Defiance: The Game Part 2 (of 3)

For those of you unfamiliar with the game or the TV show that it's tied into, Defiance takes place on Earth in the near future. An alien species found our planet, and used Voltan technology to terraform part of our planet. As a result, the changes started to spread as other races decided to settle on our planet.

As a result, our world now looks very different. Of course, there was a big war that took place in order to stop the terra-forming, but since the series starts after the war, we don't gt to see any of it. Beyond that, I know virtually nothing of importance about the show. I hate sci fi that takes itself too seriously. Through in some humor (like the Mr Spock and Dr. McCoy fights on Star Trek), or I'm bored.

The game, however, is very entertaining. Especially now that version 2 is out. The first version, which required you to buy a hard copy of the game, was so filled with bugs that it was barely playable at times. For my Xbox, it was an over night install. Then in the morning, I had to install an update patch that took an additional four HOURS. And then about once a week or so, there was another patch that required anywhere from thirty minutes to a couple of hours. FUN!

Then there was the dlc (down load content) that Trion kept pushing on you. Every new dlc came with some type of weapon or device that you could only use if you had the dlc. It also "coincidentally" seemed that you had to have the latest dlc to download the newest patch faster.

I personally only have the Arcbreaker dlc, and others have told me the other dlc isn't really worth it, unless you're a hard core fan of the game. The only reason I spent the $10 on Arcbreaker was because it seemed like there was a hole in the game without it. After all, a big part of the events at the time was the major and minor arc falls. And if you beat them, you got a weapon that you couldn't use without the dlc.

The other thing about the arc falls is that appear in different places at different times on the map. If you have the dlc, you can summon a fall at times. If you don't have the dlc, you either wait for one of the other players to do it. There is a nice mission involved with the dlc, so you can grab some achievement points as well.

Should you want all of the dlc, there is a season pass (at least at Xbox Live), that has everything, plus some bonuses, like a hat for your dashboard avatar. It's only $10 cheaper than buying each dlc separately, so if you only want one or two dlc for some reason, don't get the pass. If you really think the silly avatar hat is worth $0, get the pass.

Besides the arc falls there are other types of events. The main difference between them is, if the area on the map is red, it's considered an arc fall. If the area is yellow, it has something to do with a dlc. You can play in either one, but the rewards won't be usable to your character without the dlc.

Some of the events are in "wave" form. You and all the people that show up kill all of the (bad guy name), then you get a couple of seconds to get more ammo. Then another wave, and another, until the timer runs out. Other events have you run around from one spot to another, taking out hordes of (bad guy name here), before moving onto the next spot. When all of the spots are finished, a new spot opens, which has the head (bad guy name) that you need to kill off.

There are also story missions that you can play, if you don't feel like doing the MMO thing. You get a main story line, as well as a few "episodes" (new missions). There are even some trials that you can do, such as races, kill all the (bad guy name) in a short time, etc.

These story based missions are also recycled for small group events. Teams of four, to be exact. The corporations in the game give out two types of contracts, for extra points and money. There are the daily contracts, that you can do solo, or with as many people that show up, as well as a weekly contract. Again, these can be done solo, with friends, or with others that just happen to show up.

Besides the recycled contracts, there are also contracts that are done with a group of four players. The farther along you get in the game, the more of these are open for you to play. And yes, some of them are recycled locations. Fortunately, there isn't any dlc needed for MOST of the contracts. There are some contracts, however, that you do need dlc for.

The rest is pretty straight forward. Get the various money types (why don't games just have one monetary unit any more?), upgrade your skills and weapons, shoot-to-kill. All ammo caches and dumps refill both of the weapons that you currently have equipped. The nice people at Trion (a term I wouldn't have used a year ago) have even upgraded the grenades. Instead of an enemy dropping a specific type of grenade, of a specific color, it just drops a charge that automatically refills whatever type of grenade that you have equipped.

There is one bug they seemed to have added, unfortunately. When you pull the L trigger to aim, you don't just zoom in on your target. For some reason, the cross hairs move off to the side, forcing you to re-aim as you aim. While aiming is a very good thing most of the time, this is very annoying when you're up against the Warmaster, or any other boss. HINT: Don't open the Warmaster's cage as soon as you enter the arena. Wait until it opens on its own. This allows more players to enter the arc, increasing your odds of beating him before time runs out.

I'll cover the story, and a bit more about the basics, next time.