Defiance review roundup

**James** · 18-04-2013, 12:27 PM

Defiance review roundup

Is Trion Worlds’ new transmedia sci-fi shooter worth picking up?

**diabolus** · 18-04-2013, 02:52 PM

Gamespot: 6.5/10

“Defiance is the B movie of massively multiplayer games: rickety and unrefined, yet a good time all the same.”

I think that sums it up nicely. It's fun, but man, the lack of MMO polish is getting to me. So you are kinda forced to judge this game as a single player game with coop features. All the MMO elements are there, but it's just implemented very poorly and clearly as an afterthought. I believe the multiplatform thing, launching an MMO on both PC and Consoles has lead to compromises both on console and pc , and now we get a totally mediocre offering . If it was designed as a 3rd person shooter, we probably would have gotten mass effect like features like cover system/sticking to walls. If it was designed as a more pure MMO we would have gotten a functional chat/trade/economy/grouping system. So instead we get something of both, but without any of the parts that makes either of those great.

If Defiance was designed for the PC from the start, it could have been so much better, i mean these devs created Rift, they got the 3rd person shooting thing right in Defiance (a rare thing in MMOs) and then dropped the ball on everything that worked in Rift. All because it need to be on console /sigh.

At least it doesn't have a sub and the cash shop is primarily cosmetics, so the purchase is similar to buying GuildWars 2. Can play it whenever i want. I feel i got my money's worth though, i've finished $60 games much faster with less satisfaction than Defiance.

Either way, i still enjoy the game, so it's not a bad game, it's just not one i feel will be lasting a very long time , unless they make some serious changes to the MMO part of the game. These changes can luckily happen, unlike a single player game, but whether Trion will have the $$$ and time for this, remains to be seen.

It definitely helps that i also get to watch the tv series which slots in nicely with the game.

**DurbanMonkey** · 19-04-2013, 08:53 AM

Originally Posted by diabolus

I think that sums it up nicely. It's fun, but man, the lack of MMO polish is getting to me. So you are kinda forced to judge this game as a single player game with coop features. All the MMO elements are there, but it's just implemented very poorly and clearly as an afterthought. I believe the multiplatform thing, launching an MMO on both PC and Consoles has lead to compromises both on console and pc , and now we get a totally mediocre offering . If it was designed as a 3rd person shooter, we probably would have gotten mass effect like features like cover system/sticking to walls. If it was designed as a more pure MMO we would have gotten a functional chat/trade/economy/grouping system. So instead we get something of both, but without any of the parts that makes either of those great.

If Defiance was designed for the PC from the start, it could have been so much better, i mean these devs created Rift, they got the 3rd person shooting thing right in Defiance (a rare thing in MMOs) and then dropped the ball on everything that worked in Rift. All because it need to be on console /sigh.

At least it doesn't have a sub and the cash shop is primarily cosmetics, so the purchase is similar to buying GuildWars 2. Can play it whenever i want. I feel i got my money's worth though, i've finished $60 games much faster with less satisfaction than Defiance.

Either way, i still enjoy the game, so it's not a bad game, it's just not one i feel will be lasting a very long time , unless they make some serious changes to the MMO part of the game. These changes can luckily happen, unlike a single player game, but whether Trion will have the $$$ and time for this, remains to be seen.

It definitely helps that i also get to watch the tv series which slots in nicely with the game.

thank you for your time for your write up. I was very hesitant to try this just because I am sick and tired of dropping hard earned money on crap games. i'll wait a while to see if this game grows into something bigger.

**diabolus** · 19-04-2013, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by DurbanMonkey

thank you for your time for your write up. I was very hesitant to try this just because I am sick and tired of dropping hard earned money on crap games. i'll wait a while to see if this game grows into something bigger.

I'd say wait for a special, there's already a few $40 specials floating around. The only thing that you will miss with waiting is having players running around with you in the open world. I expect the amount of players to drop rather than increase, unless the tv show seriously take off. Reason i'm saying this is, this is kinda like a Skyrim or Borderlands situation where there's a main story and once you finish it, you will most likely lose motivation to continue playing. Obviously the whole idea of this game is to have the story continue with the show, but with the rate players consume content, it will most likely not expand as fast and with enough content to keep players playing constantly.

However, since no one can actually communicate or chat properly in the game, you won't exactly miss them if they're not there. It certainly does helps having players with you on missions and arkfalls , but ultimately it's like playing Grand Theft Auto and seeing other players drive around but not being able to talk to them. Sometimes they are on the same mission you're on and things are nice and easy, but even then you don't generally interact with each other.

**Necuno** · 19-04-2013, 08:22 PM

Patch $#!@$#! error
Patch $#!@$#! error
Patch $#!@$#! error

**Graal** · 19-04-2013, 10:27 PM