It's been a little while since I have played a game of Valve's WWII multiplayer shooter Day of Defeat Source but when the invite came to try out the new levels and game mode for the upcoming update, I charged in with barrels blazing (so to speak) to check them out for myself. The new gameplay mode is called Demolition and as the name suggests you get to blow stuff up.

In its basic terms, Demolition is a variation on Capture and Hold, except you try to capture and blow up specific points on the map. The two new maps have different ways of handling those objectives. The Colmar map has two points for each team to destroy (they are made up to look like APCs, artillary guns and other military weapons) and of course each team has to defend the points that the other is trying to detonate. The Colmar map has a bridge in between the two team locations that's filled with explosives (which would be a pretty dangerous place to be normally but that's another story) that team member can use to pick up a TNT load. Players then go to the points to blow up, hit the "E" key to place the TNT on the specific point and wait for the explosion

Of course, the opposing team might not like their tank blowing up so they also have the ability to defuse the bomb before it goes off by also hitting the "E" key. Each point has to be denonated twice for the team to finally win the round. The other new Day of Defeat Source map in the update, Jagd, handles the Demolition mode differently. One team tries to blow up three points on the map while the opposing team attempts to prevent that from happening before time expires. Both levels come with handy 2D maps on the right corner of the screen that clearly show where each team is supposed to go.

The two new levels in the Demolition mode were quite impressive. The Colmar map is a winter themed map set at night in a European village with a frozen creek underneath the bridge that holds all that TNT. The Jagd map is set in daylight in a bombed out village that has a lot of multiple levels and some interesting features like ramps in certain locations that are one way; you can run and jump off the ramps but they are so high you can't move back once that's done.

Valve is saying this new update also has some improvements like improved hit location detection and weapon balancing and in playing Day of Defeat Source for a couple of hours today we certainly can see some differences. Shooting enemies isn't quite as difficult as it has been in the past and we did detect some slight variation in switching from a Thompson to a more powerful machine gun. Valve has also added a neat visual feature. When you die, the game switches to a grainy film look that is supposed to look like a WWII period documentary.

Fans of Day of Defeat Source will be glad to know that the fast paced gameplay is still intact. Snipers can still find locations to fire their head shots, infrantry can still charge in with their Thompsons blazing and rocket launchers can still fire their shells and make enemies fly around with rag doll physics. The two new maps and the new gameplay mode is certainly a different and fun take on the typical Capture and Hold maps and should be a popular new addition to an already popular game. Players who own Day of Defeat Source can download the new update on Wednesday.

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