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The book opens with a cheesy fiction prelude (no, it's actually called 'Cheesy Fiction Prelude' in the contents) where the main Russian hero saves the main American hero and they get in a joshing argument, which comes to blows not over ideology, but on the merits of vodka over beer. That pretty much sets the tone from there.
Section I - Roleplaying Concepts explains what the book is about. "In a nutshell, this book provides pregenerated characters with common histories and themes and establishes some possible relationships between them. The goal is to provide a quick and easy springboard for roleplaying." This is why the book focuses on "Flag Heroes" from the Cold War, because the built-in political conflict provides such a springboard (as does the chance to speak in regional accents). As for why Russia would still have "flag" heroes wearing Soviet regalia, this is explained as a lack of funding on Russia's part leading to the second-hand use of old costumes and uniforms, along with a certain reactionary nationalism in some sections of the government. And the book points out that Russia continues to flex its muscles against its neighbors; as of November 2007, when the book was written, NATO fighters had to head off Russian warplanes in Norwegian airspace at least four times that year.
This is all rather simplistic, but it is designed very much as an introduction to roleplaying. So that raises the question, why would you NEED a primer on how to roleplay in a roleplaying game? On this subject, the book asks, "how much roleplaying is there in your roleplaying game?" In many campaigns, there really isn't much of it between combats, which is even more problematic in a superhero game because it is possible to have so many variable origins, which can result in character backgrounds that don't really intersect. This is another reason the book stresses use of its pregenerated characters, which are designed with a certain unity of theme.
To this end of encouraging roleplaying, the book makes a few definitions of terms: A "Roleplaying Scenario" is "a predefined framework from [sic] impromptu character acting." These are defined in clear categories like Love Interest (self-explanatory), Buddy Movie (think Lethal Weapon or Rush Hour) and a variant on Buddy Movie called "Old and Busted vs. New Hotness." Each of these has certain Complications; for instance the Love Interest may have the "Not in a million years!" complication if both parties are attracted to each other but one objects to a relationship on moral grounds, say one party is married to a third person (which is of course a sort of Love Triangle). Generally the book recommends setting aside at least 5 minutes for Roleplaying Scenarios after every battle, given that the ratio of combat to roleplay in a superhero RPG is still going to be pretty high.
The book also points out that story arcs for a Roleplaying Scenario aren't really necessary, but for the sake of keeping things straight it helps if there's a beginning, middle and end. In the case of the Buddy Movie, for instance, the beginning is where the two opposites clash, and the middle might escalate to a slugfest between characters. The end will usually be either the two parties making a long-term bond (like most buddy movies) OR the rivalry turning into deep hatred, which may result in one of the ostensible "heroes" trying to kill the other and turning villain. The book presents some options for mixing things up. For instance, the players can agree to just roleplay the results of combat, which in M&M rules allows the GM to award hero points for proper genre playing. In most cases if a slugfest goes overlong the GM can stage a "Reconciliation Moment" in which the other PCs can point out the impending threat of the common enemy. For roleplaying purposes, players can also (with GM permission) throw in "Plot Twists" to advance the scenario- for instance if the game has a Love Interest story between an American heroine and Russian hero, the American PC can tearfully announce that she has to break off the relationship because she was under orders to spy on the Russian, and the guilt is getting too much to bear.
Section II - The Characters lists the cast of characters and explains how to get the opposing sides together. The book presents an overall command of the United Nations Meta Security Force (UNMSF) whose primary constituents are a Russian team called the People's Revolution and a NATO team called the Freedom Alliance (which is all Americans except for a token Norwegian and an optional British veteran hero). The characters are all PL 10 and appropriate for use as M&M starting PCs. Each is listed with a "Roleplaying Shtick" similar to Motivation in DC HEROES (like The Reluctant Hero, The Firebrand, etc.) In addition to being mostly "flag" heroes, the two teams have rather strong parallels: Each is led by an unaging veteran of World War II who is patriotic but wearying of political correctness. Thus each team also has a government-approved military hothead who is being geared to take over the leader's position (setting up the Old and Busted vs. New Hotness scenario). There is a gender mix in each group, so that the Buddy Movie can mix into the Love Interest scenario. Also, each of the teams has a magical-origin character (a Siberian and the Norwegian) but since neither government is very keen on magic, they're both obliged to keep the true origin of their abilities secret. This is an element that ties into the adventure scenario that follows.
Scenario III - Mini-Adventure is the adventure module that applies the elements discussed in the first two chapters. The two superpowers send their teams in for their seasonal UNMSF missions and after the initial Buddy Movie tropes are set up, the adventure begins and events pile on to reveal a plot that threatens to bring the two powers to war (thus, 'DEFCON 1') so that a Fourth Reich regime can pick up the pieces. Unlike Section II, the adventure is actually very light on rules mechanics and refers frequently to the M&M2 rulebook- for instance Nachtjager (the Nazi mastermind on the cover who looks WAY too much like Dr. Doom) is simply described as the Armored Megalomaniac from page 212, add Flight 5.
SUMMARY
DEFCON 1 is only average in terms of its graphics and layout, but I think it deserves a higher recommendation than the number grades alone would indicate. If nothing else, it's a fun read. Moreover, its intent is rather specialized compared to the average RPG sourcebook in that it attempts to start groups toward more active roleplaying in games, and insofar as the book itself is entertaining in its concepts, it succeeds in that purpose.
Style: 3
DEFCON 1 has a somewhat amateur style/production, but that in combination with its use of pop-culture tropes adds to its charm.
Substance: 3
The book does a good job in explaining its use of the US-Soviet conflict as a springboard to a scenario that encourages roleplaying drama.
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