Having said that graphics are only half the story in DoD. One of the areas it excels in is creating a little piece of WW2 squad based combat inside your PC. Go get yourself some headphones (as I’m sure any serious CS player already has) and just listen to what’s happening around you. In a frantic map like Caen2 you’ll hear bombs going off, bullets whistling past your head, sporadic gunfire, voices shouting commands out (both in German and in English) and amongst all this you’ll be trying to pinpoint where the enemy fire or approaching footsteps are coming from. There aren’t many games out there, be it professional or amateur, which manage to create the atmosphere that DoD does. It’s superb and helps to create a very absorbing experience.

The other piece to the puzzle that can make or break the is that of maps. There are 13 official maps and on the whole these are a very well made and make for some fantastic battles. It would be nice to see a return of Snow town, Oslo and even a remade Seg3 from previous a version but that’s just my view. Standout maps include Heutau, Anzio and Thunder but everyone has their favourites and that’s the point. There’s something here for everyone whether you enjoy close quarter battles, sniping or storming a beach, it’s all here.

DoD is increasing with popularity as time goes on and one of the benefits of popularity is a strong on-line community. The official forum has a wealth of posts containing all the information a beginner could want, and is on the whole nice and friendly. Lot’s of fan sites have cropped up with plenty of custom maps and skins being produced. Despite the age of Half-Life, mods such as CS and DoD keep it very much alive. With the next generation of on-line games around the corner, UT2003, Galaxies, 1942, etc. it will be interesting to see what happens to the mod community for over the next six months.

With the release of 3.1 things are very much starting to take shape. The combat is enjoyable and at times the battles themselves prove to be very tense and exhilarating. Combined with the new recoil and aiming system it’s very rewarding when you start playing well and dominating a server. Of all the different kinds of online gaming experiences you can have, taking out an entrenched MG that’s been holding up your entire squad or taking down several enemies with a rifle before capping the final flag with a rifle to complete your objective is immensely satisfying.

Counter-Strike deserved to go retail, when you play it, it feels professional and it’s just simply a very good game. Day of Defeat is approaching this stage, maybe not just yet, but in the next few releases because it is starting to feel very polished indeed. As an on-line experience for me it eclipses both RTCW and MH:AA. It’s a massive achievement for a mod making group and at the end of the day a fantastic game in its own right. You need to give DoD time, you won’t immediately be knocked out by stunning graphics or revolutionary gameplay. But what it does, it does very well.

Oh and incase I didn’t mention it, Day of Defeat is free. Free.

By Daniel Savage