I barely had time to register that the two black-uniformed corpses in front of me were no longer moving before a mortar dropped nearby, my vision blurring, a tinny whine piercing my ears. I whipped out my pistol and fired it in a desperate frenzy bullets pinging off nearby surroundings – death only ever a second away. I could practically feel my heart in my throat hearing footsteps approaching my position, angry German voices rising in volume. Every time I reloaded my weapon, my soldier would nervously mumble “Oh shit… Oh shit…” or “C’mon, godamnit!” as his shaky hands loaded in the next round. I levelled my shaky rifle, the recoil knocking my aim off with every shot, barely able to tell if I’d manage to kill some far-off Nazi or not. The brass told us to take this position!” before I knew it the entire squad of US marines was charging up the beaches around me, yelling out enemy positions, screaming in pain or confusion Nazi bullets snapping off nearby cover as I dashed into a building. Playing as the Americans, I heard a commanding officer say something like “I don’t give ah’ good God damn if we’re outnumbered.
When I loaded into my first game – starting off on the beach of a Normandy landing styled map – it was a microcosm of every Hoo-rah World War II movie I’d ever seen. What’s immediately apparent when you get started in any of the modes is the great attention to atmosphere. This is the true appeal of more realistic FPS games to me – and Day of Infamy seems to get it.ĭay of Infamy is a multiplayer FPS set in that classic game-inspiring conflict called World War II. The actual combat didn’t last long, but it was all about the palm-sweatingly intense build-up to that life-or-death moment.
At any moment we could round a corner and get instantly gibbed by a nearby parent-awakeningly-loud shot from a bolt-action rifle. It was just the two of us stalking suspiciously around these ruined French villages and snow-blasted Soviet bunkers. Playing Day of Infamy reminds me of playing the original Call of Duty over a LAN network at a sleepover at a friend’s house as a teenager.
We shall fight them on the beaches, fight them on the hills… and now online as well!