History YMMV / Defcon

* TearJerker: The entire game can become a horrifying look at how a real nuclear war plays out. Above all seeing a town or city you know or live in on the main screen disappear in a flash of light and reading the tally of the dead can be downright soul crushing, which will obviously make [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone you hate yourself forever]].

* TearJerker: The entire game can become a horrifying look at how a real nuclear war plays out. Above all seeing a town or city you know or live in on the main screen disappear in a flash of light and reading the tally of the dead can be downright soul crushing, which will obviously make [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone you hate yourself forever]].
* TierInducedScrappy: Whoever plays Europe, as Europe's population centers are close together (making it easier to defend) and many ballistic missile flights fly over European airspace so European anti-air often knocks down missiles that aren't even targeting it.
** In addition, ''no one wants to play Europe'', because with its small size enabling enemy radars and fighters to scout everything, anti-air shooting down everything in the air instead of just the missiles that are targeted on European cities, and with population centers so close together, Europe can and most likely will be overwhelmed relatively early in the game. It does not help that Europe is surrounded on three sides by water, making [=SLBMs=] devastating.

* TheScrappy[=/=]TierInducedScrappy: Whoever plays Europe, as Europe's population centers are close together (making it easier to defend) and many ballistic missile flights fly over European airspace so European anti-air often knocks down missiles that aren't even targeting it.

* TearJerker: The entire game can become a horrifying look at how a real nuclear war plays out. Above all seeing a town or city you grew up or live in on the main screen disappear in a flash of light and reading the tally of the dead can be downright soul crushing, which will obviously make [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone you hate yourself forever]].

* TearJerker: The entire game can become a horrifying look at how a real nuclear war plays out. Above all seeing a town or city you grew up in on the main screen disappear in a flash of light and reading the tally of the dead can be downright soul crushing, which will obviously make [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone you hate yourself forever]].

* GameBreakingBug: Although still for sale, the Mac version is hideously broken, crashes on launch and will not authenticate with Steam servers.

* TearJerker: The entire game can become a horrifying look at how a real nuclear war plays out. Above all seeing a town or city you grew up in on the main screen disappear in a flash of light and reading the tally of the dead can be downright soul crushing.
* TheScrappy: Whoever plays Europe, as Europe's population centers are close together (making it easier to defend) and many ballistic missile flights fly over European airspace so European anti-air often knocks down missiles that aren't even targeting it.

* {{Game Breaking Bugs}}: Although still for sale, the Mac version is hideously broken, crashes on launch and will not authenticate with Steam servers.

* HellIsThatNoise: The Launch Detected sound is appropriately sinister for the last noise you might ever hear.
** Many of the ambient sounds in general; the choked sobbing of a woman, the ragged coughing, the distorted Lord's prayer, the cries of lost souls ...
** Also if you zoom in on a heavily bombed area, you get a low bass note rumbling as the bombs hit.

* HellIsThatNoise: The Launch Detected Sound is appropriately sinister for the last noise you might ever hear.

** Also if you zoom in on a heavily bombed area, you get a low bass note rumbling as the bombs hit. Doubles as FridgeBrilliance.

* FridgeHorror: Sure! Let's play a fun game about nuking the world! However, the longer you play, the more likely you are to realize that the game was once ''deadly serious'', not even 25 years ago. The soundtrack helps.

* CompleteMonster: '''YOU.''' You're nuking the planet to a radioactive hellhole.

* TearJerker

** In addition, ''no one wants to play Europe'', because with anti-air shooting down everything in the air instead of just the missiles that are targeted on European cities, and with population centers so close together, Europe can and most likely will be overwhelmed relatively early in the game. It does not help that Europe is surrounded on three sides by water, making [=SLBMs=] devastating.

* CompleteMonster: '''YOU.'' You're nuking the planet to a radioactive hellhole.

* TheScrappy: Whoever plays Europe, as Europe's population centers are close together (making it easier to defend) and many ballistic missile flights fly over European airspace so European anti-air often knocks down missiles that aren't even targeting it.

!!Subjective tropes in this work:

* Europe, [[YourMileageMayVary for some]]. This is because Europe's major cities are clustered together, in comparison with another continents, whose cities are in more sparse placements. This allows an european player to cover all of his cities with very little units. In fact, this is mentioned ''ingame''; near to the "Random Continents" option you can read the description "This prevents arguments over who gets Europe"
** An alliance between Europe and Russia only makes this worse as Russia's population centers and closely clustered together with Europe's, allowing overlap of defences between the two - making the alliance nearly impeneterable so long as it holds (breaking the alliance usually ends catastrophically).