Recent reviews by CatMik

Let me tell you - this game is beautiful. It has a lot of detail in it but not on a technical level like you being able to see all 6000 hairs in the NPC’s armpit - it’s more on a design level. There’s a lot of little tidbits and subtle details even on lowest quality that make the whole thing look amazingly well done. Even in a thing as simple as a buckle I saw a lot of irregularities that gave it a realistic feel as it wasn’t a mathematical model. A rolled up sleeve, when examined closely in the right light and slowly turned, has easily missed bumps and crevices that show in the shading as you turn the model. And that’s not on some amazing premium outfit - it’s on the default suit.

Even monsters called hellbugs are designed with a lot of spikes, teethfull jaws - same thing about the landscape and roads - they are a marvel to look at and while it may not be as dark as fallout 3, you feel the world is no longer driven by huge metropolis and bustling roads. And music helps a lot.

The musical score this game has to offer is... Arguable. There only seem to be one or two tracks for peace and combat each, however I have to give credit where credit is due: The ambient music is amazing. It really adds to the game’s atmosphere and perfectly fits in with the world, no matter if you’re in the northern half of the map where grasslands dominate the landscape or the southern half where it looks like a barren wasteland. As far as battle music goes, it’s also very good. The genre may be a little bit of a confrontation if you dislike dubstep - I feel like it borrows a lot of it, but surprisingly... it fits. And it does so pretty damn well. In combat there’s bullets and/or plasma flying over your head, being bounced off your shield or hitting the wall you’re behind... The hard, metal shredding instruments and electronic theming of the battle theme actually accentuates the urgency and tension of the firefights you get yourself into.

And I have to draw attention to this: This game has amazing performance. My computer can barely run TF2 on medium grapical settings and pump out 30 FPS but Defiance on minimum not only looks far better, it also runs far smoother even in major battles where particle effects fly left and right. And it’s very alt+tab friendly, taking only a second or two to put you back in the game. It doesn’t even stutter. Unlike other games I could be thinking of. I don’t know how Trion pulled it off but my god, they are amazing.

All this talk about graphics would be pointless if I didn’t tackle the gameplay. It’s basically what you get if Borderlands 2 and Saints Row 4 had a baby. No, seriously, an open world with futuristic weapons, infinitely respawning enemies, very fun and creative arsenal, special challenges that offer you a taste of the most advanced weaponry in the game while you absolutely murder every opponent in your path, and even if you die it does nothing but affect your high score. If you enjoy walking around enormous maps and exploration - this game is definitely something you should check out. And if you think walking everywhere is too mundane, you can always spawn a car (free of charge and anywhere you want) and get your rear on the bike to get anywhere pretty fast. Exploration is very rewarding, too, as you can teleport to any base location on the map, meaning that if you’re looking for a particular shop you discovered before, it’s only 10 seconds to get there.
Shooting aspect of this game is done splendidly too - the only complaint I have is that the hitboxes are a little off but it’s nothing unbearable, as often times the enemy has armour on their heads so it takes a while to sink in that this headshot won’t be a crit. The other case is in some select doorways where you can see through the frame because it’s a little bent, but it hits the wall anyway. Again, just some minor details. Combat feels very smooth and level progresion... Pffft HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. There are no levels. The only thing that would work as that is your EGO Rating and that doesn’t have much effect outside of unlocking guns that aren’t much different - I played this game for 26 hours when I was writing this at the start of August 2014 and the main difference between the weapons I had at the begining and now is one thousand damage on sniper rifle headshot. With 4000 damage on my first rifle I don’t think that 25% is all that much, especially since I do reduced damage to shields, meaning I’m even more balanced against more advanced foes. Guns you find are random too. Just like in Borderlands! They have varying levels of rarity, too... Just like in Borderlands! You can also get shields like in Borderalnds and pretty much any futuristic shooter ever made. There are also 4 abilities that you can choose from and even after that you’re not tied to just one - by leveling up certain perks you can get further in the tech trees, which are all connected on one gird, allowing you to get all 4 with enough time invested. All in all - it’s worth the play as far as mechanics go.
Oh yeah, the game has a plot. You start off as a mercenary working for a rich and influential person who has an ancient artifact capable of changing the entire planet. Something goes to ♥♥♥♥ and you crash in the middle of nowhere. One of the main characters is a girl with tattoos that knows quite a bit about what’s going on. Right after you crash, you get an AI that you don’t really know much about but she’s very helpful.

From there on the plot is spoilers, so that’s enough about that. And even though it may look like a ripoff of BL2... It’s fine with me. They take something new with everything I talked about and they’re very creative about everything they do with the setting and the universe they created. Even better, it looks like they’re slowly but surely expanding even further. Who knows, by the end of 2015 I’d love to see a new region.

There are two last things I have to poke at before I feel like I’ve covered everything, and they aren’t as large as the other. First is the freemuim system the game uses - it’s really not Pay to Win, altough premuim currency can get you packages, so can you using regular resources and money within the game. The game also has DLC that while scatterd along the map and easy to find, isn’t being constantly shoved down your throat and the biggest things you can unlock with Bits - the premium money - is customization and convenineces such as extra inventory slots and loadouts you can quickly switch between. Two are enough for my needs as I cover mid range with both, long range with the first, and short range and rapid fire with the second.

The second thing I need to point fingers at is the customization of your character. While it may not be as broad as Bethesda or Volition’s spectrums, they compensate by giving you 5 if not more voices per gender to pick from. You can also make multiple characters that sadly don’t transfer between regions. (US and Europe have saperate servers, for example) While you’re tied into the plot and your character uses a lot of oneliners to signal how they feel and what they do in the game, in cut-scenes you play the silent faceless character, while I’ve seen you being incorporated into the plot and dialogue seamlessly in Saints Row 4. However given how many voices your character can have, it kinda makes sense that you stay quiet because a) timing woulda been difficult to fit you in with all the options, and b) would be even harder if you were in a group, but while I can’t complain, I can wish - making whole groups of players interact with the main story woulda been amazing.

To sum it up, I’d say Defiance is an amazing experince. If you have a chance, give it a go.