Defiance

 PC
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 661 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 353 out of 661
  2. Mixed: 123 out of 661
  3. Negative: 185 out of 661
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  1. FrostyGreenacre
    Apr 19, 2013
    4
    This game sadly shoots itself in the foot.

    There are many good things in the gameplay of Defiance, and there are moments that have indeed been fun. However, each one of those is equaled or marred by some badly designed game mechanic or bug that either destroys player immersion or should have just outright been fixed during development. Pros. the shooting and dodging mechanics seem    This game sadly shoots itself in the foot.

    There are many good things in the gameplay of Defiance, and there are moments that have indeed been fun. However, each one of those is equaled or marred by some badly designed game mechanic or bug that either destroys player immersion or should have just outright been fixed during development.

    Pros. the shooting and dodging mechanics seem pretty well made, servers have very little lag, there's plenty to do across the world and you can have a lot of fun rushing to an objective in your vehicle with 20 other users down a deserted highway. This core element of the gameplay could make up for the following misgivings if the bugs were fixed, however the issues stay ever visible whilst the good gameplay is plagued with visual glitches. One thing I did like, however was that players didn't need to be in a team to do a mission together, if three players shared the same goal it didn't matter who took down an enemy or activated the 3 objectives, all three players got the quest with no queueing.

    Cons: very sketchy tutorial. very little is explained in the tutorial. the tutorial also takes place in a "danger zone" and whilst reading the descriptions of the 3 paragraph mission dialogues you can be attacked, damaged and presumably killed without being able to defend yourself. There is no tutorial on how to perform social interactions, in fact, I've seen the MMO in no way encourage social interaction between players whatsoever. The storyline is only so-so, however this is true with many MMO games where you'll find yourself either skipping past the majority of quest dialogue or spending more time reading than fighting.

    bugs: this is where the game experience is truly ruined for me. the best game in the world can fail if it's just unplayable (diablo 3, simcity etc.) we can often look past game mechanics we don't agree with so long as they're running as they supposed to. However with my first 4 hours of playing Defiance I encountered: random invisible structures in the wilderness that would stop you driving or running (note, you could go around these small items, they are not barriers, just textureless objects) the game also bugs out when you stand on some of the bridges in the first city area you play in. standing on them with the camera at a certain angle with make all 3D models disappear. to make things worse this includes NPC enemies. You can be getting shot whilst not being able to see your character, the area you're stood on or the enemies who are shooting. particularly frustrating when your mission objective is on that bridge. Some of the terrain has been added into the landscape awkwardly as well, leaving gaps between the landscape and the items themselves so you can see that they aren't solid, very bad for game immersion. I've also been driving down a highway when I saw a "random encounter" quest where enemies were kidknapping some innocent NPCs, except all of the cars added into the encounter were floated a good 7ft above the road...

    overall I'd say that this game WOULD be fun if if worked properly. Heck, even outright addictive. However there are many problems that need to be addressed before it's properly playable. unfortunately for me they already have my money now, so I can only motivate them to fix these by letting everybody else know about the issues before they get your money too.    … Expand
  2. Hanff
    Apr 3, 2013
    3
    Mediocre-at-best shooter with too many glaring flaws to keep a player engaged. The potential was there, but the execution was halfhearted: terrible voice acting, no real character customization to speak of, controls that are so far from intuitive it's almost a joke, and the same grindy quests over and over. Not to mention the lack of a viable chat system.

    There are worse ways to kill an    Mediocre-at-best shooter with too many glaring flaws to keep a player engaged. The potential was there, but the execution was halfhearted: terrible voice acting, no real character customization to speak of, controls that are so far from intuitive it's almost a joke, and the same grindy quests over and over. Not to mention the lack of a viable chat system.

    There are worse ways to kill an hour here and there, but not at this price.    … Expand
  3. The_Ommadawn
    Apr 3, 2013
    4
    I pre-ordered after watching some videos online. I wondered why there were no reviews beforehand and now I know why. It's total poo and offers nothing new. I LOVED Rift and had confidence in the Dev, but this is a mess of a game. The AI is a joke, the landscapes are boring (little variety), the gear and looting is confusing, entering/exiting vehicles is hit and miss, the controls (PC)I pre-ordered after watching some videos online. I wondered why there were no reviews beforehand and now I know why. It's total poo and offers nothing new. I LOVED Rift and had confidence in the Dev, but this is a mess of a game. The AI is a joke, the landscapes are boring (little variety), the gear and looting is confusing, entering/exiting vehicles is hit and miss, the controls (PC) are awful, the avatars all look identical, etc. I'm not drawn towards this game at all. I played for a few hours and became bored quickly. The RPG element is clearly not there. It's a generic MMO shooter with little else on offer. I wish I could roll back my life a day and buy Bioshock Infinite instead. Shame on you Trion.… Expand
  4. Lighterfluid
    Apr 2, 2013
    3
    This game may look like a MMO Borderlands, but do not be fooled. Defiance offers very little when it comes to the MMO spectrum. I had so many issues with this game i dont even know where to begin.

