Defiance takes place in the near
future, like most stories in the dystopian genre. The Earth that we know and
love is gone. It has been replaced, and partially terraformed by a collective
of seven alien races called the Votan. They came to Earth because they lived in
a binary solar system and one day their two suns collapsed causing the
destruction of the system. Most of the population remains in stasis upon arrival
at Earth. The Votan were not here to conquer earth but are here as refugees. The
Votan attempt to negotiate with the governments of Earth for peaceful resettlement
on Earth, but this ultimately fails and results in a breakdown in communication
causing the two sides to begin fighting. This is the start of a seven year
conflict known as the Pale Wars. The Pale Wars ended due to an event commonly
known as Arkfall, which was when some of the Votan ships were destroyed and the
terraforming material fell to Earth, rapidly changing the landscape and the
animals. No one knows what happened on the ships whether it was human or Votan
that destroyed them. What helped end the
war was also in part due to the events that happen in what was formerly known
as St. Louis, now by the name of Defiance. They were called the defiant few;
both Votan and Humans alike abandoned arms to help rescue civilians who lived
in St. Louis. Nothing remains of the old St. Louis with one exception, the
Gateway Arch. This is a new earth, with new rules.
Trion’s game is set in the San
Francisco Bay area. You play as an ark hunter who tracks pieces of the Arks’
fallen to earth and give them to your employer. That would be Von Bach
Industries, he was known as Death’s Merchant during the Pale Wars. You have the
choice to pick either a Human or Irathian race. The Irathians are one of the
seven Votan races. They have a reddish skin and facial markings. As of yet
there are only two playable races, but you have the ability to choose your
origin. This is not a substitute for class. You have the ability to respec and
change the abilities that you choose. The skill system is called Environmental
Guardian Online or EGO. This is where you can add abilities and skills. In game
it is shown as an implant and is highly sought after by NPC who do not possess
an EGO. Like most third person shooters
there are a variety of different
weapons that all fall under the same standards, pistol, assault rifle, shotgun
and sniper rifle. You can also modify these weapons with silencers, increased
clips and so on. Your goal in the game is to find new technology from these
arkfall events and you can also do side missions to get more cash to upgrade
your equipment. You can also compete or work with other players to complete
missions. On one occasion I was running a mission at the same time as another
player and we helped each other out to complete the mission. There was no need
to join a party or anything, we happened to be in the same place at the same
time. It is an interesting game that is still a little rough around the edges.
The television show takes place in
the town of Defiance. We are following the story of Nolan, a human, and his
adopted Irathian daughter Irissa. They are both Ark Hunters before arriving in
Defiance and are searching for a way to get to the promised land of Antarctica,
which has become a tropical paradise in the new world. After finding a piece of
ark-tech they are chased into Defiance by a gang of Irathian outlaws who stole
their vehicle and supplies. They take some time to get the lay of the land in
Defiance. There are two rival families one is a Castithan family called Tarr
and the other is a human family called the McCawleys. They operate like the Hatfield’s
and the McCoy’s, always trying to one up the other. This brings a lot of
tension two the town, especially because McCawleys daughter and Tarrs son are
in love. Go figure, right? After more exploring of the town, one of the two
McCawley boys is found dead and of course Tarrs son is to blame. During a
scuffle between the families the Lawkeeper is shot. Nolan helps to break up the
fight and offers his services to help locate the killer. Soon the truth comes
out the series “villain”, the Votan race that was supposed to be left behind,
the Volge are going to attack Defiance. Nolan and Irissa have gotten enough
script, the new currency, to recoup their losses and go to move out. Nolan is
having second thoughts, he thinks that they could make a difference in the
coming attack but Irissa is a little more cynical and wants to leave and head
for Antarctica after selling the Ark-tech that they found. Nolan decides to
stay behind while Irissa heads out leaving Nolan behind. There is a decisive
battle that is only won because of the powerful Ark-tech that Nolan and Irissa
had found was modified into a weapon that wiped out the attacking Voluge.
During the battle Irissa convinced the Irathian outlaws to come and fight which
gave Defiance crucial time to set off the device. At the end of the episode the
Mayor offers Nolan the chance to become the new lawkeeper.
I think that this show has a lot of promise. To me it reminds me of three great sci-fi shows, Farscape, Firefly and Eureka. It is a western with aliens but it still has remnants of our Earth. The closing scene in the episode is one of my favorites. In the opening we see a little kid in a park that witnesses the Ark ships when they arrived on Earth. In the end we flash back to that kid and behind him is the Gateway Arch. Then it flashes to Nolan in front of the Arch, he is back in his home town, but it is a new place to him and 30 years into the future. There is also a great score done by my favorite composer, Bear McCreary. He has done the musical arrangements for Battlestar Galactica(BSG), Caprica , Eureka and also The Walking Dead. If you have watched BSG, you will easily notice familiar motifs in the music but with industrial electric reverb and metallic sounds.
Now you might be asking yourself, well how do they tie in? What is this transmedia you speak of? Well hold on to your blasters kids I’m getting to that right now. The main thing is that in the game you see a few familiar faces and names. You see Nolan and Irissa, they are on the ship that brings you to San Fransisco in the very beginning of the game. The Volgue are not only in Defiance but they are also in the Bay area. You also meet more of the Defiant Few that fought in the Battle for Defiance. On Armistice Day, shown in the pilot episode, was celebrated in-game with a small event. The mayor of Paradise, a settlement in the bay area, is mentioned on the show and will likely make a cameo. I have a feeling that there will be events that happen in the show that will be live events in game, just like Armistice Day. After season one is done airing there will be some big questions left unanswered. While they are working on filming the next season they may have some live events to answer some of these questions and to have the game also affect the show.
Now the
final verdict,
Defiance the game 65/100(Pending)
Defiance the show 88/100
I am giving the game a pending score because it is still in
its infancy for an MMO. There may be major changes to come that will
drastically improve gameplay. As for the
show I think that it has an all-around good plot with twists and turns, great
music and acting. But there are a few clichés and things that have already been
done.
Defiance the show airs on Monday nights at 9/8c on the Syfy channel.
Defiance the game can be purchased at major retailers or if
you would like to support the Geeksmith podcast you can purchase it through
Amazon using this link:
Article Written by Staff Writer: Nathan Butler
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