TV series about video games usually are not very good, and if it becomes a movie adaptation, oh boy are you in for a treat. So when defiance was announced to be launching along side a TV series and that the game world will have effects on the way the TV series plays out sounded, well It sounded like a mix of a choose your own adventure book, and a tv show based on a video game, which is not very good, but could be amazing.
Of course the TV series is a way off, and won’t be aired for a few weeks as of yet,so right now the game will have to try and stand on its own, which isn’t hard when you consider the game is basically a 3rd person borderlands in a fallout setting. Well sort of like that anyway.
The humans have met an alien force who were at war on earth, which is now in ruins and the humans and the are working together to help rebuild the world and to at least attempt some kind of harmony, of course there are those who don’t want this to happen, including mutated humans from small to massive and other humans or voltan trying to kill the other side even after the war had ended.
Character classes determine what weapons you start with, be it assault rifle, sniper rifle or any of the other weapons, but this will not stop you from using any weapon, it just gives you different proficiencies to start off with, or at least positive, for example the sniper class will have a negative number in close range weapons such as shotguns.
You play as an Arch hunter, something which isn’t really explained to you at the start of the game, you start off in a ship which who I think is supposed to be the two main stars of the TV show, when your ship takes fire and crash lands. Your escape pod is found by a passing Voltan who gives you some tips and leaves you to gather yourself up. Your aided by some form of AI who can take the form of a female around you using some implants in your head, she usually just acts as a way marker for important areas though.
Though the game from this point is just your standard MMO, you have your quests which is usually collect this, and kill X of that, nothing different as ever all MMO’s usually use the same Quest structure like this. There are little sub missions scattered around that you can find such as helping revive some injured people, or killing a few extra tough mutants. Of course it doesn’t offer anything new or ground breaking, just your normal set of quests that old MMO’s players have done repeatedly too many times to count.
There is also you basic skill tree, though its been given a redesign and is now called your EGO, you can choose one started skill and then will be able to choose skills that compliment its play style. For example if you choose stealth you can get a skill that increases damage against enemies out of combat.
Graphically the game manages to set the scene very well, being a wasteland bland colours have been used, but that doesn’t stop the world from being interesting, random enemies will be spawning around or patrolling giving you plenty to test your weapons on, or other players rolling around in vehicles or running from point to point, though as most mmo’s on higher settings in highly populated areas the game will start to chug on higher settings even with high end graphics cards, but this should be expected, as anyone who remembers main cities from WoW, from org to dalaran will remember the harsh strain populated areas put on your cards.
There are problems though apart from the expected disconnects and lag at launch, these have mostly been fixed quickly and promptly by Trion. Other problems though is mainly an AI issue, friendly units will just stand there under fire and randomly roll dive away, usually behind some cover which they will proceed to shoot. Enemies the same, making most an easy kill due to this. There is also no cover mechanic which when up against more elite mutants it becomes boring running around buildings waiting for him to pop round to take a pot shot and then run away again. These problems mostly disappear in groups as there doesn’t seem to be any form of agro apart from who’s currently shooting them. Time it right and the mutant won’t be able to fire back as it switches targets between two or more players.
Its nice to see a MMO that is ambitious and not just a WoW clone like 99% of other games, Trion tried to improve the formula once with Rift, and in some opinions managed to build on what made WoW so popular very well, but time will tell to see if Defiance can make a larger dent in the MMO community.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
You must be logged in to post a comment.