THE BAD
- To exit the game go either into SETTINGS or CHARACTER menu, then bring up the radial menu by KEEPING space pressed and select exit game. That's four clicks. Almost all other PC games work like this: ESC->QUIT.
- Instant crash when trying to go into SETTINGS menu when using a 120hz monitor, even when its set to 60hz. To change my settings I have to attach ANOTHER monitor with the SAME RESOLUTION. Because otherwise I can't change the resolution back, once my gaming monitor is attached again.
- Key mapping is not being saved properly, no matter how I exit the game afterwards. Binding POWERS to Q, weapons to 1 and 2 and ROLL to thumb mouse button works, but its not being saved on exiting the game. It even uses keys for two actions (weapon 1 and POWERS on pressing 1) when I log back in. Each time you start it up, you have to rebind the keys.
- Mouse cursor slows down extremely when aiming with the right mouse button. It's really hard to hit stuff when suddenly you have to slide around like crazy on the mousepad, each time you're looking down the sights/scope. This is the ABSOLUTELY WORST issue for me.
- Several items seem to be bugged and unremovable from the inventory. They can't be salvaged, sold or simply deleted and end up clogging up the inventory, forever.
- When entering the Dodge car from the right side, it cannot be driven. You've entered the passenger seat and its impossible to slide over to the other seat. You have to exit and enter from the driver side to actually drive. Nothing indicates that it wouldn't work that way. It just doesn't start and seems broken.
- Some quests seem to be randomly bugged and don't progress; ie. unable to talk to an NPC/use a computer. They have to be abandoned and restarted, hoping it works this time (so far it did the second time). Other quests like Reservoir Chickens, give you the weapons back after you've used up the bullets of the given weapon (and achieved silver) and then prompt a FAILED message when you leave the mission area: they don't end properly. You can still continue to shoot chickens with your own weapons, FOREVER.
- The game world seems to be pretty small. It's gotta be the smallest MMO I've ever played, even smaller than TSW. If you've seen everything after a week or even less, there's not much incentive to continue playing, other than waiting for DLC and hoping they are actually each as big as the whole game, which I'm sure they won't.
- From some menues the ESC key brings you back one step, from others it quits right back to the character in game. For instance in the salvage matrix, depending on wether you're in the selection of weapons or have one already selected, pressing ESC will bring you back one step, or simply close the window and throw you back to the world, when you're not done.
- The Arkfalls I find extremely boring. It's basically the same concept from RIFT: hit on a mob for 30 minutes until it dies. In between he disappears and two smaller arrive, which you have to shoot "only" for 5 minutes each. It's just not fun. And then when you're finally done, you don't even get a weapon or mod as reward. Boring boring to shoot mobs over such a long period and watch their HUGE healthbars decrease in slow motion. That was my first and last Arkfall.
- Very few types of enemies so far. The Hellbugs, the Mutants and the Raiders. Most look alike, even if there's a few different types in each faction. But I suppose not many more enemy factions can be expected in such a small world.
- The mission NPCs in the world seem to be all voiced, which is a good thing. The bad thing is that their mouths don't move when they talk.
- Extremely short line of sight. Players and other stuff pops in basically under your nose. I'm sure this has been done so that consoles can handle it. Of course there's no need to change it for PC players who can handle much farther lines of sight. We all love the pop-ins, they contribute so much to the atmosphere and real-world-feel.
The whole game is optimized for consoles. Mousespeed changes, clunky menues, low resolution (yes it actually COULD be worse like in ME3, but still), straight crashes when using a 120hz monitor and the wonderful pop-ins.
PC players are second class customers for many companies today which often only get the bare minimum of optimisation (if any), and I'm increasingly annoyed by this. If I knew this was a console port where PC players take the backrow, I wouldn't have bought it. But now I can add another developer to my list to be extremely cautious about buying games from. Trion Worlds, I am disappointed. I used to respect your RIFT release and see it as good example amongst the MMO world. Defiance has opened my eyes now.
THE GOOD
So, what's positive about this game? I suppose the setting is ok and the whole "massive" co-op gameplay is also a welcome change to the pure PvP shooters. There's plenty of weapons to chose from and specialize, and the whole EGO thing seems to be ok, not being extremely progression based. I like level playing fields. The vehicles are also a fun idea for transportation, even if they drive extremely arcady. And I suppose this is already it.
THE SCORE:
As it stands now this game is worth a 60/100 at best. And that's being generous with some of the issues. Blatant disregard for PC players' standards and a seemingly rushed release pull the score really down.
