Defiance: The Game Part 3 (of 3)

As I mentioned previously, I can't get into the show. As such, I really don't know how much cross over there really is. The initial premise was that if something big happened on the show, it would eventually be added to the game. If someone came up with a really good character, then the show could use it (royalty free, of course) in the show.

With that said, after you chose your character type (race, gender, profession, etc), you get something called an E.G.O. It's a computer chip that enables the HUD on your screen, as well as gives you advice and story points while you play. It's sort of like schizophrenia, without the aluminum foil hat.

As you earn experience, you can build up your EGO. There are four main skills, such as invisibility cloak, and various add on skills that you can choose from, such as doing extra damage once your shield wears down. And by the way, your EGO gives you the ability to equip a force field as well.

I don't want to put in any real spoilers, so I'll keep this kind of vague. The storyline for Season One is what you might expect. The war is over, but there are still plenty of bad guys from all of the races around to take care of. First, you earn the respect of a Human general, as you take out various groups of raiders near the main camp. There's also lots of hellbugs (really big bugs) to squach with your ATV, or use for target practice, as you explore the San Franscisco Bay area.

Eventually, you will meet new kinds of bad guys as you complete the tasks mentioned in the previous post. Miners, Volge, Dark Matter, and so forth. The game does make it easy to keep the rank of the bad guys equal to yours. For instance, the raiders and hellbugs really aren't that bad. But if you decide to just explore the world without doing missions, you will stumble across something bigger than you are early in the game. The joys of an open world game.

The main missions, like restoring the radio station, will be marked either by a big exclamation point, or a start on your map. Anything else that you come across is either going to be a side mission, which you don't need to complete, or a challenge, such as a race against the clock. These are also optional, as well as repeatable, so don't fret if you don't like the score you get.

You should also know that the skill levels in events are affected by how many people show up for it. If there is just you, the level will be low. If say ten people show up, there will be more bad guys, and their skill levels will increase. Unfortunately, the game does NOT self correct for people leaving early, or just passing through. Trion has been saying that it does since day one, but I have yet to see this happen.

Eventually, you will find yourself at the Golden Gate Bridge. There is a big battle there in the storyline. However, if you are just exploring, you can cross it and explore first. That's what I did. Once you complete this mission, you will find a California that is unrecognizable. It looks as if a nuke hit, and whipped the city off the face of the earth. You will find some broken up streets, as well as destroyed houses. Other than that, there is little to make you feel like you are still playing on Earth. Even the unique plants from the first territory look more alien.

Your next big story arc involves defeating the Dark Matter. They have a sinister plan for the planet, and all of those that live on it. Again, I don't want to give out any spoilers, so let's just say its along the usual "there can be only one" mentality. Only without Quickenings, Adrian Paul, or Christopher Lambert.

Once you complete the final mission here, you get (or at least got) the whole end credits, "Wow! You're a god" style ending. When I finished Season One, there wasn't a Season Two, or even free software. As such, I don't know what happens now. I was, of course, allowed to keep playing, since the dlc was still coming out.

In Season Two, which is where I am now, you're delving into events concerning your EGO. That's pretty much all I can say about it, since all I finished was the story arc, and none of the "episodes." I have a clip from Season Two embedded below. It is a spoiler, however, since it is of the last mission in the main story arc.

If you want a review that was done when the game first came out, and is contrasted with how it is now, I have one up at Amazon. As with Xbox Live, I'm Psycho_Archer there. The only difference is the "_" in my name.

I hope you enjoyed this review, and will subscribe to my blog, and/or YouTube channel. If you need a boost to get caught up, there were 72 codes provided by Trion to give players some freebies. I do not know if they still work with Defiance v 2.0, but feel free to use them if you can. I did a copy/paste instead of typing, and it only took a few minutes.