Days of War - Early Access Impressions

For the last couple of years there have been a lot of people asking for the first-person shooter genre to return to the historical conflicts that defined early Call of Duty and Medal of Honor titles. Now, two years later, we're seeing that demand being satisfied. Most notably we had EA take the Battlefield series into the trenches of World War 1, and rumour has it that the next Call of Duty will also look back to Vietnam (if it does, it'll be joined there by Rising Storm 2). There isn't, however, a big studio working on a shooter set during World War 2. Enter the indies.

We name-dropped Call of Duty and Medal of Honor, but you could argue that Days of War draws more inspiration from Valve's classic WW2 shooter, Day of Defeat. The homage is writ large. Beyond the setting, most obvious is the little icons that hover over the head of each friendly soldier, clearly differentiating friend from foe. Teams of twelve or sixteen players charge headfirst into deadly encounters, with bullets whistling overhead as the action moves in and out of buildings before resting on choke points usually found around the bottlenecks leading to the more open areas in each map.

Perhaps the most recognisable battle included in the Early Access version of the game is the map set on Omaha Beach. It's an iconic setting for sure, and there's a harrowing feel to the early moves of a match taking place there, with the first few waves of advancing Allied soldiers essentially fish in a barrel waiting to be taken out by the entrenched German defenders. It can take a few frustrating minutes to get a foothold on the beach, but then slowly the attacking team can advance up into and then behind enemy lines.

The other two maps are set in urban environments, one a crumbling mess, the other much less battle-worn. Both are full of twisty little roads and cut-throughs, as well as lots of enterable buildings, many of which offer elevated positions and extended lines of site to those who venture upstairs and are prepared to stand still for long enough to take aim. The maps are also quite large, and there's a definite two-sided feel to them. Players start on opposite sides and are funnelled into interlinking lanes after every respawn, each new life spent defending or attacking a different part of the front, battle lines often stretching across the whole map as and when objectives are contested.

Different weather effects can certainly change the feel of a map, and nighttime battles also freshen things up, making the three included at launch feel more numerous than they actually are. This is actually something that we'd like to see taken much further; fighting in a thunder storm with reduced visibility, for example, could really change the tone of a match. The maps themselves look pretty good, with some detailed textures and interesting scenery, but there's not a lot of interaction to be found at present, which is something we'd like to see more of.

For each part Day of Defeat, you can also add a dash of Call of Duty. Infinity Ward's earliest games have also influenced the team over at Driven Arts, and there's a quick-fire arcadey feel to the action here that certainly tries to ape the run-and-gun gameplay of Call of Duty 2, even if it doesn't convince entirely. The main problem is that there's not quite enough heft to the gunplay, something that isn't helped by a slightly tinny audio mix. The guns don't have the same deep crackle that we've come to expect, which is understandable given the difference in budget between this project and the big annual shooters from EA and Activision, but still doesn't help the overall feel of the game.

Days of War is very much an Early Access title, and as such there's a lot of bolts to tighten and loose ends to tidy away before it's going to be fully featured and ready for general release. The developers want to release it within the year, so there's plenty to do as more maps and modes are brought online. Beyond new locations there are other elements that need to be tweaked and refined; at the moment the objectives aren't as obvious as they should be, and at times the resultant lack of focus detracts from the atmosphere and things can often end up turning into a mindless slugfest rather than a tactical battle. Finally, the jump is so weak that it might as well not be there, something that takes away from otherwise solid movement system.

Still, look past the rough edges and there's plenty of potential here, and if they can build on the foundations that have been laid down so far, there's no reason that Days of War can't emulate those that so clearly inspired it. Shooter fans have been waiting for a good game set during World War 2 for some time now, and if Driven Arts can add more new content and refine what they've already got, this could end up being an easy game to recommend.