    From the start you are treated with some terrible visuals and pretty lame voice acting. Then comes the quests, which are run here do that. The game wasnt engaging or gripping in the least.    This game may look like a MMO Borderlands, but do not be fooled. Defiance offers very little when it comes to the MMO spectrum. I had so many issues with this game i dont even know where to begin.

    From the start you are treated with some terrible visuals and pretty lame voice acting. Then comes the quests, which are run here do that. The game wasnt engaging or gripping in the least.

    If you are looking for a story, then maybe just maybe you might find enjoyment in this game. If your looking for good game play features on the other hand i wouldn't even give this a second look. Truelly a let down.

    Over all just another MMO to brush under the table    … Expand
  5. Woopya
    Apr 5, 2013
    1
    I dare say all the extremely positive reviews are people who reviewed the game within hours of seeing it. I say this because the game starts off with at least something of a fresh feeling, it appears to be different and people got excited. But, since release the ratings have been spiraling downward for a reason. This game gets very old, very fast. It is extremely linear and simplistic.I dare say all the extremely positive reviews are people who reviewed the game within hours of seeing it. I say this because the game starts off with at least something of a fresh feeling, it appears to be different and people got excited. But, since release the ratings have been spiraling downward for a reason. This game gets very old, very fast. It is extremely linear and simplistic. The lack of tab targeting is refreshing, because it at least makes you feel as tho your doing more yourself than most linear MMOs. But this game was clearly made as an aside to the TV show. On it's own, without the TV show to accompany it, this game would be free to play or failed in a month or 2.… Expand
  6. Ethasa
    Apr 3, 2013
    2
    While a few new concepts have been added to the gaming world, this game is not much to look at if one looks past the few shallow reviews left here by passersby. Let's start from the beginning, as i played rift before this game, and thoroughly enjoyed it's concepts and content, i expected something above average for this game, but that is not what i received upon being invited to the Alpha.While a few new concepts have been added to the gaming world, this game is not much to look at if one looks past the few shallow reviews left here by passersby. Let's start from the beginning, as i played rift before this game, and thoroughly enjoyed it's concepts and content, i expected something above average for this game, but that is not what i received upon being invited to the Alpha. Yet, then i went one to try to help with solving bugs and giving suggestions content wise, and that all went unanswered due to lack of fixes or simple neglect of the Alpha community, which made apparent that the dev has really given up or simply put down the project, and for this reason, i believe the game has no real value in terms of maturing over time, as the crew seems to have a different agenda then that of rift. It also seemed to be a rushed product, due to it's lack graphic wise and content wise, as the voice acting seemed so rushed and placed that it literally sounds if they almost didn't even do it in studio, and that's not even the worst audio, as the charger was changed multiple times due to the quality of recordings they received from dodge, which also shows how much they were willing to give up to their preteen associated sponsors such as axe and etc.
    All this and i haven't even touched on the combat yet. As i said before, the game seemed rushed, and content wise shows so. The end game is non-existent, along with a viable progression system. Oh yes, i just remembered that, the progression system is linear, so no matter what level your weapon is, or what rarity (e.g. a green/uncommon, will be exactly the same as an orange/legendary, except for one little bonus effect that might or might not be what you need/want) they will be almost exactly the same, this amplified by the gimmicky perk tree that was constantly debuffed due to complaints of extremely unbalanced and unviable pvp that was dominated by rocket launching bunny hoppers (is still plagued by this if you must know), and is now so shallow that you feel as if you wasted that 10 hours getting +50 ego rating from some ridiculous broken "achievement" (which they call pursuits) that gave you them because you already ran so many congruent/exactly the same arkfalls that became so tedious you just had to force yourself to do something different. Also, if you want to say the arkfalls are akin to the rift system in rift, then your completely wrong. This "exciting" and "replayable" system has so little variance that, in alpha, people just plain stopped doing them, due to both their tediousness, and their lack of a legitimate award. Also, on a side note, if your hoping for an expansive vehicle system, their are only 7 variants of vehicles aside from colors, of which none are customizable at the least.
    Oh, and to further make this mess worse, the reason they don't give legitimate rewards to you is so that they can make you pay for that weapon you desperately want. For example, to even be able to get a legendary/orange weapon (extremely low chance that makes me want to cry due to their linear progression) you need to get a t4 lockbox that will cost 64 arkfall keys, and you will most likely only make 4 from a major, that will likely take anywhere from 15-45 minutes depending on how many people know what they are doing. This results in you needing to grind these arkfalls for around 8 hours to even get one, they will probably not even have what you want. So by using this 8 hour grind time obstacle, they made it possible to simply by them with your real hard earned money. Oh, and if you want one of the actually good looking outfits, you probably going to have to pay 10 dollars for that too, because you can't even earn them in game.
    And to top all this off, they have had months to fix that unintuitive UI they try to push on their PC gamers that resulted when they were too damn lazy to change it from the console counterparts of this game. In fact, the entire alpha gave up on the topic due to their lack of communication regarding the issue. Such issues were brought up several times, but always ignored, like most of the bugs.
    So all in all, i just wanted to save you from this worthless game that has reduced my respect for Trion Worlds 10 fold by telling how this rushed mess is lacking in every aspect, and that you should look farther than that fluff those positive reviews give you and see the cold hard truth about this game before you waste that coveted 60 dollars of yours.    … Expand
  7. AirRhino
    Sep 6, 2014
    1
    The game itself is decent. However TRION WORLDS continues to lie, and ignore its community.

