Defiance

Menus taking many long seconds before the screen populates with any information. Mission progress lost and weapons gone missing. Frequent server downtimes. Delayed or failed attempts to break down your items into resources. These are some of the obstacles you must circumvent to enjoy Defiance to its fullest, and even then, nothing Defiance does is best in class. Yet it has that special spark that ignites the desire to press forward.

As an MMO, though, Defiance does alright for itself. It gives players a massive world to explore and do quests in, as well as co-op missions and Deathmatch/Domination PvP modes. It’s jam-packed with content, and it gets more interesting once you’ve invested several hours into it.

Defiance never quite comes together as well as it should, but there's the nugget of a great idea here. While the action is merely serviceable at best, there's an appeal to the connected world that's undeniably entertaining. Unfortunately, your experience is likely to be handicapped by bugs, which get in the way of the title's ambition.