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Addictive and a bargain as well, good for old folks like me.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 15 / 18
Date: February 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I'm a little ashamed at having to admit that I'm old in gaming years, well over thirty, so my reflexes are not what they used to be. Playing games like "Counter-Strike: Source" expose my degraded skills all too readily: I can see the enemy, I can predict where they pop up, and I can't seem to get my shots off quickly or accurately enough to save my life. So I usually spend much of a level watching as a dead spectator. Not fun.

"Day of Defeat: Source" offers people like me a better alternative. It relies more on strategy than CS:S because it's based solely on team-play and objectives. You have to capture five flags, and while it sounds easy, you have to keep them captured long enough to call it yours.

The result is that I can leverage my years of experience (and my years of gaming experience normally surpasses the ages of my fellow players). I can work in coordination with others to set up fire bases, provide cover, assault a position, and so forth, knowing that the objective is flag caps and not personal victory.

Granted, you will find games where personal glory is more important, and you will find games where cheats occur (spectators calling out positions to players, as one), but overall you'll likely find a good three hours of tactical and strategic play. It's easy to learn, you have enough variety of player class to attempt to master them all, and playing against people ensures you compete against the best possible opposition.

To the negative reviews, I would grant them their own experiences are valid, but I would tell readers to consider this: younger players have more time on their hands to master a game. Old folks with fulltime jobs just can't commit to 80 hours of study on a video game anymore, so while this game doesn't offer the fastest gameplay (Quake 4 apparently has that title), it does offer a load of fun. For the price, you can't lose.

-Fred

DoD:S A worthy successor to DoD but still a work in progress

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 18
Date: February 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Day of Defeat: Source (DoD:S) is not a port of the last pre-Source version of the HL-based mod-cum-retail-release of DoD. It is a complete, from the ground up, build of the game on Valve's (Half-Life 2) Source engine.

For those unfamiliar, Day of Defeat is a WWII-based FPS (first person shooter). You choose either the US (Allies) or Germans (Axis) and fight it out online, choosing from 6 classes. This is purely an online game. There is no single-player mode and there is not (yet) official bot support.

While not as nearly as popular as fellow Valve title, Counter-Strike, DoD:S is a lot of fun. The visuals are absolutely stunning and take advantage of the latest technology that Valve has made, most notably, HDR lighting. The gameplay is quick and the weapons are more lethal than the typical WWII shooter. The game has a very authentic feel, but if you're expecting a realistic shooter, look elsewhere.

So far there are only 6 official maps released, but at least 2 more are in the works and there is a strong custom map (and other content as well) community.

Overall:

Pluses
*Great graphics
*Fun gameplay
*Wide-ranging options for players to choose from in terms of classes and roles.
*Well supported by a company (Valve) that will continue to put out content for the game
*Price: Under $20 for a new game that uses state-of-the-art graphics
*Good community: There is a good DOD community on the official forums, there is a good amount of custom content, and many great community/friendly servers
*Relatively easy to learn. There are a couple classes that are good for new players to start with and learn and come along.
*as opposed to other WWII-oriented games that have poor online play, DoD:S has great online play.

Minuses
*State of the art graphics = will not run so well on older PCs.
*Limited list of stock maps
*While, overall, the community for DoD is a good one, its not being adopted by the competitive community. This is for a variety of reasons that I'll leave you to read elsewhere as they're lots of theories on this.
*online play only

Overall, I'd give the current state of the game a 4, but I think the potential is there that with continued support from Valve, it could be a 5.

For the price, its a good buy.

Dont judge too quick... This game rocks!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: April 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Too be honest... I hated this game at first. I played the original Day of Defeat for about 4 years non stop and it quickly became the most exciting and addictive game i ever played. I heard a lot of bad things about DOD source when it came out and didnt immediately buy it. When I did, the physics were so different to the original DOD that I didnt play it much. Also, my computer needed a bit of upgrading to make it run smooth. After putting it off for monthes, i upgraded my computer and uninstalled the original DOD so that i could focus on DOD source. It was the best thing I ever did! This game kicks A$$! It is one of the most intense experiences you will find in a game. The graphics are incredible and the source engine physics are sweet. I still miss some of the little things from the origal DOD, and a lot of the maps! But overall DOD source outshines DOD in every way. Its even more addictive than the original! Just be patient...this game is a work in progress and it will only get better. New maps will come and new teams/weapons will be added. Buy this game now! I guarentee it will be the best $20 you ever spent!

