animations will be redone. It’s exciting times ahead for the fps genre. You’ve got the new Unreal and Doom3 engines to look forward to and theres no escaping the fact the mods based on ageing technology are going to look increasingly ropey.