    Thousands of ban reports go ignored. The hackers being reported even do so on the test realm right in front of the Dev team, and they simply ignore it.

    Beyond that there is the P2W cash shop. Once again they promised only cosmetic items, and once again they lied to us.
  8. Opetyr
    Jul 28, 2013
    1
    This game I played from the beginning and deserves a low rating. People who exploited the game we congratulated by the company for what they did. They promised things like what you do in the game will affect the show and the show will affect the game which they now say will happen later like Aliens:CM tricked people. They cannot fix issues that have plagued the game since the beginningThis game I played from the beginning and deserves a low rating. People who exploited the game we congratulated by the company for what they did. They promised things like what you do in the game will affect the show and the show will affect the game which they now say will happen later like Aliens:CM tricked people. They cannot fix issues that have plagued the game since the beginning and the DLC promised in the first month still hasn't shown up even though it is now almost 5 months later with no confirmed date of release. Hacks are many in this game since they used a 32bit security systems for systems that can use 64-bit hacks that the 32-bit could not see like gun damage. The game has been on sale so many times each month because they need to try and keep some sort of following. The game goes on sale for 20 dollars all the time. The PVP is unbalanced since a snipers line of sight is too small so people exploit it by coming into peoples range, shoot, and then run back 2 feet so they cannot be shot at themselves. Don't listen to the people that say it is great when at an extremely low level like 250 EGO since they haven't played past the starting area. I have played it through twice and the second time is quick because you can only do the main missions and all the secondary missions are not available. Not worth your time unless they do major fixes and apologize to people that were told lies.… Expand
  9. Enik
    Jul 22, 2013
    3
    You know why there's no demo of Defiance? Because if you do one quest, one arkfall and attach one mod to a gun, you've done EVERYTHING there is to do. Seriously. There's virtually no meaningful character progression, no real crafting, no real social component. It's a pseudo MMO for the Call of Duty dolts. I was bored after an hour.

    I gave it a 3 because the guns are kind of fun and the    You know why there's no demo of Defiance? Because if you do one quest, one arkfall and attach one mod to a gun, you've done EVERYTHING there is to do. Seriously. There's virtually no meaningful character progression, no real crafting, no real social component. It's a pseudo MMO for the Call of Duty dolts. I was bored after an hour.

    I gave it a 3 because the guns are kind of fun and the shooting mechanics are solid. But really, it's not an MMO.    … Expand
  10. TGAMCallahan
    Aug 4, 2013
    4
    However interesting the cameos and tie-ins from the TV series might be, there's one thing that simply cannot be denied about Defiance. It's boring. Your character is a borderline deaf-mute with no impact on the proceedings. The gameplay is 'acceptable,' but nothing else. The environments are decent, but lackluster in variety. The interactions with other characters is bland and meaningless.However interesting the cameos and tie-ins from the TV series might be, there's one thing that simply cannot be denied about Defiance. It's boring. Your character is a borderline deaf-mute with no impact on the proceedings. The gameplay is 'acceptable,' but nothing else. The environments are decent, but lackluster in variety. The interactions with other characters is bland and meaningless. The skill trees are dull, and leave much to be desired.

    I would not recommend this game to anyone, personally, but it is pretty, for what it's worth, and it does have a story to tell. It's just not really a story worth sitting through hours of boring quests, and brutal grinding to hear told in a stilted, off-the-cuff manner.

