Making the MMOst — Defiance 2050 E3 2018 preview

I had the chance to sit with Trion Worlds and explore post-apocalyptic San Francisco in the new free-to-play sci-fi MMO, Defiance 2050.

Defiance 2050 is a reimagining of the popular game Defiance, which launched in 2013. This new game brings the same spirit as the original, but with more firepower, an intuitive interface, and support for the current console generations. During my visit to Trion Worlds at E3, Community Manager Scott Jasper and Community Specialist Coby West took me through some of the new weapons and one of the story-driven instances in the game.

Similar to other MMOs, Defiance 2050 has a built out class system with four base classes: Assault (balanced build), Assassin (offensive build), Guardian (defensive build), and Combat Medic (support build). While you level up your character, you also level up each class individually.

Then the weapons come in. The weapon upgrading system is complex and fantastic in Defiance 2050, allowing for customization in a variety of ways. You can deconstruct weapons you don’t want, then use those pieces to upgrade the ones you like for extra bonuses. Each weapon has its own level that will go up as you upgrade it, and passives as well (for example, a larger clip). There are also prototype weapons that you earn in special ways–from killing a ton of hellbugs to doing pursuits. These weapons can go up to level 25, and simply put–they look awesome.

After exploring the weapons options and learning about the class system, we entered a story driven instance in which you’re helping a woman named Rosa Rodriguez get revenge on a scary-looking guy named Jackleg Joe for killing her entire family. (Jackleg Joe, appropriately, does have an actual jack for a leg).

Instead of picking a class to hold onto, you can switch classes at will in Defiance 2050. In the instance Coby played through, she switched from an Assault to an Assassin when dealing with a massive amount of enemies to “mow down” all of the enemies attacking her. It worked incredibly well, and she very quickly took out everyone around her and, eventually, defeated the monstrous Jackleg Joe.

Small interface upgrades have also been made in Defiance 2050–some so small, you may not even notice them at first. For example, your weapon’s crosshairs will change color depending on whether or not you’re close enough to reach your enemies (white if you’re too far, orange if you’re just not quite close enough, and red if you’re in ideal range). Little details like this add a perfect polish to the game.

Overall, Defiance 2050 looks like an action-packed sci-fi romp through San Francisco, and should be a great time for both newcomers and Defiance fans alike. Defiance 2050 is in open PC beta now through June 25th, and will be released widely free-to-play on July 10th on PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4.