Defiance - Playstation 3

UPDATE 01/02/2014 (Happy New Year!):I gave up on Defiance a few months after I posted my original review. It was a *bad* game. I sold my copy, chalked up the price difference as a loss, moved on and didn't look back. However, recently they were offering digital copies of Defiance for a sale price of $2.50 during a PSN Holiday Sale, so I decided that (for two dollars and fifty cents) I would give it another chance.I will say that they've made some nice improvements in the time between now and when I played it originally. Quests have been added that are more varied, there have been some UI tweaks (especially the item inventory), and from what I can tell they've made some changes in the shooting mechanics. I can't quite put my finger on what was modified with the shooting, all I can say is that it just feels better overall. Graphics, however, was one of my biggest disappointments with the game, and while I can't attest to them being any better than they were before, I will say that the other additions and improvements have made Defiance a much better game. As I said in my original review, graphics don't make a game, and I may be overlooking some texture upgrades and/or lighting effect changes given that it's been quite some time since I last played the game.The price of the console versions, both for physical copies and even more-so for digital versions, has gone down considerably and as a result I would be much more comfortable recommending the game for a Sci-Fi and/or MMO fan to try out. It's still not the best, but they've made some big strides towards making it a much better experience.UPDATED VERDICT: Added 2 more stars to the Amazon rating -- If you can find Defiance in the sub-$15 range, and the content seems like something that might interest you, I would say give it a shot. 6.0/10 --- May still be a turd, but it's definitely a lot less stinky now.----------------------------------------ORIGINAL REVIEW:Defiance is a multi-platform third person MMO shooter. It's tied in with a television show on the Syfy channel with the same name. I have no idea if the TV show is any good, but I sure can tell you the game sucks. This is the most uninspired feeling MMO game I have ever played. Literally every "quest" in the first 10 hours of the game is "Go to the X on your map, shoot waves on enemies that spawn, and in between spawns go to a box/terminal/barrel and hold down the X button for 3 seconds." I'm not even exaggerating that... that actually IS the general synopsis for most of the quests in the beginning. There are some random "Arkfall" events that occur from time to time. These consist of giant bugs dropping down from the sky and everyone in the area runs to the spot and shoots them. Then everyone leaves. There is hardly any communication between players, and really no incentive to do so. I cannot speak for the PC version, but voice chat on the PS3 version is a downright joke. And you can forget emotes or text chatting on a console game, nobody uses that.Next we have the graphics. I can tell you without even a shadow of a doubt that the PS3 version of Defiance looks like a PS2 shovel-ware game. I'm not kidding... it's U-G-L-Y. I'm not big on graphics personally, pretty textures and 60 frames per second don't necessarily make a good game, the overall feel of the game and the fun-factor are what make a good videogame in my opinion. Defiance on Playstation 3 has NONE of those things going for it. The shooting mechanic feels loose and under-sensitive. Didn't the guys and gals over at Trion play Spec Ops: The Line? Now THAT is how you do a third-person shooter right there! Defiance feels cartoonish when compared to that.The game also does a flat-out TERRIBLE job of explaining the weapons modifications system. There is no tutorial, and barely any information regarding it in the game's manual. I strongly recommend having a wiki open on your tablet/laptop/phone/whatever at your side while you're playing, otherwise you'll just be lost when it comes to the weapon mods and elemental systems. Some actions have cooldowns, some don't. Some actions are instantaneous, and others take X amount of minutes/hours to complete. However, you would never know this unless you either looked up the information on the web, or spent weeks figuring it out by trial-and-error. This is a MAJOR misstep for any MMO game in my opinion.I will give Defiance props for not having any subscription fees. Although it is a full retail priced console game, Trion did gamers some justice by not including any "Online Pass" codes or one-time use activation downloads, so you can save yourself some money and buy a used copy! There is an in-game real money store, but a lot of the items are just vanity/cosmetic gear for your in-game avatar. You can buy in-game currency with real money, but it didn't seem like in-game currency was all that hard to get just by playing the game normally.It's a neat idea - tying an MMO game into a TV show, and seeing actions in one aspect of the project have consequences in the other. Syfy sure did put a lot of money behind this idea, but as far as the game goes, I really cannot recommend it to anyone. In my opinion it's just not a very fun game.VERDICT: Rent it, or borrow it from a friend, and try it out. However, definitely DO NOT drop $60.00 on a new copy, you will probably be sorely disappointed. I can't, in good conscience, recommend buying a used copy either. You are REALLY going to want to TRY BEFORE YOU BUY with Defiance. 4.5/10 --- A real turd.

