After failing and flailing about like a decked fish for several years, Ubisoft not only has a successful free-2-play title, but it has created a game which has the potential to become a cornerstone of the FPS genre.
PvP Multiplayer.
As a longtime fan of Ubisoft games, I couldn’t be happier with Ubisoft’s decision to incorporate maps and announcers from previous games, such as Far Cry 6, The Division, and The Division 2, into XDefiant.
Exploring locations I know and love is fun, especially when they have been recreated almost perfectly (I can even find my favourite cover spots from Division 2), and it is a great way to reuse assets while making nostalgic gamers like me very happy.
This design choice, coupled with each faction being a homage to a different Ubisoft franchise, is a great way to make XDefiant feel approachable and even somewhat nostalgic to fans of other Ubisoft franchises. It helps make playing a brand-new game feel like reuniting with an old friend.
While I doubt we will be able to see Assassins from Assassin’s Creed in-game, I would love to explore some of the locations from those games, even if in a more modern setting. I feel Ubisoft would be remiss not to throw fans of Assassin’s Creed a bone when they are one of Ubisoft’s largest and most loyal audiences.
Ubisoft have plenty of experience when it comes to making first-person shooters, and XDefiant is further proof of that; while the gunplay is not as smooth as, say, Call of Duty or Destiny, it is very similar to the type of gunplay we have come to expect from Ubisoft.
That being said, there is room for improvement, and I certainly feel that Ubisoft will continue to balance weapons as each season progresses.
As of Pre-Season 1, standard/unmodified SMGs are at a constant disadvantage due to their small ammo clips and high rate of fire, meaning that while it’s easy to kill a single enemy and possible to kill a second and wound a third, it’s not possible to kill three assailants without switching to as side arm or risking a reload, unless you have near perfect fire control, which unfortunately is not something that many causal players have developed.
As a result, SMG players kill one or two enemies before being killed by a third, who always seems to be just around the corner due to the way that each map is built in such a way that attacks can come from any direction, making XDefiant one of the most exciting and thrilling first-person shooters on the market.
Gunplay aside, each operator has access to a unique ultimate ability and the choice of two “role-based” abilities, such as a powerful healing ability or passive area-of-effect healing for healer roles.
Other roles have abilities that aid in providing support, uncovering enemies, or soaking up damage, similar to what we expect from titles such as Overwatch and similar titles.
As a fan of Rogue Company, I feel that XDefiant is a fantastic replacement for a wonderful title that appears to no longer be actively developed as of early 2024.
At the time of writing my review, XP gain feels just about right, and honestly, that is a problem.
While right now it feels great, and players unlock new items and attachments at a good rate, it only feels this good because of a temporary double XP event, and returning to standard XP honestly is something I am not looking forward to.
If XDefiant is your only online/competitive game, then yes, you will still make good progress each day. However, progression will be rather slow and frustrating if you have a busy schedule or play multiple games.
Thankfully, this is easily fixable, and many games (including Fortnite) have gone through periods where XP rates were terrible, only for them to be adjusted mid-season to be more enjoyable and palatable for those with busy schedules or other commitments.
One way of mitigating this would be to tie progression more to gameplay than challenges, which currently is the only way to make steady progression; while dailies work great for those who have time to play every day, not everyone does, and moving the bulk of XP to seasonal quests or weeklies would go a long way towards making XDefiant progression more casual friendly.
While gamers praised Ubisoft for ditching skill-based matchmaking for most modes and playlists, they did so in the mistaken belief that lobbies would be filled with prey for the taking and they could finally become the alpha wolf they always imagined themself to be.
Unfortunately, people who hate skill-based matchmaking because it stops them from being able to dominate new players are often terrible players who lack the ability to win a fair fight, and by removing skill-based matchmaking, they have not become the hunters; they have become the prey.
Thankfully, XDefiant is such a good title. It continues to grow despite this poor decision, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some form of skill-based matchmaking incorporated in future beyond the new player playlist, which allows players under 25 to enjoy skill-based matchmaking until they level out of it.
Fortnite saw a huge surge in popularity when they introduced Zero Build mode, and it’s one of the most popular playlists to this day, despite the original battle royale mode continuing to grow alongside it.
Allowing players to choose to play without skill-based matchmaking is cool; forcing them to play without it is not.
Ubisoft, as one of the largest publishers in the world, is often the target of hate campaigns by terminally online gamers, and honestly, it’s getting a little old.
I have never understood how rational people could believe they have a right to hate someone or something simply because they make games or changes to games they may not like. Yet, people feel they have a “right” to spew hatred every time a certain company is mentioned.
We get it you are angry that EA sold you a bad lootbox in 2013, but perhaps it’s time to let it go.
Holding onto hate and encouraging others to do the same is not only unhealthy, but it’s also a spiritual poison that damns those spreading it and corrupts those who hear it and decide to join in with the hate campaign.
There is a time and a place for calmly listing any grievances and offering constructive feedback, but spamming “Ubisoft Bad”, “Fortnite Sucks”, or informing everyone for the 100th time you will not be buying the next EA game or playing the next instalment of Call of Duty is hardly constructive feedback.
Only mentally, emotionally and spiritually sick people get a perverse thrill from spewing hatred and an even bigger thrill when they see others share their same hate.
Instead of rejoicing when you successfully remind someone to hold a grudge over some perceived wrongdoing from years ago, remember that you will be judged by that same standard for everything you do, a sobering and honestly terrifying thought for most people.
Instead of spewing hate and encouraging others to do so, treat others as you would like to be treated: with empathy, compassion, dignity, and respect.
Whether you believe in the words of Jesus Christ or not, his words will be your judge, whether you like it or not.
While this sounds like such a simplistic way to define something, at times, simple words are best, and honestly, while I doubt XDefiant will ever become my “main game”, especially with Call of Duty Black Ops 6 promising to be a homage to older Call of Duty titles, I cannot see myself uninstalling XDefiant anytime soon. I will probably make a few purchases to support the game, even if I am not interested in working on the seasonal battle pass until Ubisoft fixes progression.
XDefiant is a shooter video game developed and published by Ubisoft, it was released on 21 May 2024 and it is Free-2-Play.
XDefiant is available on the following platforms: PC, Playstation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
As of June 2024, around 10,000,000 people play XDefiant on a fairly regular basis.
XDefiant is extremely active, and instantaneous matchmaking is possible in most regions 24/7; however, in very remote regions, there may be wait times of around one minute to find a full lobby.
XDefiant supports:
XDefiant offers the following matchmaking options:
The XDefiant in-game store sells:
The following peripherals are officially supported:
XDefiant is rated PEGI 16+ and contains:
While many in the gaming community feel it is acceptable to hate Ubisoft because they create many mechanically similar open-world games, they are often some of the best games on the market. As a longtime fan of the company, watching Ubisoft flounder for several years trying to find a title that had the potential to become their live service gravy train has been frustrating.
It was also disappointing to watch games get leaked and sometimes even announced officially, only to see them cancelled before we could play them.
While many thought xDefiant would never release or die at launch, it had proven the haters wrong by becoming one of the fastest-growing free-to-play shooters on the market, attracting almost 8 million players in less than a week following its very successful launch in May 2024.
While xDefiant isn’t Call of Duty or a one-to-one replacement for Overwatch, it has enough similarities to both franchises to make it appealing to fans of either and, most importantly, first-person shooters in general.
Overall, XDefiant is an excellent title and one that I heartily recommend.
