You come around the corner slowly, your M1 Garand battle rifle extended before you, knowing that the enemy is waiting just ahead...... Watching in front of you as you advance, you suddenly hear a scream of "SNIPER!" and your screen goes black. *crack* *thud* "Next time" you think, "I'd better check the rooftops for Nazi snipers..........."

As you lower your sniper rifle to check the kill, a shout of "SNIPER!" rings out from the American lines. You back out of your prepared position and turn around... Just in time to see a grenade roll to your feet. You scream "GRANATE!!!" and your screen fades to black. *boom* *thud* "Next time" you think, "I'd better check around to make sure my target doesn't have any buddies before I drop the hammer on him......."

Welcome to Day of Defeat, an imersive and damned adictive half life mod. I swear that I've felt like I was in Saving Private Ryan playing this game. Gah. Must shoot yankees. Must shoot yankees.

DoD takes us back to one of the coolest scenarios for gaming. World War 2. I think the reason that WWII is such a cool theatre for video games is because.. Well.. Face it, there are no really good enemies out there anymore. I mean, we're buddies with the Russians... Terrorists just aren't the target anymore... Hell, even the Arabs aren't politically correct to shoot at anymore. (Well, unless you happen to be an Israeli soldier that is.) So.. We're left with the Nazis. These guys were right bastards and everyone knew it, so they're always good for a good kick to the teeth! :)

	Hmmmm.. Nazi tank to blow up.....
	Hmmmmmm. Bubbles.

Anyhows, it's the epic struggle between two massive armies, and you are now in the middle of it. Take the part of an Ally or an Axis soldier, in one of four classes.

Light Trooper - Multiple grenades, high stamina. Equiped with semi auto or bolt action, pistol and knife.

Assault Trooper - One grenade, medium stamina. Equiped with sub machinegun, pistol and knife.

Sniper - No grenades, low stamina. Equiped of course with sniper rifle, pistol and knife.

Heavy Weapons - One grenade, low stamina. Equiped with squad automatic rifle, (Or Assault rifle for the Germans.) pistol & knife.

Each class of soldier has their strengths and weaknesses, and when you get a team that is well balanced among the classes you simply kick ass. The dev teams has done some excellent balancing work, there really isn't any one class that stands out as being superior to the others. It's a truly glorious site to see a few heavy weapons guys hosing the street down while their assault and normal infantry get into position to attack. Man.

Heh. One little thing. If you hated the stamina meter from Firearms, you're gonna hate this one too. You loose stamina when you jump (Sorry Red!) or fire large weapons without crouching. Frankly, I don't find it a problem, I like it. The firearms one was a pain in the ass, this one just adds to the realism.

One of the sweetest things about this game is the fact that the teams talk in their respective languages. Just like Counter-Strike you have a variety of sayings avaliable to you. "Sniper!" "Yes sir!" "Move out" and "Grenade!" being the most common ones used. It's pretty neat being in the middle of a firefight with some Nazis and hearing them scream back and forth in German! Interestingly, I'm starting to learn something from this, so if I'm ever in Germany and someone yells "Sharpshootzer!" I'll know to duck and cover. :) It's just one of those little things that adds to the whole atmosphere of an already excellent game.

Ohhhhh.. and the maps! Oh the maps. From destroyed villages to tranquil valley hovels... From the streets of Oslo to Omaha beach.. DoD has 'em all, something for every taste. Some big, some small. Most of them are sweet.

This is pretty well the best mod I've ever seen since CS... And honestly I like it better... Yes that's right! I like DOD better than CS. Got a problem with that, you Nazi scumbag?

	Time to suck it down you American Pigs!
	The Nazis attack the streets of Caen.

From the Bunkers of Omaha beach, we caught this interview with DasJuden between incoming mortar rounds.

Name/Alias

Ben Jones/DasJuden

Location in the real world?

University of Denver, Colorado

Age?

20

Games being played right now?

Sudden Strike, DoD (Well, Yeah! -ed)

3Dfx or nVidia?

Well, seing as 3dfx is essentially out of business, I would have to go with nVidia

Boxers or Briefs?

Boxers

Marital status?

Single, thanks god.

Musical preference?

Everything, but I love techno

Favorite movie(s)?

Last of the Mohicans, Stalingrad, H.R. Pufnstuf

Who or what do you see as being a role model in your life?

My father, and my best friend Brandon

It's a steel cage match: Bill Clinton and Monica vs. Adolf Hitler and Eva. Who wins,and why?

Bill and Monica.... Old Adolf was far too drugged up to be effective

Kaboom bitch!

Enough with the background crap. On with the real battle report.

Tell us a little about the day of defeat mod. What is it exactly?

Day of Defeat is a realistic world war two half-life modification. What we are trying to do here is make the player feel like he is actually in fierce battle on the western front in and around 1944

How did you get started with this whole project, what inspired it? (Any special influances?)

Well I originally came in as the historian and then took over when things went south. This mod, more than anything else was developed through a love of history and an appreciation of the sacrifice which our ancestors laid down for us.

How many people are on the dev team, and what are their jobs?

You can check that out right here: http://www.dayofdefeatmod.com/staff.shtml

Excellent gun models, very detailed and realistic. Who did the research there?

That was done by several people, but the co-ordinator of that was Thnuder_weenie

What's your favorite team? Nazis or Yankees?

I prefer to play as the Germans because I love the voice commands

Favorite map?

vn61 or Caen... its a toss up

Favorite weapon?

mp40

Hold this position!

What do you have in the works for DoD? Where do you hope to go with it?

There are alot of things in development that I cant speak of, but one of our big goals is to have vehicles in the game.

Have you guys done any work on other games or pojects?

Some of the staff has. Personally I used to work on an ill fated mod named Fox Force 5

How long has the mod been in development, and what would you say was the greatest challenge in making it?

Im just going to start saying 10 months because we really didnt start to make significant progress until then.

Are you happy with the response you guys are getting thus far?

Certainly, although I wish that we had tested the beta with a few more people before we released so that we could have picked up on some of the bugs. However, I feel that we have learned our lesson and will not release versions that are quite as buggy in the future.

What, in your humble opinion is the coolest thing about DoD?

Hmm.. Well, our models are fantastic!

Anything else you'd like to add?

Just that beta1.1 will be out soon and I think you all will love it

For full details on the game, and all it includes check out the official site. Screenshots page can be found here. So far the mod is just plain killer. Some of the maps are just inspired. The models are phenominal, with TONS of detail on the weapons and troops. (Hell, the M1 Garand battle rifle even has it's signature "PING!" when the stripper ejects. Wow.) Download it. Play it. Welcome to the battlefield. Join us @ the FRAGtopia Just 4 Fun. 209.135.104.57.

Thanks to DasJuden for taking the time out to answer a few questions! Looking good bud! Thanks to Dopper for some of the screenies.