REMEMBER to
BECOME a
FAN by
LIKING our
FACEBOOK page:
Our Honest View
While the PC gamers of the world have been enjoying MMO’s for a good
long time now, console gamers have mostly been left out, with the few
exception’s being Phantasy Star Online, Final Fantasy XI, and Everquest
Online Adventures and of course DC Universe Online. While those have some good series behind them, none
of those three were really any good.
Now along comes Trion games and
their upcoming release Defiance.
Now many people are confused as
to what Defiance is. Defiance is a massively multiplayer online (MMO)
third person shooter, and also a TV series. One of the wrong assumptions
out there is that you need to experience one to fully enjoy the other.
This is not true.
Both games take place at the same time, the year 2046
on Earth, but the TV show is set in St. Louis while the MMO is set in
San Francisco. There will be crossovers between the show and the game,
but while you might understand more if you watch the show and play the
game, doing both is in no way required to fully enjoy either.
While
many games have branched out into other forms of media, Defiance is the
first to have crossovers to this extent. There are two characters that
you run into early on in the game. When they leave the game they are
driving away in a car, the first episode opens with those same two
characters driving with the same clothes on and in the exact same
vehicle. Another example is a character might be a villain on the show,
leave the show and redeem themselves in the game, and come back to the
show a changed person.
One of the cool things that has been mentioned as
a possibility is that some of the top ranked players in the world might
see their characters walking around in the background of the show.
Also, one of the pesky enemies in the game, known as hellbugs, are
prominently featured in an episode.
It somewhat hard to get a good
grip on how good the game is going to be, even after playing the beta.
There are several systems that aren’t fully in place, most notably the
dialogue and sound effects. At one point I was playing and when this
huge enemy bursts through a door, it basically said this sound effect is
not in place yet: bang!
Graphics wise, like virtually all MMO’s,
it will in no way be considered a visual marvel. It’s probably end up
being strictly decent, but once again, since this is only the beta, not
all of the finishing touches are in place. The last coat of polish has
yet to be applied.
When you create your character, as of right now
you can pick between male and female humans or voltans. Once you make
that decision you can customize the look further, and then you your
class. There are four classes to pick form, which are essentially
soldier, sniper, etc.
Gameplay wise it is sort of like a cross
between Borderlands and World of Warcraft. You are told to go somewhere
to get a quest, it tells you what your rewards will be for completing
the mission, and off you go. The actual action feels a little like a
shooting gallery at this point. In the various battles that I got into, I
never got that sweaty palmed intensity. It was never bad; it just
lacked a certain intensity found in other blockbuster shooters. All the
missions can be done on your own or with friends… or complete strangers
for that matters. I did several missions alone, but there were also
several missions where another player happened to be doing it at the
same time and we teamed up. Clan support is included so if you want to
team up with a bunch of your friends, it’s not a problem.
On the
disappointing side, Defiance will not be cross platform.
By that I mean
PS3 players won’t be playing with Xbox360 players, and neither of them
will be playing with PC players. If you want to play this game with your
friends, find out what system they are getting it for first.
Once the game launches, you will be able to buy a season pass, which includes the first five DLC’s, for forty dollars.
Our
Honest View gives Defiance a 3.5 out of 5. Defiance is a game that
shows potential. If Trion polishes it up and tightens up a few things,
it has a chance to be a very good game and have it’s rating moved up to a
4.5 out of 5. It seems that current generation gamers may finally be
able to join the PC playing brethren in the quality MMO world. Wait
until the game comes out for our full review of the game.
 |
| By: Adam Zimmerman |
|
REMEMBER to
BECOME a
FAN by
LIKING our
FACEBOOK page:
Our Honest View
All rights reserved by 
