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 the television program of the same name.

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 the console versions following suit in July 2014^[1].

In July 2018, the game was relaunched as Defiance 2050 with better graphics, rebalanced gameplay, items, weapons and events, and was also released on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the reasons for the relaunch being that the original game's engine was too old for bigger updates and to continue the TV show's storyline following its cancellation on Octuber 2015. However, the original game is still online and playable, now referred as Defiance 2013.

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.