For PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3
The game’s story takes place two weeks before the TV show’s first episode with plans to have the show affect the game as time goes on and vice-versa.
A combination of a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game and a third person shooter, Defiance tries to cater to the spirit of both but has a hard time being either with bad shooting mechanics and an unpolished multiplayer experience.
The shooting mechanics are imprecise and taking cover is detrimental. When ducking behind chest high walls, I would throw a grenade and it would bounce off the wall right in front of my character land behind her.
Defiance gives you the choice of basic guns like pistols, shotguns and sniper rifles, but you’re best set with the shotgun and its wide range since enemies seemingly take damage at random.
I was constantly emptying entire clips into an enemy unit and not doing any damage whatsoever.
The multiplayer aspects are less frustrating
Communication feels like an afterthought and other players tend to play alone, but it’s hard to blame them for not cooperating when the game runs like a single player game.
Missions are repetitive, but kept simple with “shoot this” and “press this button to activate that” as its only objectives.
The real problem for the game is its inability to teach the player. Once a player finishes the first three missions, it lets them loose on a world filled with unexplained markers, zones and dots.
The game does nothing to explain how to progress the story or how to level up unless you search through the menus and find the encyclopedic in-game manual.
Defiance tries something new but doesn’t do anything well and fails at teaching the player anything about the game. Shooting is lackluster, and for being an MMO, it plays like a single player game. There are much better shooting games and better MMOs out there.
If Defiance gets patches and updates, it could become a better game, but as is, I suggest you spend your money elsewhere.
