The first closed PC beta of the new Free2Play MMO shooter Defiance 2050 has taken place. Among the testers was our author Leya, who could find little to appreciate in the remake of the MMO shooter.
Defiance was in 2013 the MMO shooter prior to Destiny, but it quickly vanished from the spotlight and ultimately lived a niche existence. A small group of players remained loyal to Defiance, but the game barely connected with mainstream gaming.
This was partly due to the fact that Defiance was released only on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Trion Worlds missed out on the next console generation and thus a broad audience. Shortly after the release of Defiance, Destiny took off on PS4 and Xbox One, since then Trion Worlds has likely been feeling: “We were ahead of our time.”
Defiance 2050 is now a remake of the futuristic MMO shooter and will also be released on PS4 and Xbox One. Last weekend (April 20 – 22), Trion Worlds held a closed PC beta for Defiance 2050, which I participated in. To be clear, I approached this beta untainted, as I never played the original Defiance.
Defiance 2050 clearly shows its age
Defiance 2050 is not a full sequel like Destiny 2. The remake mainly offers graphical improvements and some revisions to gameplay mechanics, such as the level system. So, anyone who has played Defiance will find little new here, but rather encounter a polish.
I could already tell in the tutorial that Defiance 2050 shows its age and I could see little of a modernized graphic. Defiance 2050 visually resembles typical Free2Play shooters like Warface or Ironsight. I had expected more after the announcement for a complete overhaul of the graphics and was disappointed by what I saw.
Sometimes a detailed mist cloud came toward me, revealing hints of better graphics. But in the next moment, I found myself again in front of a big splash of color that was supposed to represent a puddle.
As I never played the original Defiance, I couldn’t draw a comparison from personal experience and asked the internet. On Reddit, user “imathrowback” created a graphical comparison of the new and old Defiance. It shows that the graphical overhaul is barely noticeable. The characters may have gained slightly finer facial features, but overall, it still looks like the “old” Defiance. Several beta testers shared this opinion.
Here is (on the left) Defiance 2050 and (on the right) Defiance, the original.
However, the weird running animations were particularly noticeable, in which the characters squatted and seemed to simply throw their knees upwards.
Gameplay and abilities are standard
I can gladly overlook outdated graphics if at least the gameplay or story is engaging. In Defiance 2050, I play as an Ark Hunter, who possesses special abilities through an alien technology called EGO.
I have a skill tree that I can expand through my EGO level. The skills and improvements available to me here are standard. For example, there’s increased movement speed, improved shield and health regeneration, stealth, or increased firepower. The certain flair and innovation are lacking here.
The weapons can be improved and customized through modifications. Here, there are various options to add or remove mod slots. However, I must admit that I have not completely grasped the system here after my first playthrough.
The AI is dumb and consists of sponge-like targets
Even though the weapons and skills meet the standard, the gunplay and gameplay feel solid. The hit feedback seems right, and the hitboxes appear realistic. However, the sound of firearms was quite tinny and sounded anything but realistic.
Unfortunately, Defiance 2050 quickly became monotonous, especially due to the stupid sponge-like enemies. The enemies virtually soak up the bullets, and it can happen that an entire magazine is fired at one enemy. The AI feels more like a form of therapy, as it is predictable and does not offer interesting mechanics.
I was of course still at the beginning of the beta and cannot say if this changes significantly throughout the game.
A cool MMO feeling arises especially through live events, but …
Defiance 2050 is a shooter with a strong multiplayer focus, offering raids through Arkfall events. Red markers appear on the map in between, indicating a time-limited live event.
During these spontaneous events, all present players fight random enemies and receive extra loot for it. Players receive a vehicle early in the game, allowing them to quickly reach the events.
My hope was that at least these events would provide a change and create a cool MMO dynamic.
Indeed, during the events, I found a lot of players despite the closed beta, and the MMO feeling immediately emerged. But here, too, my problem with the AI re-emerged. More than just mindlessly shooting magazines into sponge-like enemies happened here.
Thus, both the campaign and events quickly bored me. A nice plus is that the campaign can also be played in co-op multiplayer right after the tutorial.
Defiance 2050 – Can it become something?
After spending a few hours in the beta of Defiance 2050, I quickly lost interest in the game. It simply appears outdated and lacking innovation in too many places. As a new player, the beta on PC did not convince me.
The changes advertised by Trion Worlds in Defiance 2050 seem to be limited, according to mmorpg.com even for fans of the original. It is said that the progression and inventory system have been noticeably adjusted. Instead of the EGO rank system, there is now a skill tree. Overall, progression and loot in Defiance 2050 are said to be more coherent than in the original. This aligns with the statements I found in various forums.
Players of the original Defiance will lose their character and inventory in Defiance 2050. However, since the content largely remains unchanged, these players will have to start from scratch and go through the same campaign again.
Defiance 2050 seems to be aimed primarily at new players of the current console generation on PS4 and Xbox One, for which the title has been optimized. The game is Free2Play, and there is hardly anything comparable in the sector. The MMO aspect already invites players to dive into raids together.
However, to keep players motivated in the long term, the enemies would need another overhaul. Because continually shooting at sponge-like targets will quickly become boring in the long run.
Did you also try the beta? I would be happy if you share your impressions of Defiance 2050 in the comments. Of course, I am also interested in what non-beta testers think.
Interestingly, Defiance is tied to a series of the same name. For a long time, a symbiosis formed between the series and the game.