Reasons why people "hate" this game....
1. People fear change. Those who are extremely confortable with the original DOD dont want to come over to DOD soure and get slaughtered. There is a HUGE learning curve if you are used to the original! I would compare it to playing Resident Evil 4 after being a huge fan of the originals. Resident Evil 4 is totally different and takes a while to get used to but in the end is completely better than any previous RE game. Or take the Star Wars franchise. Some people love the origninals and not the new ones, not because chapters 1,2, and 3 are really bad but because they are different. In fact Revenge of the Sith IS the best one!

2. Your computer sux. This game is a bit of a powerhouse. But well worth any upgrades you need to make. Just check out the water reflection/textures for proof! Plus the scattering pieces from objects in the middle of the fire fights are rediculous!

3. Your Clan/teamates dont play DOD Source. I have noticed that a lot of regulars that i always played with wont switch over to DOD source because not all of their clan members or buddies can afford to upgrade to Source.

4. Not as many mods. Just be patient...this game is a work in progress and it will only get better. New maps will come and new teams/weapons will be added. The original DOD was the same way when it was released.

Buy this game now! I guarentee it will be the best $20 you ever spent!

Not what we wanted

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: February 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

It was supposed to be the Source Port of a GREAT Game
DoD 1.3 (still free if you own Half Life) was the best WWII FPS around.
Source would have been great if they KEPT THE GAMEPLAY!
They didnt
They failed
and this.... this is some suit's idea of what WWII game would sell...
This is NOT Day of Defeat

A Sad disapointment

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: February 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I had been a fan of Day of Defeat for years.
When I heard that they would bring the game to source, I Was delighted. When I saw this, I was deflated.
The Classes are all neutered, there are only 4 small maps and the playstyle has completly fallen apart.
This is makeup on a pig. Pretty graphics with nothing underneath

Not what was promised.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: February 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

DoD:Source is very close to the worst possible game that it could have been.

1. The guns miss, and are weak.
2. The classes have been cut down in size and capability.
3. 6 maps, for a game that's been out a long time.

Valve, in their desire to mindlessly gather new players, gears the new game to be good to them. Instead of a new player getting defeated until he improves, and the veteran ruling the servers, everyone is entered into a crapshoot lottery of whose bullets will land and do significant damage. The veteran is frustrated by the "skill ceiling" and the noob is perplexed why he seemed better than he should be at the beginning, but never gets any better.

An attractive disappointment

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 13
Date: February 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The Source engine is a beautiful thing, excellent physics, good rendering. All around a nice platform for the Half Life 2 game.

Having said that, Day of Defeat: Source is a disappointment to all of those who played the original version. This game's play has been dumbed down as much as it's appearance has been improved since the original.
4 maps at release, with only 2 more added in the following 6 months?
Game play with no positive learning curve! (we call this Spray n' Pray tactics, and they work here, while the accomplished player gains nothing). Note that I saw this in another review, and agree with that review whole-heartedly.
Silly hitbox mechanics, and changes to classes that have made them LESS interesting to play since their DoD heyday.

Overall, a "Don't Buy" rating is well deserved on this modification/addition on the Source Engine. Though the base game Half Life 2 is amazing, this "mod" fails to provide any satisfaction through game play, and in general is a waste of my 20 dollars. And I bought it packaged with HL2!

The "Source" suffix doesn't necessarily mean better

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've been playing Day of Defeat since it's original release SO many years ago. And since its release SO many years ago, I've been a fan. Remember the crappy little tanks on Cean that you get in and shoot a machine gun out the turret? I was there. Remember the "bleed" feature where when you were shot you had to bandage yourself? I was there. Remember when there was NO machine gun class? No British faction? I was totally there. This was truly a great game. Through countless updates and upgrades Day of Defeat grew into THE perfect online, squad-based, World War Two shooter.

And then they did THIS to it.

Now... it's not a BAD game. It's just not good.

The gameplay in Source is decidedly more fast paced than its predecessor. And this by itself is not a bad thing. The weapons in this version however seem to have taken a serious hit and when combined with the faster gameplay make the game rather frustrating, especially for players new to the series. They just feel sluggish and unresponsive. It's a lot more difficult to hit anything with the automatic weapons this time around (especially the StG44 which feels near worthless now) given that the recoil is much more severe and the bullet spread is much wider than the orginal DoD. And the rifles have lost much of their potency. Not only do they no longer kill in one shot, but given the faster pace of the gameplay, the obscene down time between shots on the German K98 is way more impacting on the riflemans effectiveness. This also leads to another aspect which effects the game. An unfortunate phenomenon that I call, the CounterStrike effect. In this Day of Defeat you find that actual teamwork is very rare. You all know those games (CounterStrike) where most of the time one or two people dominate and everyone else just runs around doing their own thing? Well, that is basically the name of the game here. Now on most servers, rather than the team which works together best wins, it's the team which simply has the best player. It's not EVERY server, just a lot of them. And it's rather dissapointing.

