[Tracker] Defiance: Game & Show

Making a MMO(Massive Multiplayer Online) for the console has always been one of those great white buffaloes. Only a few have been successful at doing it, and some were questionable at best. Just to name a few were Final Fantasy Online, DC Universe and Phantasy Star Online. Now I know some of you might dispute what "MMO" means for console gaming, saying that Battlefield and Call of Duty are Massive Multiplayer Online games. That's kind of taking the word a bit to literally, what most people think of when someone mentions 'MMO' is a Massive Multiplayer Online game with a 'persistent world'. Persistent world meaning that every player is logged into the game world/server and not have to go through a match making search like most shooter games. MMO's also consist of a looting system to upgrade your gear, and a sense of progression through quest/missions while in the online world with other players.

This is where Trion Worlds(the makers of Rift Online, End of Nations, and Warface) comes in with their latest game Defiance.

Not to be confused with the 'forest wives' of the famous movie starring James Bond and Sabertooth, Defiance. This one is more futuristic complete with a post apocalyptic worlds and aliens. The story goes like this; In the year 2046 a bunch of aliens come to earth looking for a home not realizing that humans were already here. Kind of like how Europeans came to America and tried to make a 'deal' with the Native Americans. Stuff went down, humans and aliens were waving their guns around shooting them in the air like intergalactic rednecks, and a war broke out.

In the game you play as Space Jesus and have to use your magical unicorn blood to save everyone. Okie, maybe not that extreme, but you play as a Ark Hunter who has to hunt for relics to earn a profit or to fix your spaceship(the Ark) so your race can leave this shit hole of a planet. Much of the detail about the story is unknown and the awesome part about this game is it ties into a SyFy tv show! So whatever happens in the tv show, happens in the game and vice versa. I know this is a very ambitious project but if it does work it is going to be EPIC.

So far the gameplay seems to be your run of the mill third person shooter, but the MMO aspect of it is what separates it from your typical Gears of War. Hopefully it will be something like Planetside, with a little less emphasis on tanks and chaotic combat. They were also talking about doing micro-transactions but mostly for xp boost and cosmetic rather than a 'Pay-to-win' model. There is no subscription fee (thank God), but I haven't heard if there will be an offline mode either. Assuming it's a full on MMO, you will probably need to be constantly connected to the server to play the game. I also don't know if this will be cross-platform (meaning Xbox players will be able to play with PS3 or PC players).

Check out this full on XBox 360 gameplay video from IGN for more info.

I'm probably going to pick this up since I love SyFy shows, and I like shooting aliens in the face with their own plasma canons (a la Mass Effect, Halo, Crysis, Gears of War etc).

Check it out coming out, April 2, 2013 for the XBox 360, PS3, and PC

Also check out the SyFy trailer: