Defiance - PC

Defiance is a shooter with a twist. For starters, it's an MMO set in a persistent universe, which is no common thing among console games. For seconds, it's tied to the TV series of the same name. Not in the way that you would expect, though. Rather than being a lightweight spin-off, publisher Trion Worlds promises that the game's evolution will reflect that of the show, and vice-versa.

The premise certainly has all the trappings of a great science fiction shooter. Set in the San Francisco Bay area, it takes place in a world that has been deeply altered by a terraforming event. Plant and animal species have fallen away and been replaced, while several alien species have landed and set up shop, leading to war and further changing the face of the Earth as we know it. Now, after the war, humans the Votan aliens live alongside each other, but the living is far from straightforward.

Players are enlisted as 'Ark Hunters' by Von Bach Industries to head into the Bay Area on the hunt for valuable alien tech that has made it to Earth in fallen spacecraft. They won't be the only ones after the tech, however, so expect massive online arena battles to ensue!

Rather than choosing character classes, players choose 'origins' for their characters, but unlike classes these don't limit the future weapons, abilities and appearance. Expect high levels of customisation on the appearance front, as well as different special abilities to choose from.

Defiance is an ambitious project, to say the least, and could finally bring a bit of meaning to the over-used notion of 'transmedia' content. more