That is perhaps the biggest complaint against this game. There are other, probably trivial grievances as well. The number of maps is still rather small. Though there ARE user made maps out there, not many of them can compare to the quality of developer made maps. There will of course be updates which include more maps in the future, but at the moment that does not apply. And the absence of the British class kind of sucks as well. They were a nice addition to the original that changed up the gameplay from map to map a little, and surely they will be included in later patches. But as for now... eh :-/

There are of course good things about the game as well. One of those good aspects, are the games graphics. The models look a bit to polished and clean for a war game(you'd expect soldiers in world war two to look a bit more haggard and dirty, and they have a dumb hunch-back look to them in this version), but the enviroments and physics model are amazing. The Source engine can squeaze a lot of detail into the world and the physics make for some awsome effects during a fire fight. Grenades blow apart wodden barrels or furniture and send pieces of wood and scraps of metal flying, and it's cool to see your bullets rip a room apart. The sound in DoD: Source is equally amazing, and probably under-rated. Machine-gun fire and explosions echo through a level and if your on the other side of the map they genuinely sound distant. It's a very cool effect. Weapon fire and the shouts of your teammates all sound really nice and compliment the atmosphere of the game immensely.

All in all I have a hard time recommending this game. My prejudices given my history with the game aside, the original is still far far superior and I would suggest you buy it before this. Lots of people still play the original, and it's a real solid experience(given how long its been out, they've had time to make it perfect). The Source game has potential (as any game does really, through updates), but right now... It's just not worth your twenty bucks. If you absolutely need a modern World War Two shooter get Red Orchestra (The best online WW2 game out right now), or one of the Call of Dutys. You'd be better served then.

BIG disappointment...read on for Why

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

My favorite game use to be Day of Defeat (DOD), that is, the old DOD 1.3 ie the one before source. It was the best only game ever. The graphics weren't spectacular, but decent. The reason I liked that game was for it's maps, gameplay, and sound. I was an expert with rifles. I never had kills less than four times my deaths. I was good at aiming/reacting/shooting. I had serious SKILLS. So....they announce the release of DOD:source. Better graphics, better sound. Of all the people in the world, I was the person who could wait the least to try the upgraded DOD:source. So, I bought the DOD:source. first 30 mins...ok i get it...i get what changes they ahve made. Let me tell you the good changes first. They have improved the graphics in DOD:source from it's predecessor SPECTACULARLY. I am sure you can read how good they are in others' comments. SOUND is awesome--gun sounds, ambient sounds. Maps look spectacular as well. LOts of detail in graphics, sound, and maps. Now...THE DISAPPOINTMENT: Gameplay. Why, Steam, Why? Did you really have to ruin my favorite game in the world by destroying the best gameplay ever created for a multiplayer game? The gameplay in the DOD:source sucks to say the least. Automatic guns have recoil like....like...crazy. It's like not one bullet reaches the target that you want it to reach. They all just...SPRAY. Automatic guns are useless beyond a distance of 5 metres. Rifles....my dear Rifles (RIP). My skills in rifling are useless in DOD:source. Allies rifle hardly ever kills in 1 shot, which was normal in DOD 1.3. I find it IMPOSSIBLE, after playing it for atleast 10-15 hours, to aim with rifles. Why? Because the game is so fast-paced. its a cartoon game! all the characters run so fast that it's impossible to aim. This game COULD HAVE been perfect, spectacularly the best of the century if they had kept the DOD 1.3 gameplay the same in DOD: source. My skills are useless in DOD:source, cuz DOD:source is based on Spray and pray (credit to whoever said it first in review). The reason I played the old DOD 1.3 instead of its competition CS--counterstrike was because of a different gameplay. The reason I will not be playing DOD:source is because it is disappointingly LIKE CS in its gameplay, only worse if any different.

DoD:S: A complete failure

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 19
Date: February 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

DoD:S is nothing compared to the orig. They didn't keep any of the good stuff from the orig. Source lost pistols for all characters and lost the carbine as a primary and they lost the bayonettes. Not only that but the game play that was in it has been reduced to nothing. Some of the great maps are no longer around.

Valve has killed this game.

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