Defiance, The Game and The Show

So it is perhaps the first real attempt at a cross-over between a game and a TV show, syfy.com has put some big money and a lot of talk behind it. I am willing to put aside my problems with syfy and the way they churn out the junk that's all over the network these days and give this new attempt a fair hearing.

The Game
I've been playing the game since it came out and so far I'm impressed with it, the twists are nice and the gameplay good with a steady progression, that is putting aside the launch problems that I think it is fair to say any online game suffers from when you hype it and overload the networks.

A third person shooter with lots of weapons, modifications and open gameplay (although there are plenty of missions and a main story line to follow should you want too ... and you should). To the credit of Trion Worlds, Inc they have managed to release the game at the same time across all the major platforms and have worked diligently to fix bugs with fast patches and responsive support.

To not spoil the plot(s) I will not go into too much detail other than to say your character will interact with those in the TV show whilst allowing you to do your own thing and influence the game. In fact much has been said regarding how the TV show will influence the direction of the game and vice versa, I have even read that you just might see your character mentioned in the program further down the road so choose those names carefully!

The Show
The show follows the lives of those on Earth years after the arrival of many Alien races that come seeking refuge and a new home. Through a series of events the Earth is terraformed into an unrecognizable landscape where all races now exist (and fight!).

Defiance is the name of a city now standing on the ruins of St. Louis where I expect most of the show will take place in the first season at least, in many ways the initial pilot part 1 episode reminded me of a mix between Jericho and most Westerns with the rivalry between two controlling families.

There is understandably a lot of comparisons with BattleStar Galactica, not surprising since a lot of the people involved in that program are working on this one including camera work and sound track by Bear McCreary.

There will end up being 3 groups, those that watch the show, those that play the game and those that do both. I think you will really have to do both if you are so inclined to get the most out of it.

As hard as it is to judge a program by a pilot episode, I think this might be the one to watch for Sci-Fi fans and gamers this year at least and assuming syfy does not kill it, it could do well branching the divide between watching and interacting.

Let the new catchy phrases begin to encroach on society and go gather some Ark Tech.