    4.1/10, overall negative. Better off watching the syfy/space series.    … Expand
  11. Traciatim
    May 28, 2013
    3
    Defiance is generic throw away console trash. Everything about it's design from the terrible control schemes, to lack of graphics customization, right down to the bite sized questing and ADD style action random action points scream console port. If you are looking for a PC shooter MMO, look elsewhere. Save this one for the $9.99 bargain bin.
  12. brokenhalo
    Apr 18, 2013
    2
    This mediocre FPS MMO is littered with glaring flaws and distractions from really integrating the social aspect of the game. The gear/looting and menus options just feel dated and clunky. Top that off with dull environments and super predictable AI and you have a game worth half it's current retail price at best. IMO wait for the price cut or steam deal before you blow money on this...
  13. dcade
    May 8, 2013
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. complete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crapcomplete crap… Expand
  14. Drewger
    May 23, 2013
    3
    Right now I don't recommend this game. Sure there is a lot of things to do, but good luck getting things done. There are so many bugs in the game that when you try and complete something, there is a good chance the game won't recognize it or an update will erase what you have accomplished. My level/ego rating has been pushed back several times because the 'fixes' have not fixed anything orRight now I don't recommend this game. Sure there is a lot of things to do, but good luck getting things done. There are so many bugs in the game that when you try and complete something, there is a good chance the game won't recognize it or an update will erase what you have accomplished. My level/ego rating has been pushed back several times because the 'fixes' have not fixed anything or has made Trion roll back the character's progression to before the fix. I am really getting tired of this. The game has great concepts, but horrible follow-thru. Weapons need multiple reloads before firing half of the time. One out of about seven times I get stuck in an instance. Certain weapon kills don't add up properly. Some achievements are not attainable because they game isn't finished. I did have fun playing the game, but now I feel like I am a tortoise with a carrot strapped to a stick on its shell. I feel like I am getting nowhere. I just hope this next month is better.… Expand
  15. cedekane
    Apr 25, 2013
    2
    The game is unpolished, buggy, gameplay is fun at times, but unimaginative. None of this kills the game. That is done by the repetition and a system that doesn't keep you wanting to flesh our your character. After 20 hours, you will have done anything there is to do in this world multiple times. That is pretty normal for an MMO, where defiance differs is its Loot/leveling system, whichThe game is unpolished, buggy, gameplay is fun at times, but unimaginative. None of this kills the game. That is done by the repetition and a system that doesn't keep you wanting to flesh our your character. After 20 hours, you will have done anything there is to do in this world multiple times. That is pretty normal for an MMO, where defiance differs is its Loot/leveling system, which is veryshallow and I'm hesitant to say it even has one. You can easily get to the end of the game with the same guns you had at the beginning, this is because the stats on a higher level weapon is exactly the same as that of a lower level weapon. In the end, you may be tempted like I was. I bought this game and wanted to love it. I have 20 hours logged(for many gamers 20 hours for a game like this is a laughable amount), before I saw this game for what it is, a rushed, shoddily put together money grab exploiting the first game of its kind. Save your money for now and wait it out, by the time the price goes down, maybe it will be a game of comparable quality to some other games out right now. As is, even if it were free, you could do better. To Trion and Syfy, you could of had a contender, instead its just a bum, which is what it is...… Expand
  16. Captiosus
    Jul 14, 2013
    4
    During development, Trion Worlds displayed gameplay trailers that showed a graphically rich and dynamic world with all kinds of alien flora, dynamic weather, and great cooperative gameplay. I was quite happy to be chosen to play in beta but what I found was disconcerting. The game was littered with bugs, contained a very sparse UI that was clearly designed for the console rather than PC,During development, Trion Worlds displayed gameplay trailers that showed a graphically rich and dynamic world with all kinds of alien flora, dynamic weather, and great cooperative gameplay. I was quite happy to be chosen to play in beta but what I found was disconcerting. The game was littered with bugs, contained a very sparse UI that was clearly designed for the console rather than PC, offered bare bones graphics, and a dearth of content. When the game went to retail, there was no way I could justify buying it even though Trion Worlds kept assuring us that everything was coming "soon".

    Fast forward to 11 July 2013 when Steam launched their Summer Sale and initially put Defiance on sale for 66% off. I purchased the game figuring Trion had three months of time under their belt with the game so, hopefully, they had addressed some of the issues. Unfortunately that is not the case.

    First, the bugs. Most of the bugs still exist. Most of the bugs you will encounter will be mild annoyance bugs, such as your vehicle randomly disappearing while you're still on it, or your character getting stuck in an animation. But there are also the game breaking bugs which prevent you from being able to finish quests (e.g. NPC or item not spawning, textures with necessary interactive items disappearing) and bugs that will prevent you from doing challenges (e.g. 'invincible' mobs who don't die during a timed "Rampage" mission that requires all mobs to be killed). Bugs still occur FREQUENTLY.

    Second, the UI and controls. Clearly ported to PC as an afterthought, the UI and control scheme still hasn't changed since beta. Vehicles control is some of the worst I've ever experienced when using keyboard/mouse, and on foot controls feel clunky and counterintuitive. Plug in a game controller, however, and it plays like a completely different game. I found some statements by Trion Worlds claiming they were "working on" the UI but so far they've done nothing. And since the UI is responsible for driving social interactions, the piss poor chat and social UI structures continue to make this a largely solo game where the only time you interact with other people is during Arkfall (world coop) events.

    Third, graphics. Forget the old trailers. I can play this game on ultra with the only FPS hiccups occurring during major Arkfall events which tend to pull in two dozen (or more) players in one limited space, yet the graphics look as though they are from circa 2007 Xbox 360 games. Poor textures, medium polygon counts, static lighting and shadows, terrible draw distance, and BARE MINIMUM graphics options available to the user. The world itself is typical post-apocalyptic fare, brown and gray, bland and uninspired.

    Finally, the lack of content. Let's get this out of the way right now: Quests fall into one of three categories; Fetch, Click, or Rescue/Protect. Every quest you do from the beginning to the end will be one of those three or a combination thereof. There aren't even any "kill X number of people" quests, which is probably for the best since enemies in the game can ALSO be broken down into exactly two types: Humanoids and Hellbugs. Although they've added episode based quests (the TV show tie-ins), after about 10 hours, you'll realize that you're doing the exact same thing and that the only thing you have to look forward to is doing the exact same thing.

