Day of Infamy is a 2016 FPS videogame made by New World Interactive and a sort of Spiritual Successor to the popular Valve mod, Day of Defeat. Initially a mod from their previous game, Insurgency (which also came from a mod based in Valve's Source engine), it became immensely popular among the playerbase and was released as a separate game on Steam's Early Access on 29 July 2016.
Set in World War II, it follows the same formula of realistic gunplay, minimalist HUD and unforgiving player-life expectancy as its predecessor Insurgency, while adding more playable factions, historical weapon choices, classes with unique traits and a radio system with which squad leaders are able to call in air support to help their team.
The game started in Early Access beta, releasing on July 28th, 2016, with a full release following on March 23rd, 2017. You can check out their webpage here
or buy the game on Steam.
This game provides examples of:
- Acceptable Breaks from Reality: Despite the historical setting and being on the realistic end of Fackler Scale of FPS Realism, the game developers have stated that gameplay will come first before realism. While similar to Insurgency there are some notable differences:
- Objective markers and certain HUD elements still persist, but now smoke cover has the ability to obscure friendly tags while in it.
- While the game does finally feature air support through use of radios, the response times of the airstrikes are rather quick. Acceptable for artillery strikes which can be pre-called and ready, not so much for the bombers unless they happened to be flying nearby specifically for the player's missions.
- Rifle grenades require special blank rounds designed to propel the explosives. Before an update, it used to be simulated accurately with the soldier ejecting a live round and inserting a blank and vice versa. Afterwards this feature was removed with the blank rounds magically appearing straight into the rifle without touching the ammo count of the live rounds. All done for the sake of speedier reloads and simplification. The M1 Garand is an exception to this so far with the ejection of the live round en-bloc clip and inserting a blank round clip, essentially conserving ammo left in the original clip. There ARE rifle grenades that use a bullet catching system to fire, but WWII-era America didn't use them.
- The unit system added with the full release does not restrict what weapons are available to you in-game, e.g. while the FG-42 is restricted to maps based on battles Fallschirmjäger units took part in, you don't actually have to own or play as a Fallschirmjäger unit to use it. Also, perhaps more noticeably, everyone is allowed to pick what unit they play as rather than one player or the server getting to decide for them.
- Anachronism Stew: Despite developer claims of making the game as authentic as it can be, there are still several discrepancies.
- The Commonwealth's rifle grenade is an Energa anti-tank rifle grenade, which is actually a post-war system made for the same rifle. An Enfield grenade launcher cup would be more appropriate for the time period.
- The StG-44 will not appear in maps taking place before 1944, which is historically correct, however the FG-42 and the MG-42 will still appear in maps regardless of their setting, even in Crete which takes place during Operation Mercury of 1941. Bots also have the tendency to ignore these weapon restrictions as well.
- The US Army's M1 Carbines are equipped with post-war adjustable iron sights by default, with only the Officer class able to fit a period-accurate peep sight as an upgrade since it's clearer and easier to use. Likewise, the Thompson and Grease Gun are available in battles set before their adoption at various points in 1942 - interestingly, the devs chose to model the original Grease Gun instead of the improved M3A1, which entered production in 1943 and only saw service after the war ended, specifically to try and avoid this issue. This is less of an issue for the Commonwealth, as their Thompson model is the M1928, and the Sten gun was available for every battle currently in the game.
- The German C96 Mauser. The pistol variant is mostly fine (other than it can be reloaded mid-clip by simply pulling back the bolt and somehow eject all the unspent rounds), it's the submachine gun variant for the Assault class, "the M1932," that things become wonky. The Carbine appears to be an amalgamation of various C96 models: the design of the original semi-automatic C96 Carbine variant, the select-fire and detachable magazine of the M712 Schnellfeuer, and the forty-round magazine of the M1917 Trench Carbine as an optional attachment, with an extended barrel for good measure. The Wehrmacht probably never had such a gun within their arsenal, let alone using it in the field (The M1917 Trench Carbine was a rejected design made during the First World War, whilst the C96 Carbine itself was made as an export gun). A closer-to-reality weapon would be a select-fire (semi-to-full) M712 with a holster stock, even then it would be pushing it since such a weapon would have probably been reserved as a rare weapon for wealthy soldiers, rather than as an expensive uncommon alternative for the German submachine gunner. (The M712 did see some limited deployment in the Wehrmacht, but was quickly replaced with the MP-38 and the more famous MP-40)
- The Commonwealth's rifle grenade is an Energa anti-tank rifle grenade
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: The game's level progression system only offers this to the player, unlocking different skins as you level up. The skins have unique adjustments to the uniform in terms of patches and insignia and some rarer skins actually include new voices or looks. For example, the US Army's 92nd Infantry Division or the Commonwealth's 12th Frontier Regiment. As of the May 19th update, there are also skins for certain weapons after making a certain number of kills with them, a weathered "Veteran" look for making kills in general and a cloth-wrapped one for making headshots.
