XDefiant - Free to play FPS

[Kane99]

I'm surprised there isn't a topic about XDefiant here. Has anyone here played it since it released? It dropped last week and seems to be quite popular as of late. I don't expect it to last like Fortnite has, but I can see it being popular for a little while. I've been hearing it's got a lot of players at the start, but that doesn't necessarily mean those players will stick around. This is Ubisoft we're speaking of, and their track record hasn't been great. 

It's a free to play FPS developed by Ubisoft San Francisco, who is responsible for South Park: The Fractured But Whole, and they did some work on past Assassin's Creed and Far Cry games. I hear the closed beta did really good too. Has anyone here given the game a try yet? Is it worth checking out?

One thing I heard is that the factions in the games revolve around popular Ubisoft titles, like Splinter Cell, Watch Dogs, Ghost Recon, etc. Like with one of the factions being "DedSec" which is the hacker group from Watch Dogs. 

 

Edited May 27 by Kane99

[Shagger]

Well, the was a topic started about this game when it was first announced and the consensus back then was not good.  A generic, live service, FTP looter shooter seen as a complete slap in the face to Tom Clancy fans. I commented on it to;

 

On 7/22/2021 at 2:41 PM, Shagger said:

I don't have a big personal interest in this franchise, but I can see why fans aren't happy.

 

The problem isn't the game itself. Truthfully, I think it looks kind of cool. The issue as far as I can tell is that it's a creative design and gameplay concept that hasn't really got anything to do with Tom Clancy as current fans know it. It's like if we get a Fallout game that's not a single player RPG, but a online looter-shooter MMO. No wait, that actually happened, and it didn't go down well. Same story with Metal Gear: Survive, Even if it were any good as the zombie hoard PVE multiplayer game that it was (It wasn't, it couldn't even meet that low bar), it still wouldn't have sat any better with fans as that it not what people want in a Metal Gear game. 

 

This doesn't mean XDefiant is gonna be a bad game, like I said I think it looks quite promising, but a colourful, anarchistic-punk themed online shooter is simply not Tom Clancy. I have no objections to Ubisoft making this game, but they've just slapped the Tom Clancy name it instead of doing what they should have done, that being releasing it as it's own IP. It's obvious why they did that, it's because they think the Tom Clancy name will help it sell. That is a terrible PR and promotional decision for two reasons;

 

1. It alienates and frustrates current Tom Clancy fans who know what they like about the franchise and offering something that doesn't fit those hopes and expectations will make said fans less likely to buy the game.
2. By slapping a famous name onto a game that doesn't conform to that specific franchise, what Ubisoft is basically telling potential gamers is "We don't think this this game is strong enough to stand on it's own and be successful by itself. We're making it, but already don't have an faith in it.". If the people making the game don't believe in in it, what reason does anybody else have to believe in it? 

 

Like I said, this doesn't mean that this will be a bad game, but when game companies have done this, especially recently, it has typically not turned out well. So this is a "wait for review" title at the absolute best for me, but that probably still means I'm the VGR member most exited for it .

 

And I will admit Ubisoft have taken some positive steps.  The more direct link to Tom Clancy Ubisoft had been planting all over the marketing for this game at first has been drowned out and replaced with a more generalised "Ubisoft Allstars" feel, like an "Ubisoft Smash Bro's" and as that it makes more sense.  So whilst I give them credit for that my interest in this remains very low.  I'm not a fan of these types of games at the best of times and I do not trust a major publisher like Ubisoft when they go FTP.

Edited May 27 by Shagger

[Shortie]

I have yet to check out this game, unfortunately due to being busy and also only owning the Xbox One X at the moment, my only ability to play has been on PC but working from home I don't have much time to play as I used to. 

Those that have played it have mixed reactions on the game but they have said it's a fun game to play. Going to have to set some time aside to give this game a try at some point. 

[killamch89]

I tried it out the other day and it's not half bad. I mean, it's kind of generic but the gameplay is very fluent and it's a very active game. Hopefully, Ubisoft doesn't ruin it like most of their best franchises.

[Smokey]

It's great for a Free to Play FPS. A nice alternative to Call of Duty, but by no means is it a "CoD Killer" IMHO. I do like it though but some of the changes recently is questionable. I'm more excited for BO6 bringing back classic prestige mode but that don't mean I don't enjoy playing a few rounds of XDefiant from time to time. 🙂

[killamch89]

17 hours ago, Smokey said:

It's great for a Free to Play FPS. A nice alternative to Call of Duty, but by no means is it a "CoD Killer" IMHO. I do like it though but some of the changes recently is questionable. I'm more excited for BO6 bringing back classic prestige mode but that don't mean I don't enjoy playing a few rounds of XDefiant from time to time. 🙂

I feel like most of the hype around some of these games is too much especially when they hardly offer anything unique to the series it is said to "kill". XDefiant is a fun game but it doesn't really offer anything that COD or BF doesn't or haven't over the past decade.

[Shortie]

On 6/20/2024 at 2:07 AM, Smokey said:

It's great for a Free to Play FPS. A nice alternative to Call of Duty, but by no means is it a "CoD Killer" IMHO. I do like it though but some of the changes recently is questionable. I'm more excited for BO6 bringing back classic prestige mode but that don't mean I don't enjoy playing a few rounds of XDefiant from time to time. 🙂

I heard so many compare it to COD and call it the COD killer but it seems now many have changed their tune, especially since COD BO6 has been announced and they are bringing so much back to the game that was taken away. 

I still have yet to play more XDefiant, will be a game to play for a change from time to time. 

[Cpvr]

On 6/23/2024 at 7:08 AM, Shortie said:

I heard so many compare it to COD and call it the COD killer but it seems now many have changed their tune, especially since COD BO6 has been announced and they are bringing so much back to the game that was taken away. 

I still have yet to play more XDefiant, will be a game to play for a change from time to time. 

Exactly. Xdefiant’s number of active players have also drastically went down. Their first two weeks numbers were very high, but not anymore.

[Lens]

I can vividly say that the XDefiant offers a great addition to the FPS. The free to play model introduced makes it very accessible to everyone. Trust me, the gameplay is so smooth 😊