    "But Cap," you'll say, "ALL MMOs have repetition." To which I will respond that you are absolutely correct. However, unlike most MMOs, Defiance really offers you little challenge and little hook to break the monotony. For example, in classic MMOs where you earn X amount of XP and learn new skill "Y", getting a new skill offsets the monotony of doing the same thing you've already done by giving you something new to add. In other words, if you play a mage and you get a blizzard spell, you don't care that you're marching off to kill another 50 humanoids because now you get to use this awesome new blizzard. You don't get that break from monotony in Defiance because what you do in your first hour and what you do in your 200th hour is the same: point and shoot. There's no need for strategy or theorycrafting and your EGO AI companion holds your hand from start to finish. Loot and passive skills can only carry a game so far.

    Anyone who tells you the story carries the game is lying because after the first cutscene you're left to fend for yourself. You're sent off to the shooting gallery with very little info and the most story you get is from hidden audio logs. Even if you watch the show, often times what you do in game makes little sense. PvP is, by Trion's admission, full of hacks/cheats that they have yet to address. So what COULD HAVE been fun is marred by poor design leading to rampant cheating.

    In sum, I do not recommend this game, even at a super sale price. Frankly, I can't see Trion keeping the servers up for another year at the game's current rate.    … Expand
  17. gtox11
    Apr 22, 2013
    2
    If you enjoy Borderlands 2 Co-op, and think that you might also enjoy a less polished, buggy version of the same, then you "might" enjoy Defiance.

    If you enjoy traditional MMOs, in any capacity, then quickly hide your wallet before Trion smells your money. What I like about the game: The shooting. Surprisingly the combat is actually pretty good. There is a decent variety of    If you enjoy Borderlands 2 Co-op, and think that you might also enjoy a less polished, buggy version of the same, then you "might" enjoy Defiance.

    If you enjoy traditional MMOs, in any capacity, then quickly hide your wallet before Trion smells your money.

    What I like about the game:
    The shooting. Surprisingly the combat is actually pretty good. There is a decent variety of weapons, and I haven't noticed any bugs involving poor bullet pathing or anything like that.
    Rocket-boosting your vehicle over hills and watching yourself fly knowing there will be no damage or penalty in any way.
    Missile Launchers. I felt this one needed it's own good point; not sure why.
    Everyone gets their own loot and xp is given to anyone who participates in killing an NPC.

    The things I disliked/hated (get comfortable because this list is quite daunting):
    This is not an MMO. This is a Co-op that is awkwardly placed into a persistent world. In fact, I would say that the only aspect of this game that is utilized by an open-world environment is the driving, and even that doesn't NEED the persistent world and might even have benefited from an instanced, scripted event.
    The driving uses the god-aweful controls of A and D to turn instead of the mouse, and there is no way to change it. Needless to say, this is completely archaic and no one enjoys driving with keystrokes. To be clear, Borderlands driving Good. Defiance driving Clunky and unrealistic.
    The game is marketed by offering players the chance to get their hands on alien technology! Exciting! But wait.. you get that technology almost immediately in the game, and it is WORSE than the standard realism weaponry that you get in any other shooter. One weapon simply fills the gap of the fantasy "healing gun", while the other is decent in itself, but fails on the basis of being of limited use. Short answer, you will find yourself using standard Earth technology unless you insist on gimping yourself with their alien technology (this of course does not include the "alien" elemental versions of standard weapons).
    There are no "dungeons" or really any reason to ever invite someone to a group.
    The massive events that pop up are a faceroll. It is all very, very easy.
    The perk system gives off the impression of "uber customization" but in actuality there is very little true options. By selecting one core ability, it cuts off around half of the perks as viable options for your build (since they directly affect another core ability). Looking at the perks, it is very easy to see several possible "builds" in which you venture toward, but a lot of these builds are not actually viable in-game.. Most notably the Melee Build, in which you do very low damage and get eaten alive by pretty much every NPC you encounter, and the Medic Build in which you almost never find someone to revive because the game's difficulty is a joke.
    Lastly, I want to mention the game's use of character speech. Quite a lot of characters talk to you during the game, whether it be during a cut scene or yelling at you as you are doing a nearby mission.. but the one glaring problem is that your character NEVER.. EVER.. SPEAKS.. EVER! He (or she) just stands there like a mute idiot while other people have engaging conversations AT him (or her). (s)He doesn't even change facial expressions or anything. It is as though your character is completely unaware that other people are in the room, let alone talking directly to him.

    TL;DR If you want to spend $60 on something that truthfully should be F2P, then you are in the right place. For everyone else, keep waiting.    … Expand
  18. meru
    Aug 14, 2013
    3
    TLDR: Play FireFall instead, the game is not going to get better, as many of the developers were let go after the game was published.

    What a great concept behind Defiance: A Science Fiction game and a TV show which evolve together and influence each other. But what a horrible, horrible implementation. It was fun to play at times, and if the game gets ever finished, I am sure it will be    TLDR: Play FireFall instead, the game is not going to get better, as many of the developers were let go after the game was published.