- Armor Is Useless: Inverted. Unlike Insurgency, there aren't any armor options in the game at all. A Radio Pack does provide some protection when shot in the back, but only one for shot, and also gives you a broken radio afterwards.
- All-or-Nothing Reloads: Partly averted - as soon as you put in the fresh magazine of a gun, the ammo count is updated and you can interrupt the animation by sprinting. Only bolt-actions rifles and pump action shotguns require the cocking animation to play separately.
- Battle Cry: A particularly loud one can be heard during co-op modes, signalling an overall increase in the enemy AI's aggression.
- Back Stab: A single slash or stab from behind instantly kills any enemy (or friendly depending on the server's setting).
- Bayonet Ya: Certain weapons can remove their melee weapon slot and attach a bayonet for increased melee range.
- Boring Yet Practical: Bolt-action rifles; they're cheap on supply points even with all their attachments, a one-shot kill even on the torso, decent ironsights/scopes and, most importantly, accurate as hell.
- Bloodier and Gorier: Compared to Insurgency. The blood effects are much more visceral and after an update, limbs can be lost to explosives and high volumes of gunfire.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Each faction has a wide variety of these and Foreign Cuss Words to scream about.Scottish Highlander: (reloading under fire) Who the fuck made these fucking things?
German Soldier: (taking fire) Scheiße! Scheiße! Scheiße! - Cosmetically Different Sides: Averted, each side has historically accurate weapons used by their respective countries. All factions also have air support options unique to their side; White Phosphorous Artillery or Typhoon Barrages for the Commonwealth, Stuka Dive Bombers for the Germans and P51 Mustang Barrages for the Americans.
- Communications Officer: The Officer class has the clearance and ability to call in air strikes or supply drops, but only with the help of anyone carrying a wireless radio set near him. Also, voice chat and commands can only be heard when standing nearby anyone carrying a radio set. The Radioman class carries one free by default while Riflemen and Assault classes may equip one with 3 supply points.
- The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Very, very obvious with enemy AI officers, who will demonstrate the magical ability of summoning Death from Above without the use of a radioman and sometime consecutively call in a series of strikes while ignoring cooldowns. Doesn't help that in co-op there can be more than one enemy officer running about; and worse, friendly AI officers still require a radio!
- Concealment Equals Cover: Averted Trope. Bullets can pass through thin materials and the Stuka's bombs can annihilate anyone trying to hold out in a building.
- Death from Above: With radio options given to the Officer via a Radioman, several types of air support can be called in to assist his team... or give the enemy team a really bad time.
- Difficult, but Awesome: Explosives from launchers deal tons of damage but each side's launcher has different drop distances and range requiring the player to learn all of their nuances.
- Dynamic Entry: Certain damaged walls can be knocked down with the right amount of explosives, giving opportunities for alternate routes to travel the maps.
- Emergency Weapon: Sidearms, while pricey, can provide backup for you main weapons. The German-only Einstoss 46 is also one, being able to fire only one short burst of flame before running out.
- Every Bullet is a Tracer: Averted. Tracer rounds are only seen fired from machine guns and every couple of rounds or when the belt is running out.
- Fackler Scale of FPS Realism: Similar to its predecessor Insurgency, it is pretty far on the realistic end.
- Fire-Breathing Weapon: The primary weapons of each factions' Flamethrower class as well as the Wehrmacht's Eintoss 46.
- Flamethrower Backfire: The fuel tank of the Flamethrower class can be shot directly and detonated, killing the wielder and engulfing his nearby surroundings with long-lasting flames.
- Friend or Foe?: Friendly fire is on for most servers and while there are friendly indicators and tags, they take a while to pop up when aiming at someone.
- Gratuitous German: Averted. The dialogue and even class names are spoken and written in fluent German.
- Grenade Hot Potato: Any thrown grenade can be picked up and thrown back, but watch out for Mills Bombs, which have a slightly shorter fuse than normal, or the No. 69 Grenade which explodes on impact. The soldier will even spout a line or two while doing it.Scottish Highlander: Hey Jerry! I think you dropped this!
US Soldier: Bad idea! BAD IDEA! - Gun Accessories: Fewer accessory options exist in Day of Infamy compared to Insurgency due to its WWII setting, but depending on the class, there still exists the opportunity to attach slings to your rifles and submachine guns for easier handling, bayonets to your rifles for faster melee (at the cost of not having a separate melee weapon), or scopes for sniper rifles. Notably the officer class has unique sights and magazine options not usually seen on other classes standard weapons (e.g US Army's M1A1 Thompson equipping the earlier M1 Thompson's simpler ironsights).
