The massively-multiplayer-online (MMO) title Defiance 2050 recently went live on both Xbox One and PC platforms, but it has received a mixed reception across the board. The game has quite a few issues, however, it is free and it has redeeming qualities as well. Here's what the Defiance 2050 experience entails, and whether or not you should give it a chance.
Pros: Fast, fluid, and intuitive
In the futuristic world of Defiance 2050, you take control of a super soldier who is capable of feats such as jet-boosted jumping or lightning-quick sprinting. There are also a wide array of weapons at your disposal that you can utilize against enemies. Lastly, there is a system of classes, each of them geared towards a specific playstyle.
The game mechanically feels fast-paced, but not rushed, and the gunplay is excellent. As you level up, you'll unlock new abilities and weapons to use in battle — and choosing how to build your character is easy thanks to Defiance 2050's intuitive user interface. Eventually, you'll also be able to obtain vehicles, which are primarily used for traversing the open world but can also be used for fighting. The open world itself is vast and filled with content; you'll have a hard time running out of things to do.
Overall, the best aspect of the game is the mechanics. Playing like a hybrid between the satisfying gunplay of The Division and the fluid movement of Mass Effect: Andromeda, Defiance 2050 feels amazing ... when it works.
Cons: Broken, buggy, and repetitive
While the game is fun to play, you'll rarely get to experience it as the developers intended due to the astonishing amount of bugs and glitches present. Framerates constantly stutter, the server stability is inconsistent, and crashes to desktop or dashboard are annoyingly common.
These performance issues have led to another problem: the lack of a strong player base. While there are certainly people playing, there aren't enough of them there to drive the social community interactions that MMOs need to survive. More often than not, you'll be playing solo unless you download the game with friends.
Finally, there's the lack of content variety. Though the amount of things to do in the title is enormous, each activity feels identical to the last since there are only three types of quests. This makes the wide ocean of content feel disappointingly shallow compared to other MMOs.
The verdict: Avoid (for now)
While Defiance 2050 has an excellent mechanical foundation, the open world's depth is underwhelming and the performance problems are simply too much to deal with. I hope that the developers stick with the game and get it into a more playable state, but as things stand now, it would be best for you to avoid downloading it until improvements are introduced. However, since it's free-to-play, there's no risk in trying it out.
