Flip through the TV channels on some lazy Saturday afternoon and you're bound to come across a broadcast of the classic movie "Wargames." The premise of the movie involves a young hacker who cracks a government database, finding a series of what he believes to be games - including the aptly titled executable, wargames. As he begins to play, a young Broderick inadvertently sets off a series of events that mobilize the army and begin an alert of the actual Defcon system. This imaginative scenario became a phenomenon - something children dreamed to play at night. However, in 1983, with Atari large and in charge, this holy grail of movie crossovers never materialized. Twenty years later, Defcon: Everybody Dies arrives, paying proper homage to Wargames while blazing its own exciting thermonuclear trail.

Defcon's main menu screen draws you in immediately, featuring a spinning globe with the statistics for a nuclear attack. Effects of radiation, estimated casualties and nuclear properties all scroll with an eerie foreshadowing of the chaos to come. Thankfully, gameplay starts in Defcon Five, so before any of these scary prophecies come true, you have a chance to arm yourself to the teeth. Initially, players are randomly placed on continents worldwide and must strategically place their units in their owned space. While in Defcon Five, you are given four units to place: radar dishes, missile silos, airbases and naval fleets, with the last two being deployable units (you also get the chance to choose what ships comprise your fleet). Do not let the low number of units fool you: there are multiple functions for a few of the units.

As the game progresses, your buildings gain additional abilities, leading to the actual strategy of Defcon. Air bases can launch bombers but they are slow and may not reach with their nuclear payload in time. Submarines can fire nukes but become sitting ducks once they move towards a radar dish. Finally, missile silos present the most important choice for players to make: to focus attention on destroying everyone before they destroy you by putting them in a nuclear mode or to hold off and keep your defense up. You have until Defcon Three to place your units for the best chance of success and protection. Then, while in Defcon Three, naval and air units can finally begin attacking. Small-scale warfare continues until Defcon One, at which point you are able to deploy ICBMs, which are city-leveling missiles.

Much like reality, allies come into play in the game. Through the in-game chat interface, you can set up back room deals to outnumber other players. The catch is that there is only one winner, so it is often only a matter of time before Europe or North America turns on you for the win. In a few games, we found ourselves in an alliance with someone, only to be backstabbed without warning. What makes this game so great is that with such short games and so many possibilities, it's difficult to just dominate with one play style. You must be able to change and adapt to what is going on. Forget peon rushes - Defcon is far more balanced and challenging.

Most of the matches we played lasted about thirty minutes; however, length seemed dependent upon how many were playing. Also, there's an option when you create a game to leave spots open for other players to spectate, which is far more entertaining than it sounds. The game has a few other modes such as diplomacy, where all players begin on the same team to see who will succeed first, utilizing alliances for the win. The included tournament mode plays exactly as it sounds, and another, called big world, increases the size of the map. Also featured is office mode, where players can hit the ESC key twice to minimize the game if your boss is coming. It will then play silently in a window for up to six hours with a system tray icon giving you an update. The little touches make Defcon enjoyable for hours on end.

The user interface and console are both amazingly well done. Any box on the game screen can be resized or moved around at will to create numerous configurations. Colors are customizable as well, making this a game that the user defines as they play, not one that defines the way users play. Introversion seems to be a company that is attempting to break traditional boundaries as much as possible by including such features. Similarly, the graphics are simple, but look great - especially when hundreds of missiles soar across the screen. The sound also engrosses with ringing explosions, eerie vocals, and musical numbers, designed to immerse the player in the dark reality of this game's premise.

Simply put, Defcon is a fun and fast paced game. While that usually spells out a shorter shelf life, in this case, that brevity is a breath of fresh air. Bringing strategy back to zero, Introversion has proven that fourteen hundred unit types do not make a great game. Strategy games must feature strategy, balance, and most importantly, fun. Although diehard RTS players will scoff at its simplicity, Defcon reminds us why we play games in the first place: enjoyment. If you want to try something different, relive a style from yesteryear, or laugh manically while crushing enemies under your nuclear strong arm, then Defcon is a must play.