- Hollywood Silencer: Averted, bots in co-op and players can hear the suppressors from the Sten Gun and Welrod pistols from a short distance.
- Kill It with Fire: Aside from flamethrowers, the No. 76 WP Grenade, WP rockets for the M1A1 Bazooka and White Phosphorus Artillery Barrages deliver an incendiary cloud dealing flaming damage to anyone unlucky enough to be caught in it.
- Ludicrous Gibs: See Bloodier and Gorier above.
- Missing Backblast: Much like Insurgency, Played Straight despite all the other realistic elements in the game. Friendlies might get suppressed when standing behind you when you fire a rocket launcher, but that's about it.
- More Dakka: Machine guns, the M1928 drum magazines and the P51 Mustang's gun barrage are these.
- Multinational Team: The Commonwealth forces can easily become this due to the wide variety of skins depicting Canucks with Chinooks, the occasional brave scot and even some of Kipling's Finest. The Aussies with Artillery make their debut in the appropriately named "Aussie Update".
- No Swastikas: The German Iron Cross replaces the Axis team's insignia and flags. Justified to a certain extent, since the Wehrmacht are the main German forces in the game, but otherwise played straight with the 1st SS-Panzer-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" and the 17th SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Götz von Berlichingen," both being renamed to 1st Panzer-Division and the 17th Panzer-Division respectively.
- Oh, Crap!: Generally the player character's reaction to an impending rocket or explosive. Air support, regardless of whichever side called it will also provoke this reaction to anyone near its impact radius.
- One Bullet Clips: Averted, the amount of ammo in a mag is remembered when you reload while reloading mid-mag and from empty mag differs (which is realistic). Only the M1 Garand, C96 pistol and revolvers toss away any remaining rounds from the original clip permanently.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: Zigzagged. The US Model 1917 uses the same rounds as the M1911, but fires in single action only (where the hammer is manually cocked after every shot) and usually costs the same or slightly cheaper for every class. The Webley however fires in double-action and gives a higher caliber option compared to the 9mm Browning HP.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: AI bots in co-op modes can actually lose morale and temporarily flee whenever they see burning bodies, dismembered limbs or a large amount of their allies dying simultaneously.
- Selective Historical Armoury: The Ithaca 37 shotgun, despite being an American design that saw quite a bit of use along the (currently AWOL in-game) Winchester 1897 and 1912 shotguns, is only available to the Commonwealth.
- Shoot the Fuel Tank: In some multiplayer or co-op gamemodes, an objective may come in the form of destroying targets, one of them being a Fuel Dump. Explosives generally do the trick, but a high volume of fire can also puncture the tanks and eventually ignite it. Leaking fuel dumps are also very susceptible to flames and white phosphorous particles.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: The Ithaca 37, which is (strangely) unique to the Commonwealth, has good damage and range, averting Short-Range Shotgun. Given the setting's lack of body armor protection, expect the weapon to be used effectively even at middle ranges.
- Smoke Out: Various smoke grenades are available for use by infantry. The Officer class can take this up to eleven by calling in a smoke barrage, which blankets an entire area with concealing smoke.
- Standard Hollywood Strafing Procedure: Averted Trope for the P51 Barrage. The distribution of the shots can be traced back being fired in a general line, but are otherwise utterly random and realistic.
- Stuka Scream: Played straight. German Officers can call in their Stuka dive bomber, which emits this sound as it makes its drop, giving a clear warning to anyone nearby.
- Videogame Flamethrowers Suck: The flamethrowers employed by all side have slightly better range than common depictions and no overheat mechanic, but realistically limited (to about 500 "fuel") ammo and if not used properly can result in the player damaging themselves or teammates. Also, prone to exploding when shot at directly. The Eintoss 46 is probably the epitome of this trope: short burst of flame with pathetic range, but the embers sticks to surfaces for a while unlike normal flamethrowers.
- What the Hell, Player?: Shooting at your team-mates will result in them telling you to cut that out. Kill three of them this way, and you get kicked from the server. That said, the lines spoken are quite expressive.British Troops: ARGH! What the fuck, mate?
Australian Forces: You want me to come over there or something?
Canadian Soldier: If you MORONS keep shooting me like that, I'm going to blow a fucking nerve!
British Troops (again): Stop shooting me, you tit!
US Soldier: WHAT. THE. HELL. FRIENDLY!
US Soldier: You've got the wrong guy, you moron! Stop that! Quit it!
US Soldier (again): I'm a goddamn American!
- "I need a wireless over here!"
