OVERVIEW
So not too long ago a few buddies of mine wanted me to pick up a copy of this game "Defiance". They didn't exactly explain the concept to me. I thought it was going to a first person shooter fighting off aliens. Nope, did some research on the game and it was brought to my attention that is a Massive Multiplayer Online third person shooter. The first of its kind I believe. The game is based on the Sy-Fy channel's hit series Defiance. From what I understand the show and game is set in 2046 where our planet has been over run by aliens. The aliens are in search of a special artifact to get back home. The story isn't very interesting to me so I won't go on with explaining it. Let me put it this way, when you first put the game into your disk tray, you are forced to make an xbox live update. Nothing too bad, a short 20 to 30 sec download, but then you get to the real game. On the back of the game box it tells you that you need 10 GB of storage to even play the game. Thank God I invested in a 250 gb console not too long ago, but still 10 GB? So you sit at this title screen downloading the game which can take anywhere from 2 to 3 hours. BUT WAIT! THERES MORE! You have to wait an additional 2 hours downloading all the services updates which seemed endless. It was boring death. I believe I took a nap and watched a movie with my parents while it downloaded.
So that was that. You begin the game and now are given the option to create your character, where you can be either human or the alien species known as they Shtako. The options include battle scars, face paint, size, whether you want to be fat or deathly sick, hair color and the way your eyes look. That took me about another ten minutes just because I wanted to make sure I look huge and intimidating. After completing this you name your character and are greeted with 5 minute long cut scenes. The ship you are on crash lands in San Francisco California. You spawn out with an assault rifle, a pistol and a couple of grenades. While on your way there you are given tutorials on how to play the game. You get some special ability depending on which one you decide that can either throw up a holograph of you or make you run fast or super strong. You later meet this alien chick who seems quite aggressive, but I mean who wouldn't be in times of war. You are then asked to help her defend the base. After you defend the base you must follow her to a military outpost where you are given more tasks to complete. The leveling system in the game is a lot like Borderlands. As you level up you acquire more things and are allowed to use certain weapons. At some point you even receive a Dodge ATV (big endorsers of the show and game) and later the choice of a Challenger or Charger. Which seemed okay to me because I enjoyed playing Borderlands, but this story takes forever! I started out completing a couple of missions and while walking throughout the map you find other players with you who can I either be on the same mission as you or ahead of you. You can team up with them and make it easier to complete a certain task. After a short 45 minutes I gave up on playing because I was so bored and finally switched over to the Team Deathmatch Multiplayer servers.
MULTIPLAYER
The worst team deathmatch multiplayer game EVER! There are two teams of six, and this is where your leveling really comes into play. It doesn't match you based on skill or level, nope it just throws you into a lobby and you better know what you are doing. You need good weapons and be able to steal peoples kills if you are a low level. Now I am usually not one to rage and yell at the tv screen, but after the first two minutes into the game and having a record of 0-18 I think I had every right. I was getting blown up in every direction and couldn't walk ten feet in front of me without getting shot. I had the mindset that it was going to be like Call of Duty or Gears of War, but it is nothing like that. I also had the idea that there were going to be large teams because it only says MMO on the box! I shut off my Xbox in the middle of the game it was so bad.
Conclusion
Don't buy this game unless you are extremely patient. Do not buy this game with intentions to have extreme amounts of fun with your friends unless you all are the same level. Do not buy this game and expect to get your money back. Gamestop only offered me 15 and I paid 60. This game is a waste of time and money.
On the upside playing it online is free, well except xbox live, but it is not like battlefield where you are required to buy an online pass.
