DEFCON Review (NATO)
Games like DEFCON illustrate in 5 minutes what Dr. Strangelove takes an hour and a half to do.
You enter the game with the foolish and absurd assumption that you can somehow survive the game and destroy your enemy. DEFCON quickly dispels these assumptions through its ambiance and soundtrack. As you watch the ICBMs streak across the map, you slowly realize you are not invincible, and that the arsenal of weapons at your disposal do not guarantee your safety in any capacity whatsoever. The game's art-style and its presentation as a 1990s arcade cabinet are horrifying upon realizing just how morbid and dark the implications really are. The player is left with a satisfying understanding even if you have won the game, clearly, everybody is a loser. In the end, we're stunned by the fact that the consideration of the game's events is even viewed as a possibility in real life, not to mention the inevitable certainty it was seen as during the Cold War.
Hauntingly brilliant.