WarGames: Defcon 1

PlayStation console exclusive

The player gets to play as NORAD or WOPR. According to the game's cover box, the story takes place 20 years after the film: WOPR attempts to exterminate humanity and NORAD tried to stop it. During a mission the player takes control of a vehicle and can change the controls of any vehicle the team has - for example, while NORAD has heavily armored and armed tanks and aircraft, WOPR possesses exotically futuristic mechs and hovercraft. Vehicles could recharge ammo by obtaining powers.

Released: 30 June 1998
Platforms: PlayStation Windows
Genres: Real-time strategy Shooter Strategy Tactical shooter
Developers: Blitz Games
Publishers: MGM Interactive
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Science fiction Warfare
Country: United Kingdom
Age ratings: ESRB T USK 12
Languages: English French German Spanish Italian
Composers: Tommy Tallarico

About

WarGames: Defcon 1 (known simply as WarGames on PC) is a video game for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows developed by Interactive Studios and co-published by MGM Interactive and Electronic Arts (in North America, MGM Interactive solely published the game). Although both versions possess the same missions and content, the PlayStation version is a tactical vehicle-shooting game while the PC version is a real-time strategy game (similar to Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds). The game is loosely based on the movie WarGames; the story was scripted by John Badham, director of the original film.

Keywords

modern warfare
post-apocalyptic
modern military
nuclear bomb

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Development

WarGames: Defcon 1 was one of the few strategy games of its time to not use a tile system, instead allowing troops to be place and moved freely across the landscape. Team leader John Whigham commented, "While this is of great benefit to the player and to the game in general, the programming nightmares it raises have given us more than one sleepless night over the last few months." The game was showcased at E3 1997

MGM Interactive launched a $1.3 million TV ad campaign for WarGames. The 30-second spots targeted 18-to-24-year-old males via national cable network programs in the top 25 U.S. markets.

Reception

The PlayStation version received favourable reviews, while the PC version received average reviews, according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. Next Generation called the former version "a fun romp that is, unfortunately, a bit on the short side. A two-player combat option alleviates this problem somewhat. The bottom line?

If you have a second player handy, get it. If not, rent it – it makes for a good three-day weekend of fun"; and called the latter "a fairly competent and well-crafted game. It just doesn't take the genre in any new direction and feels like little more than a me-too effort." Mark Kanarick of AllGame gave Defcon 1 two-and-a-half stars out of five, saying, "I like what MGM Interactive is trying to do in WarGames Defcon 1, but the game just seems to far out there for someone who is not a strategy/wargame enthusiast to grasp.