Xbox 360 PS3

Defiance

ShooterRole-playing (RPG)Strategy

Overview

Defiance is a massively multiplayer online third-person shooter developed and published by Trion Worlds. Defiance took place on a terraformed Earth several years into the future. It was a tie-in to the Syfy show of the same name. The game was released in April 2013 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was also released on Steam.

Characters come from one of four Origins: Veterans, Outlaws, Machinists, or Survivalists. Veterans are a group of soldiers who survived The Pale Wars, a massive conflict between humans and aliens. Outlaws are criminals who raid and destroy for fortunes. Machinists are scavengers, who recover alien technology to make profits and a living from it. Survivalists are humans or aliens who attempt to survive in the newly formed, hostile world.

The game takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area, 15 years after the devastating Pale Wars between Earth and a loose alliance of extraterrestrial races known as Votanis Collective. The Votans came to Earth seeking a new home after the destruction of their solar system, unaware that the planet was already inhabited. Friction between the new arrivals and Humanity led to war, during which the Votan's terraforming technology was unleashed. The Earth's surface was drastically altered as a result, introducing radical changes in topography, the extinction of plant and animal species, and the emergence of new species. Afterward, Humans and Votans were forced to live together.

Defiance had been in development since August 2008. It started as a collaborative effort between Trion and Syfy to make a video game that ran alongside a television series. The publisher has reportedly spent more than $70 million during development.

The game received "mixed or average" reviews on all platforms as reported by the review aggregation website Metacritic.