In an attempt to keep from going crazy while waiting for new releases of video games, many gamers turn to older, more familiar games for their fix. Most games lack replay value, and very few games continue to get updates years after their release dates unless newer versions are released.

Valve, a video game developer, is one of the few who continue to add modifications and updates to games that are almost a decade old. ‘Day of Defeat,’ for example, has gone through various stages – kind of like a butterfly, but in this case, it was beautiful to begin with.

‘Day of Defeat’ started out as an expansion for Valve’s hit first-person shooter ‘Half-Life.’ A simple download got you a World War II skin for online multiplayer battles. Then, years after Valve released its sequel to ‘Half-Life,’ ‘Half-Life 2,’ ‘Day of Defeat’ got overhauled, redesigned and renamed. Dubbed ‘Day of Defeat: Source’ (after the game engine it uses), it is now a stand-alone game included in many of the ‘Half-Life 2’ value packs available today.

To this day, ‘Day of Defeat: Source’ is probably one of the most versatile and best-looking online multiplayer WWII games. The Source engine is very scalable, allowing for many gamers to run it despite the age of their computers, and the game play is pristine.

On top of looking nice, a well-balanced distribution of weapons keeps fairness at a maximum while still allowing for some variety. By including all the favorite weapons classes, including the bazooka class and – everyone’s favorite – the sniper class, there’s always a new way to kill some Nazis (or Allies).

You would think a game that’s almost five years old would gradually fade off the map, but no, Valve continues to add new features from some of their newer releases.

When the ‘Orange Box’ game package came out, a variety of features, including awards and kill capture, were added to almost all of Valve’s multiplayer games. Killing 1,000 people with the sniper rifle got you the marksman badge, and kill capture allowed you to take a screenshot of yourself getting killed if you thought it necessary.

Still, Valve doesn’t stop there. They continue to improve upon their Source engine, and they don’t just save it for their new releases. When the motion blur effect was added to the ‘Orange Box’ games, ‘Day of Defeat’ was on the list for an upgrade as well.

With loads of maps, hundreds of downloadable modifications and a dedicated following, ‘Day of Defeat: Source’ is a great game to revisit if you’re tired of waiting 10 years for ‘Starcraft 2’ (don’t worry, it’s almost here). So turn off ‘Back to the Future’ and travel back a few years to that other game you waited years for.

mlbellez@syr.edu

Published on April 14, 2009 at 12:00 pm