Defiance 2050: Everything You Need to Know

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Sci-Fi MMO shooter, Defiance 2050, hits consoles and PC with its official release on July 10th in just a few short weeks. In an effort to better fill the servers, Defiance 2050 will launch under the free to play module so players can jump right in and enjoy the full launch experience at no cost – an incredibly smart and forward-thinking move by Trion Worlds. Let’s break down the lore, background and gameplay to see what Defiance 2050 is all about!

Prepare for Arkfall

One of the most interesting aspects of the series its roots. When the original Defiance launched, it launched alongside the Defiance TV series on Sy-Fy. As new events occurred and the plot developed in the TV series, those events and their consequences will spill over to the game and change events and characters throughout the game world – a rather ambitious concept on behalf of Trion Worlds that magnetized me even more to the series. This feature performed fairly well at first but did eventually fizzle out. Both the TV series and the game have gone on to achieve much success, however, each in its own vein. The TV series lasted for three seasons, and the game is still receiving post-launch support and content to this date, especially in the wake of Defiance 2050 arriving just around the corner.

Defiance 2050 is a futuristic online open-world shooter where thousands of players scour a transformed Earth competing for alien technology. You can go it alone or team up with others as you progress you way through the ranks, improving your skills and unlocking bigger and badder weapons along the way to help you shoot and salvage your way around the futuristic San Francisco Bay area.

In Defiance 2050, you are in control of your story. From the very start of character creation, you choose to play as human or alien and modify your appearance as you see fit. The Defiance series features a whole slue of weapons, armor, and special abilities that evolve with experience. Defiance’s large collection of customization items, in tandem with the various aliens, monsters, and humans you will come up against across the futuristic yet desolate San Francisco Bay area, have always exuded a bit of a non-comedic Borderlands flavor to me – if Borderlands was a third-person MMO, that is. Sure you’re on Earth instead of Pandora, but hunting Arkfalls for mysterious alien treasures while simultaneously surviving the cruel world of Defiance with a multitude of weapons at your disposal rings eerily similar to Borderlands in practice, and I mean this in a very good way.

The most notable feature of the Defiance series is its alive and ever-evolving world. I will never forget the first time I jumped into Defiance on Xbox 360 and watched in awe as an absolute mass of players trekked across the bay area to an Arkfall location and proceeded to engage in an incredibly intense and surprisingly dynamic battle with a massive Hellbug creature at the fall. Witnessing that many players come together to take down such a towering monster was a very new experience for a strict console player as myself, and I am eager to see how Defiance 2050 reimagines and builds on this massively multiplayer online experience moving forward.

Shoot, Salvage, and Explore

To better understand what Defiance 2050 is all about, here is a bit from the official website that explains what being an ‘ark hunter’ is all about:

“Valuable alien materials and technology scattered by the orbital destruction of the Votan planetary arks now encircles the earth in the Ark Bel. This debris occasionally rains down in dangerous events called Arkfalls. Ark hunters must fight off other competition both human and alien if they wish to claim the rare minerals and Arktech from the heart of an Arkfall for their own. The life of an ark hunter is exciting, dangerous, and profitable . . . while it lasts.” – via Trion Worlds

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Defiance is about playing out your role as an Ark Hunter and turning your story into just that – your story. From the weapons you bear, the special abilities you hone, and the character classes you build, all the way to the way you play, whether it be MMO style and completely online, cooperatively with a friend, or lone wolf solo, Trion Worlds lets you carve out your own path, every step of the way. The world of Defiance is incredibly rich in character and lore as well, and you will fall in love with the universe as soon as you jump in. Humans and aliens alike are learning to live together amidst a world damaged by the battles around and above. Tensions will rise as different species attempt to assert dominance in different ways, but bonds are also formed in the wake of a newly cohabited planet.

Classes to Fit Your Playstyle

Trion Worlds recently released an in-depth look at their new classes for Defiance 2050, so feel free to check it out here. Ultimately, you will be deciding between the assassin, guardian, combat medic, and assault classes (as well as the demolitionist class, sometime after launch).

Assassins specialize in netting compound critical hits as well as stealth tactics and the ability to spawn a hidden blade. Guardians function as defensive protectors, using protective barriers, shockwaves, and the taunt ability to keep fellow comrades out of the line of fire. Combat medics, of course, heal wounds, save lives, and buff your squad using healing bots, as well as refresh and damage boosting abilities. Lastly, the Assault class sports adaptable abilities and buffs that provide enough versatility for those that prefer a solo style playthrough or just a very well-balanced set of skills.

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Trion Worlds Is Playing to Win With Defiance 2050

Recently , Trion Worlds announced that it has acquired all assets and production materials from the closure of Gazillion Entertainment, who recently suffered a partnership termination with Disney over Marvel Heroes. What does this have to do with Defiance 2050? Server improvement.

Trion Worlds won’t be continuing development on Marvel Heroes, so instead Trion hopes that its server technology will be improved with the acquisition in an effort to mitigate “[c]runch and burn and layoff,” according to Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman. Now having access to all of the patents from Gazillion, Trion is in a great position to continue to improve its server technology and efficiency for current games, such as Defiance 2050, and new projects on the way. It’s clear that Trion is in a period of growth, and Defiance 2050 is just one of the many catalysts at its disposal to feed such growth.

Make sure you’re following @thelootgaming on Twitter to stay up to date on all your gaming news and needs, and be on the lookout for our Defiance 2050 review coming soon!