Defiance 2050

Defiance 2050 is a third-person shooter MMORPG available on Xbox One, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC systems.

Defiance was to be an inter-connected multi-platform shooter MMO, but failed due to Microsoft and Sony not cooperating together. It is still a ground-breaking entertainment experience, that connects with a global television program on Syfy. The game combines the intense action of a console third-person shooter, with the persistence, scale, and customization of an MMO, while its TV counterpart exudes the scope, story, and drama of a classic sci-fi epic.

Having been developed for the PC, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system from Sony, Defiance unites the MMORPG and Shooter game genres across the most popular platforms.

The game, originally launched as a buy-to-play game, but then switched its payment model to free-to-play in order to increase accessibility. Trion Worlds made the change on June 5th, 2014 for the PC platform, with plans to have the console versions convert the following month (July 2014)^[1].

Gameplay

Defiance is a Third Person MMORPG that plays more like a shooter. The controls vary slightly for each platform (Xbox 360, PS3, PC). The largest part of the game that keeps it labelled an RPG is the Character Creation setup and further customization of that character down the road (i.e.: titles and outfits). Beyond that most of the game largely qualifies as an action/shooter game. Some of the other features that are derrived from the RPG genre are character leveling, skill leveling, level-based equipments, faction reputation gains (through Contracts), Player Versus Environment (PVE) quests. Other features of Defiance includes Raids (Ark falls), mounts (Vehicles), Party, a guild function (Clans), etc.

Much like many other games of today's standard, Defiance features an achievement system called Pursuits.

Setting

The game takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area, 15 years after the devastating Pale Wars between Earth and a loose alliance of extraterrestrial races known as Votanis Collective. The Votans came to Earth seeking a new home after the destruction of their solar system, unaware that the planet was already inhabited. Friction between the new arrivals and Humanity led to war, during which the Votan's terraforming technology was unleashed. The Earth's surface was drastically altered as a result, introducing radical changes in topography, the extinction of plant and animal species, and the emergence of new species. Afterward, Humans and Votans were forced to live together. Player characters are enlisted as "Ark Hunters" by industrialist Karl Von Bach to search the Bay Area for advanced and expensive alien technology. Players also take part in side missions to earn cash or challenges in which they compete with other Ark Hunters.

Story

Characters

For a list of other characters, see Characters.

Reception

Defiance 2050 received "generally unfavorable" reviews on Metacritic getting a metascore of 48/100 on PC^[2] and 56/100 on Xbox One.^[3] On whatoplay.com, it receives an aggregate score (playscore) of 7.54 on PS4^[4] and 6.54 on Xbox One.^[5]