Day of Infamy, pretty much like Insurgency is a tactical shooter which tests the patience of players and rewards them for being tactical and slow. While it shares a lot of mechanics with it’s older brother Insurgency, it still is unique in it’s own right. Day of Infamy changes some of the gameplay elements, but still is famliar enough for those who liked and played Insurgency. And as many have said, if you have never played a game like ARMA or even Insurgency, the game has a steep learning curve, and is in all sense a true World War shooter which doesn’t feel arcadey.
Just like Insurgency (And Overwatch), Day of Infamy is more of an objective based game, than a game based on drilling bullets through skulls of enemies and going on a killing spree. Each player has immense value unlike shooters like CSGO or COD where good individual performances can save the day. It is not about K/D ratios, lone wolfing the round, twitch reflexes or killing streaks and is more about being able to capitalize on small moments/windows of time, catching enemies unaware, holding tight corners, proper communication and positioning.
One striking feature that carries over from Insurgency to Day of Infamy is the impeccable map design. The maps are highly varied and provide tons of hiding spots, camping spots etc, and it’s not easy to get accustomed to the map. Yes it doesn’t have the destruction that Battlefield 1’s Frostbite Engine has, but fundamentally how the For example, in CSGO, take any map, Overpass. There are a few common smokes, flashes etc on both the T and the CT side, and are easy to catch up. In Day of Infamy, all kinds of nades have to smartly be thrown depending on enemy movement and flanking opponents is a very effective strategy, especially with the maps being so open.
Being from India, it was difficult to find a good number of players on any server unless it was an odd time like 3-4 AM in the morning, but as the player base increases, this problem will become less of an issue for players from such regions. Personally I didn’t get to play many game modes, due to the lack of players on individual servers, I chose quick play and was only able to play on populated servers which were generally the ‘Push’ game mode. As and when I get to play more game modes, I’ll be writing about them as well.
As for the game mechanics, similar to Insurgency, the game is a sort of class based shooter. The player can choose a preferred class and can only change it if there is a vacancy in another class or while re-spawning. The player is given access to a set number of points for each class and can then go on to customize guns and personalize the kit. A welcome addition was the flamethrower, which in my opinion, is too OP especially if they too close to you. You can consider yourself roasted meat, if that happens, so it is wise to not just rush pick them out from a distance. The canisters of the flamethrower can also be shot to make them explode, which is a nifty addition.
As for what makes the game hard- there is no crosshair, the player won’t get any on screen reaction when being fired upon, there are no kill signals, team coordination is important especially owing to the large and complicated map. The game can be unforgiving if you try to play it like other arcadey shooters in the market.
The game does not feature the diverse customization of the guns that was there in Insurgency, but that’s a limitation of the time era in which the game is set. Yet, the player gets a lot of options for weapon choice and customization.
All in all Day of Infamy is a solid addition to Insurgency, and is well worth it’s INR 545 price tag for adding a considerable amount of twists and still keeping the game familiar. Add to the fact that there are no microtransactions and this becomes a must buy for any of those wanting a challenging and tactical FPS game which emphasizes on team play and coordination over twitch reflex and running & gunning.