Despite an ambitious set-up and a tie-in to a likable TV series, technical flaws and server issues keep Defiance from hitting the mark.
But there are problems. And they're hard to overlook. The first has to do with the game servers themselves. They're simply awful. There were times with the PS3 versions where we couldn't connect to the world at all, and since there's no real off-line content to speak of, that left us twiddling our thumbs. And when some users will fork over $60-$100 for such a product, it's frustrating to not get an investment back. (A special edition was supplied to us for review purposes, but we still couldn't help but wonder how those who paid full price felt.) And that's not even mentioning the horrendous problems we've heard with the Xbox 360 version.
But even when the servers were working, the game didn't really had much evolution to offer. Sure, you can complete missions and give your character experience points, but there's still this loose feeling, as if you never really feel growth. Furthermore, the gameplay doesn't change much, and there are times when it doesn't really respond at all. We can't tell you how many times we told our character to do something and waited for execution – and this is an action game, not an RPG where you wait your turn. Even driving isn't as awesome as it should be, mainly because you're waiting forever for the ride to start.
And then there are the graphics. We know Trion is more privy to working its magic on PC rather than consoles, but still, they should know a little more than this. Defiance looks like a muddy effort, with graphics that fail to rise above any of the Gears of War games (even the original) and larger enemies that can grind the frame rate to a near halt. Some of the more epic battles look nice, but they're few and far between, and the rest of the game just sludges by on average graphics. Again, a $60-$100 investment gone to waste, considering you can buy some awesome looking efforts for, what, $20? And with single player content at that.