    What a great concept behind Defiance: A Science Fiction game and a TV show which evolve together and influence each other. But what a horrible, horrible implementation. It was fun to play at times, and if the game gets ever finished, I am sure it will be fun to play.

    Four months after release, it plays like an early beta. In the first minutes, you cannot follow the instructions, as your tutorial actions are constantly interrupted by NPCs. Already the first few missions are bugged, so that you may have to quit and restart in order to do them. Chat is bugged (in the sense of not being able to communicate at all) for the PC version, so that you cannot even ask other players for advice about the bugs; I found the advice to relog finally on the forums. The game has open world missions, but gets confused when two players work on the same mission, so that you cannot finish them.

    The good points: You can try the game for free for three days, but within this time frame you need to download the client, and the downloader has major problems. The price for the game was lowered to 10 bucks in some places, and no subscription is required, so it might be worth buying, if you believe that the developers will ever finish the game. Which is unlikely, as a lot of the developers were let go in May 2013.

    By coincidence I discovered a second Science Fiction MMO shooter called FireFall at the same time, which is in open beta starting August 2013. FireFall plays almost the same as Defiance, with the difference being that it is actually fun, and mostly a finished product.    … Expand
  19. urieaal
    Jun 27, 2013
    1
    I've been playing this game on and off for a week as of this post. Frankly it started out kinda nice with the intro, but theres not really very much choice in weapons... even with the modding option its really bs... theres no real customization imo with weapons.

    The general game play is kinda glitchy So many of the dungeons/instances/ co-op missions have really bad boss encounters i    I've been playing this game on and off for a week as of this post. Frankly it started out kinda nice with the intro, but theres not really very much choice in weapons... even with the modding option its really bs... theres no real customization imo with weapons.

    The general game play is kinda glitchy So many of the dungeons/instances/ co-op missions have really bad boss encounters i cant count how many times i've been blown back into a wall and unable to do anything.

    The Story has very little to do with the actual TV show, you only see nolan and his daughter once or twice and thats it... then you get to do some missions for that one irathian girl nolan lut go in like episode 3?

    you only get to choose human or irathian you cant be a votan or indogen or w/e the monkey people are.
    none of the story really ties together, eventually ending in a very anti climactic boss fight. that one fight is very buggy. You have to repeat it 3 separate times before the pointless ending...

    Whats more you never get to go to defiance at least at the time of this writing. PvP seems very one sided in that infectors, shotguns and cloaking run the show. Im sure some people do better but this is what you can look forward to the most.

    The game map while a sandbox, gives no reason to explore other then the occasional small amount of experience for finding something, theres no easter eggs to look for. going out of your way more often then not will get you sent back to the last town you got bound to in at. which you dont get to choose its just what ever one you run thru.

    The map it self is incredibly small for an mmo game. theres no open world chat that i noticed either no one talks at all. its really boring. theres a northern and southern continent. both of which can be traversed in a few minutes.

    The arkfalls.... i can only really compare to Rifts from rift.. or events from GW2, BUT there so tedious and boring and repetitive and dont really give you any good rewards, you simply do them get some "marks" 64 total and 3000 scrip will get you a tier 3 lock box. theres tier 1 and 2 boxs as well but white and green items are not really worth having around. there just garbage or breakdowns for mats for more marks.

    Theres little even like side quests scattered all over the place but theres no point in doing them imo. some of them give you gear some of them give you mods, all are competition against other players so eventually no ones going to be able to get up to number 1, unless they reset every time the server gos down for maintenance... no idea like i said theres no point imo to do them....

    I have yet in my week or so of playing to get a purple in a co-op or as a drop out of an arkfall, of which theres major and minor arkfalls, major arkfalls are huge and require you to do multiple minor ones to finally get to a boss fight.

    once you get to the southern continent theres a couple variations on the major arkfalls.. but frankly this games boring after a week, never had that happen before, theres just not much of anything to do, no real point in pvp other then more ego points and once you've done the main story theres no end game raiding type of things to do, your armors purely fluff aka for looks it doesn't do anything..

    i guess the control's themselves aren't bad, but how the hell do you screw up a shooters control's, although theres so many bugs with shooting npcs/mobs unless they get an ego and ability's too.

    give it a year, then try it maybe they'll get there crap together. although from this crap fest they started with i doubt it.    … Expand
  20. level5dwarf
    Jun 29, 2013
    2
    Garbage, wish i had my money and time back. I can't help but question if all the positive user reviews that came out immediately at release, which were notably done by mostly people with no other reviews, were paid for by Trion.
  21. mg83
    Apr 21, 2013
    3
    I expected so much more from Trion, but this game is flat out terrible. Bland environments, clunky user interface, laughable AI, boring quests and a completely unimaginative EGO "skill tree." It's sad too because I paid $100 for the special edition, figuring it COULDN'T be that bad. Well it is. There are more bugs with the game, then there are "bugs" in the game. Maybe they'll turn thingsI expected so much more from Trion, but this game is flat out terrible. Bland environments, clunky user interface, laughable AI, boring quests and a completely unimaginative EGO "skill tree." It's sad too because I paid $100 for the special edition, figuring it COULDN'T be that bad. Well it is. There are more bugs with the game, then there are "bugs" in the game. Maybe they'll turn things around? Right now this game wreaks of some F2P crap.

