Defiance 2050 Review

Defiance 2050 is a Free-to-Play, 3D, third-person, shooter MMORPG set in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic Earth coinhabited by human and aliens alike. While the original Defiance game has been out for more than five years now, it’s new generation remake, Defiance 2050, is Trion Worlds’ attempt to deliver the experience to a larger audience, by mainstreaming some of the systems and porting it to PS4 and Xbox One.

Although Trion Worlds spoke multiple times of a “graphical overhaul”, such a term would be a gross overstatement. With better shading, textures, etc. the visuals have improved indeed, but not so drastically. NPCs move in a clunky way, often slightly glitching-out while turning around. The textures are incredibly subpar giving humanoid faces a plasticky, slightly unsettling, appearance. The cinematics, while cleverly weaving the TV series’ storyline into the game, are riddled with American military clichés, expressionless faces, and bad lip-sync.

The unique and interesting setting isn’t enough to offset the game’s tired and overused MMORPG systems: lacking almost entirely any AI, the enemies are DPS sponges only functional to the killing and fetching quests. Furthermore, Defiance’s unique itemization system has been replaced with the standard WoW-like tiered loot system, where items are divided in categories, characterized by color, each one being better than the previous.

The shooting aspect of the game is quite refreshing, but it’s still done within the context of MMO game mechanics, with enemies having huge hitboxes and precision not being really required, which makes it unsuited for those looking for a twitch, fast-paced, bullet hell combat.

Physics-based vehicles take the place of the standard mounts, which makes transportation much more exciting and definitely fits nicely in Defiance’s enormous open world.
Being still in Beta, much could change. The developers might add some sandbox elements, as well as a certain degree of innovation as far as the core gaming mechanics and player goals are concerned.

A point of tension is Trion Worlds’ monetization schemes. After all, the game is free-to-play, which means that it will feature an extensive in-game shop, and considering the way in which Trion managed to destroyed ArcheAge, one of the most promising games of the decade, purely by implementing a heavily pay-to-win model, concern is to be had indeed.
As of now, the game is definitely interesting for those looking for a shooter with an original setting and the MMO systems we have grown used to.