Defiance is a Third Person Shooter and a MMORPG. The game will be supplemented by a TV show which Airs on SyFy starting tonight to help fill out the story and add dimension to the characters and world. I've been playing the game for a week now and I must say I like it a lot. The best way to describe this game would be as a Third Person Shooter version of Borderlands. The weapon leveling is color-coded just like in Borderlands and the power up tree is also similar, except in Defiance there is one huge skill tree, with four main abilities (can only use one at a time) and a bunch of secondary perks that you add as you level up and open additional perk slots. The thing I like most about this game is that it is very dependent on your skills as a player. Unlike traditional MMORPGs like DCUO (DC Universe Online) you can evade and dodge attacks much more effectively, you also don't have to wait for cool-downs on any of your attacks, except your main ability. As long as you have bullets - you can do damage whenever you want. It can be a pain at first, remembering to get bullets whenever you can, but ammo caches are plentiful.When it comes to the story, the game is somewhat lacking. It isn't horrible but you can tell they either don't want to give a lot of back-story or are still figuring it all out for the TV show. With that said there are two main sets of missions, the first one is the actual story of the game which is the bulk of the game and pretty interesting. The second main set of missions is based on the TV show, apparently more are coming but the set of missions you start off with feels somewhat lacking, although it does help set up the show....The graphics for the game are good, nothing particularly impressive. Most of the reason for this is because the game was in development since August 2008 and of course graphics engines have improved sine then. Still it's a decent looking game, and I have no complaints in this department.The sound.... Worst part of the game in my opinion. I am an audiophile and I must say as one I was disappointed in this aspect of the game. The two glaring issues are firstly when you are inside and someone is talking you get this horrible tin can sounding reverb, might not be a big deal to some but it really took me out of the immersion of the game. Secondly and more importantly talking with friends means you can't keep any of the other audio levels up. Meaning you really can't hear your friends unless you turn the down the sound effects, game music and other audio parts of the game. I just wish there was a way to quick change audio when you are playing with friends so you can hear them but also turn up levels quickly when you are not.Overall I would recommend this game, despite a couple problems it's a very solid and fun game. I also haven't had many problems on the server, i've been kicked a couple times and things like that but nothing significantly bad - especially compared to other MMORPGs. The best part is, once you buy the game there is no monthly fee, so if you play this on PS3 you won't be paying for online or to play this game which is Grrrreat! If you're looking for a fun game, you can play by yourself or with friends that has loads of gameplay value Defiance is a good choice. And if you play on Playstation Network feel free to add me: "Neopantomime"

This is a good game albeit on the small side and doesn't really have much point to it except the challenge and fun. It's online only which I wish I had read before buying it not that it would affect my want for it now as it is a pretty good mmog. Your loot is your own no fighting over it with someone which is definitely a bonus, difficult without being annoying. The major downfall of the game I find is I played it after seeing the show and I was expecting to have more towns and quests and in general a larger map to roam about, sadly this isn't the case. It seems a constricting and the area should be 2-3 times bigger than what it is, of course I'm sure there's probably DLC for it which does this but, I can't see myself even wanting to buy it as I feel a game should stand on it's own before I shell out more to make it better/add more to it. That being said for $10 it's a great little occasional game to play especially with friends, which by the way you cannot play pc-ps3, xbox-ps3, pc-xbox just straight up whatever system you have it on that's what everyone has to use which it standard.

Took a while to get started due to multiple uploads and difficulty connecting to the servers. Nice to see the characters from the show make an appearance although so far the gameplay is average at best. For me setting the game in and around Defiance would have been better as would have inter-twining storylines with cast regulars.

paid 5$ for this only to find out it's free to download, and it sucks.

Good story enjoyable game

As described, it works well.