Scott Watson reviews Defiance 2050…
I remember watching and thoroughly enjoying the first season of Defiance when the SyFy Channel first introduced us to this newly terra-formed future Earth and its mix of humans and alien refugees thrown together into a melting pot of cultures, races and conflict. Released at the same time and aiming to provide a convergence of gaming and television, Trion World released an action MMO of the same name which hardly set the heather on fire, but apparently did enough for them to repackage and re-release it as an HD remaster of sorts.
It’s been over five years since Defiance first appeared, and the gaming world has changed hugely in that time, as has our own television watching habits. Defiance 2050, as it’s now named, has seen Trion streamline some of the in-game systems to provide the player with a better experience, but in all honesty you would be hard pushed to see any great differences if you put the original and 2050 side by side.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7OQk2Kdd3U
With a third person, over the shoulder camera view, the game draws parallels with the likes of the Borderlands series, and in more recent years Destiny but in looks against both and even considering the remastering of Borderlands 2 and its prequel, it still looks very much like something that would have been seen in the latter years of the original Xbox, let alone the Xbox 360. The game has not aged well on that front.
Gameplay wise, Defiance 2050 is a perfectly serviceable and playable shooter that at times can feel a bit floaty, and a little bit glitchy in places with other online players popping in and out along with enemies seemingly appearing out of thin air (along with your quad bikes that magical appear at your summoning). The weapons too don’t seem to carry much weight when fired, and all seems to lack a little bit of real heft to them.
Beyond your loadout of grenades, primary and secondary weapons, and shields within the at times confusing user menu, you also find your upgradeable skill trees that these days we’re all very familiar with. It’s one thing that Trion have refined from the original with four specialist skill-sets of Assault, Assassin, Guardian and Medic available during your character creation. Additional specialism become available as premium perks as you progress through the game which should give you plenty scope should you choose to specialise.
There’s the basic premise of a storyline behind the game, but it essentially boils down to your character being sent on a treasure hunt for the biggest and baddest weapons and armour out in what was once the San Francisco bay area. Changed beyond recognition, the game area is more akin to an alien landscape and is a fair size as well. Your Ark Hunter is one of many in the world that at times get brought together when large scale public events (much larger than any gatherings you would see in Destiny 2) arrive. It can be fairly interesting to see everyone on the map suddenly swarm into a single public event but it can seem like a real free for all at times.
Outside of these public events though, you’ll go through missions, quests and side-missions you’ll have encountered a million times before in a million other similar games and it all eventually becomes a bit dull and repetitive.
I had hoped to have seen a marked difference from the game I originally played all those years back, but sadly a quick lick of paint won’t really cut it when there’s so much choice in the gaming world, even if the game is free to play.
Pros:
+ It’s free to play
+ public events are entertaining free for alls
Cons:
– has not aged well at all
– disappointing re-master hasn’t really improved the game
– gameplay gets stale very quickly
Rating: 5/10
Reviewed on Xbox One
Scott Watson