    Weapons and gear disappear or play hide and seek between logins, load outs get screwed up, EGO gets reset, quests are bugged. Poor explanation of gear stats. I wanted this game to be good, I really did. Maybe it gets better in the future. As of right now, don't waste your time until some SERIOUS changes are made. This needs a lot more than "Tuesday downtime" type patches. I'll check the progress periodically so my $100 wasn't in vain.    … Expand
  22. GodEmperor47
    Apr 28, 2013
    2
    The story is poorly written, voice acting is average, and most importantly (because I can forgive the first two things) the gameplay just sucks. If Planetside 2 was really bad and had PvE, it'd be this game. Unless you just hate PvP, don't play this game, go pick up Planetside 2 for free and jump into some great shooting. I suppose the PvE isn't horribly implemented, it's just soThe story is poorly written, voice acting is average, and most importantly (because I can forgive the first two things) the gameplay just sucks. If Planetside 2 was really bad and had PvE, it'd be this game. Unless you just hate PvP, don't play this game, go pick up Planetside 2 for free and jump into some great shooting. I suppose the PvE isn't horribly implemented, it's just so repetitive that I couldn't play it for more than six hours total over three days. Haven't logged in since. If you're like me and think you might give this game a shot, bear in mind that you can't get a refund on Steam and there are better online shooter experiences out there.… Expand
  23. MikeJezZ
    May 27, 2013
    2
    A friend of mine hyped the game alot for me, so I decided to buy the game (which I did, at launch).

    First, the patcher is horrible. You have to download 15 GB straight. If you close the patcher and opens it again, you have to redownload the whole game again and it does not delete what you already downloaded. Second, theres no real progression in the game. It is a online shooter, and    A friend of mine hyped the game alot for me, so I decided to buy the game (which I did, at launch).

    First, the patcher is horrible. You have to download 15 GB straight. If you close the patcher and opens it again, you have to redownload the whole game again and it does not delete what you already downloaded.

    Second, theres no real progression in the game. It is a online shooter, and the RPG elements are limited to allmost none.

    It would probably have received a better score if they have called it a MMOTPS instead of a MMORPG.    … Expand
  24. BearSharkWeek
    May 5, 2013
    4
    When I first played this game in beta I thought it was pretty fun. I also expected that there would be more content released with the full version. I was wrong. This game is lacking. There are essentially only 3 enemies to fight. The environment is pretty but gets boring very quickly. Questing is very tedious and redundant. There is no world immersion. It feels like a watered down co-opWhen I first played this game in beta I thought it was pretty fun. I also expected that there would be more content released with the full version. I was wrong. This game is lacking. There are essentially only 3 enemies to fight. The environment is pretty but gets boring very quickly. Questing is very tedious and redundant. There is no world immersion. It feels like a watered down co-op version of borderlands. I am really disappointed in Trion for releasing this mess. It's extremely linear and way too simple. There are only a few co-op maps to play as well. Honestly it feels like the game is missing 3/4 of content. If Trion thinks they can release a ton more content in DLCs and have me pay for it they must be insane.… Expand
  25. MrRelyt
    May 13, 2013
    3
    Defiance is an absolutely abysmal game. Sub-average graphics, repetitive game-play and a boring story line is underwhelming. I had high hopes for this game, and to be honest I really wanted to like it. But unfortunately I couldn't. Also, the game preforms like a piece of especially when you are in an area filled with other players. Overall Defiance is a terrible game. Recommendation: DO NOT BUY.
  26. Synol
    Apr 14, 2013
    1
    I gave this game a 1 out of 10. Only because I managed to make it all the way through the buggy main storyline (10 hours worth of gameplay at a stretch).
    Side quests are also bugged.
    Progress for the daily and weekly quests keeps resetting so unless you do an entire weekly quest in 1 sitting its impossible to finish. Combat is the same all through the game. Equipment is the same at    I gave this game a 1 out of 10. Only because I managed to make it all the way through the buggy main storyline (10 hours worth of gameplay at a stretch).
    Side quests are also bugged.
    Progress for the daily and weekly quests keeps resetting so unless you do an entire weekly quest in 1 sitting its impossible to finish.
    Combat is the same all through the game.
    Equipment is the same at level 1 and level 4000.
    Everyone gets every skill regardless of which Race and Class you choose at the start of the game.

