My Thoughts on Defiance

It's been almost two months since "Defiance" (the game) launched. In that time, I've spent a few dozen hours with it and I've also had the chance to see the first six episodes of the corresponding TV series.

While I maintain that many of the positive aspects I experienced during my time with the beta are still valid, I find myself significantly less enthusiastic about the game two months into it than I'd hoped.

Some might say that any game that can be played and enjoyed for two months is an inherently-good product and I agree with that in general. The issue I take with "Defiance" is that it presents itself as a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game, which sets certain expectations that it simply does not meet.

The moment-to-moment action of 'Defiance' is still one of its best attributes.

In my time with the game, I've had a lot of fun. I've also been frustrated on occasion by technical and design issues that have hampered that fun often enough to be noteworthy. Some of those issues were created and fixed within that span of time, but others persist.

I recently summed this up in the form of three suggestions to the game's developer, which I think bear repeating here with a bit of editing:


#1 - Get rid of mandatory solo missions. - By far, these are the worst thing in the game right now. It's tremendously unsatisfying to be running around with friends, progressing and having a good time, only to encounter one of the solo instances and be forced to break up the group while everyone slogs their way through at their own pace. There is absolutely no valid reason why groups should not be allowed to complete that content together. To be clear, I have no problem with the content being solo-able but the idea that the people I'm grouped with can't follow me through the occasional door for some arbitrary reason is vexing to say the least.

#2 - Add some mechanical variety. - Running around and shooting stuff is fun and it's pretty well done in "Defiance" but it's a real shame that every single mission in the game boils down to some combination of A) shooting stuff, B) picking stuff up, or C) interacting with something by holding "e" for a few seconds. If this game has any shot at longevity, main and side mission designs and the gameplay mechanics present during them need to be greatly expanded versus what's currently available. And don't just throw a bunch of stuff at the wall to see what sticks. If you're going to add some new mechanics, make damn sure that they're compelling.

#3 - Streamline and Polish everything. - In general, the whole user interface could use some refinement and automation. For example, If I'm following a group member and they go into a phased area, I should not have to stop and plow through a series of clunky menus to join their phase. It should just happen or I should be prompted to join them with a single key/button. If I pick up new items or receive new in-game rewards, or if anything of importance happens, it shouldn't just be a pop-up that disappears in a couple seconds. There should be an event log (either tucked into a corner of the screen or a key/button away) that lets me see that information in a nicely-formatted, chronological summary of my current play session.

Playing 'Defiance' with friends is a blast until those periodic missions
where the game forces you to split up for no good reason.

I want to make it clear that I am not implying that "Defiance" is a bad game or that the issues I have with it prevent it from being enjoyed to a reasonable extent. The problem with "Defiance" is that it could be so much better than it is with an amount of effort that's insignificant compared to what's already been put into it.

It's that shortfall, that perception that it doesn't quite live up to its potential that really stings. While it's impossible for me to know for sure, it would seem that the strict deadline imposed by launching it to coincide with the premiere of the TV show is at the root of the game's shortcomings.

Ironically, it may well be the show that ends up keeping the game relevant long term. While not a masterpiece, I've found "Defiance" (the show) to be quite entertaining and engaging thus far. It's been a bit of a slow burn but the past few episodes in particular have really started to go in some interesting directions and pay off many of the setups established in their predecessors.

It would seem that I'm not alone in my affection for the show as it has been getting solid ratings and was recently picked up for a second season.

In a lot of ways, my growing interest in the show and its characters has compelled me to return to the game in a way that almost certainly would not have happened without the tie-in. The recent Rynn-focused story arc that was added to the game to follow up on the events from episode 5 of the show in particular did a lot to build on the crossover potential– despite it only taking about 30 minutes to complete and culminating in one of those damn single-player instances.

Irisa and Nolan are great characters that are set up well in the game
but really come into their own and shine as the show unfolds.

All things considered, I like "Defiance." At the moment, I like the show a bit more than the game but I'm also not sorry that I bought and played it. I'm especially looking forward to the five DLC packs that are scheduled to include new free and premium content for the game between now and February.

Hopefully, between this post and my previous beta impressions, you have a good idea if "Defiance" is something you'd be interested in checking out but if you're still unsure, there's going to be a season one catch-up marathon of the show on SyFy Channel this Saturday. I'd recommend starting with that or being all 21st century and heading over to the Defiance web site to watch the first six episodes right now. :)

Defiance (via Steam)