    The main draw of the game is the link to the show but the Episode quests (only 4 of them) took about 10 minutes to complete. All round this is a completely terrible game, if you are thinking about buying it just wait 3 months and it will be free to play. Free is exactly the right price for this garbage game.    … Expand
  27. boydimages
    Apr 12, 2013
    4
    I was impressed with the tie in with the series, and I had fun playing, for about an hour or two. My girlfriend played as well. First off, this game is in no way worth 60 bucks, whatsoever! I played on a console, and considered getting it for my PC. With so many superior F2P games out there, my current favorite is Planetside2. There are no EPIC battles, and no real sense of scale. ItI was impressed with the tie in with the series, and I had fun playing, for about an hour or two. My girlfriend played as well. First off, this game is in no way worth 60 bucks, whatsoever! I played on a console, and considered getting it for my PC. With so many superior F2P games out there, my current favorite is Planetside2. There are no EPIC battles, and no real sense of scale. It absolutely doesn't have that "WOW" factor.… Expand
  28. Syn_again
    Apr 9, 2013
    4
    Defiance feels rushed in a sense that the content is just not there yet. The Game design is shallow with a very weak story. For these kinds of games you need a compelling story to carry you through the adventure and keep you invested. The world of Defiance is barely explained or interesting to the player. Maybe the show will help with this but based on episode 1 it does not seem to be tooDefiance feels rushed in a sense that the content is just not there yet. The Game design is shallow with a very weak story. For these kinds of games you need a compelling story to carry you through the adventure and keep you invested. The world of Defiance is barely explained or interesting to the player. Maybe the show will help with this but based on episode 1 it does not seem to be too likely. the game and show are going to run separate courses with minimal tie in. That does not sound good for an MMO already weak in a background.

    The world is big. Lots of room to roam and play. There are event areas for Arkfalls (alien invasions) or simple shoot and defend side missions. It is a bit funny to see 25 enemies come out of one small truck but oh well. There is little the actual terrain offers you other than providing the opportunity to just run around.

    Vehicles are nice and fun. Having Guild races and running enemies over was fun and funny.

    The game mechanics are good. As a shooter the game is fun and there is a wide range of weapons to have fun with. Unfortunately the enemy (and ally) AI is horrible. They only do just a couple of things and then become predictable throughout the game. Mutants, Aliens, Humans all do the same thing (with different attack variations). This becomes quite boring after awhile. Some of the missions help try to hide these flaws but your attention can get inadvertently pulled back to them when you listen to the voice acting or force yourself to try and get back into the theme of the story.

    Technically the game is sound. A good engine running on a solid network that provides the same structure for RIFT. There are no problems with account management or logging in etc.

    It was clearly hard for Trion to understand what to give players for an non-Fantasy MMO. This game is really just a standard mediocre FPS game that you can opt to play with others. The MMO component to this is just not there. If/when Trion gets around to adding the functionality to make the game and game world better, this might be worth revisiting in the future but not for $60.

    There is going to have to be a hefty bit of rework for this game to stay around and the show will not carry it since it will have its own problems. The bigger issue here is Trion is limited on what they can do because this game stretches to consoles. Having what is needed on PC to make a strong game will not work for console so it may all depend on how many units will be sold for each to see how Trion will try and save this product.    … Expand
  29. RecoveryRx
    Apr 11, 2013
    3
    The game is fairly fun in gameplay, but it sure lacks in content. The world map is small, the weapon upgrades feel pointless as all weapons have basically the same stats minus maybe a few miniscule bonuses here and there, and you'll be fighting the same boring monsters over and over. Arkfalls are more boring versions of rifts and there is very little variety of these. UI is god awfulThe game is fairly fun in gameplay, but it sure lacks in content. The world map is small, the weapon upgrades feel pointless as all weapons have basically the same stats minus maybe a few miniscule bonuses here and there, and you'll be fighting the same boring monsters over and over. Arkfalls are more boring versions of rifts and there is very little variety of these. UI is god awful as is chat it feels like a single player game. Overall it's a pretty big disappointment for me, but taken at small doses it can be fun. Plus it's a one time purchase so that's good.… Expand
  30. drwebs
    Apr 12, 2013
    0
    The game seems hurried and very repetitive. You go from fetching one item to turning on a panel, over and over and over. You hope into a mount only to drive to an area to kill one guy and fetch a thing or turn on a panel. This is about 40 hours of gameplay. The main quests are boring and I guess tie into a boring show. Overall I would wait a few years before spending 59.99 on this boring game.
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Awards & Rankings

38
#38 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
91
#91 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
64

Mixed or average reviews - based on 40 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 33 out of 40
  3. Negative: 2 out of 40
  1. Level7.nu
    Sep 10, 2013
    50
    Defiance may be an ambitious project. Linking an online action game with a TV-series is a smart idea but one that here mostly comes of as a mere gimmick. The story is unengaging and the action mediocre and monotonous. Not to say anything about the myriad of bugs that utterly destroys the experience.
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  2. PC Master (Greece)
    Jun 5, 2013
    89
    It’s an addictive game that seems to become even better as you play. If it keeps getting the right support and if the tie-in with the TV series proves successful, we might have a game that will keep us occupied for a lengthy amount of time. [May 2013]
  3. PC PowerPlay
    Jun 4, 2013
    60
    If Trion can introduce better quest design, this will be a winner. [June 2013, p.88]
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