I remember at the beginning of this past console generation we were all promised at least on the 360 side of the equation that a slew of massive multiplayer onling games would be coming to the platform. Most of them have ended up in limbo, or worse the console version never materialized. It however wasn't felt that accutely once we got a good look at most of these games, because they just weren't that impressive. So it is easy to see how the idea of such games on the console pretty much eased its way right out of our conciousness.

Well today I was watching On Demand on television, and came across a documentary for the making of Defiance. I was somewhat aware that the series was supposed to debut in April on SyFy network, but really hadn't been paying all that much attention, and I knew there was a game attached to it, but I hadn't paid all that much attention to it either. I have probably did myself a disservice on both accounts. The television series actually looks promising, and once I did some digging into the game I was actually quite surprised.

Yes it is actually a massive multiplayer online game that is coming to both the 360 and the PS3. Not only that, but it will be free to play provided you buy the game, and here is the kicker from all of the game play footage I have watched. It is actually looking really good, and looking really fun. It doesn't look like a mess, and looks really polished. So this is probably the game we were expecting to get all those years ago.

I think with all of talk of this exclusive games, and the big name franchises that are getting sequels. This game is probably coming in way under the radar, and I bet that a lot of you like me totally forgot all about it, or had written it off without ever having seen it. So if you are actually interested you can find a lot of good videos on youtube, but I found these videos to be particularly helpful. The first video is just a basic introduction, and the second video is the first in a long series of Beta playthrough videos. Anyway tell me what you guys think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t1Dlx0OX7Q 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCZ7fW7DLoo

Defiance got my attention with that Sy-Fy trailer a few weeks ago. Playing the Fallout games has always made me want to try an open-world shooter MMO and this actually looks fun. The gameplay seems enjoyable. Of course, there is a lot more to MMOs, a lot of details I would need to know, but I'm definitely interested.

I also like what I hear about the Shadow War PVP, hopefully that's something both fun and rewarding.

What I find somewhat confusing is the lack of attention being paid to this game. Especially considering that what it is really doing is marrying a lot of concepts, and ideas that at least this community was really stoked about when they were major selling points of other games. Whether they were exclusive or not.

The over world in the game is every bit as massive as titles like Fallout, Skyrim, and Oblivion. Meaning that the game has a lot of areas to explore, Even if you couldn't care less about playing with other people. All the story driven content crammed into all of that space should keep most entertained for a good long time.

The player versus player system allows for non instanced battles that could easily involve as many or more players then battles in MAG. Hell the fact that any part of the game world could be used for these battles. Means that the players will effectively have more maps to fight on then were available in that game.

The weapons system seems to be every bit as dynamic as Borderlands is, and perhaps best of all. The weapons that a player loots will probably matter more then those games, because since this game is Massive there is more of a real incentive for the developers to keep the modding crowd off the servers, and you aren't going to be limited to all of just three teammates.

While the games presentation is straight out of Mass Effect. From meaningful character presentation, to the mechanical presentation. It is a straight up third person shooter. With the well designed surrounding Universe. Which was much of the draw of that series.

All of that plus it supports large scale cooperative player versus enemy combat, a really decent looking vehicular combat system, and a major television tie in. Meaning that the game will support a ever growing story. It should really be getting more attention on these forums. Even if it isn't the first or second game that people are wanting to play. It should easily be in most of our top fives, and should be a strong contender for a day one purchase, because it will actually have a continuing story line, and strong online competitive play.

I see a lot of good games coming, but only a few that would absolutely require a first day purchase. Anything that is fundamentally a single player game will still be as good if it is purchased a couple months later. While in Massive titles getting on board even a couple months out. Means you missed out on a certain rush to discovery.

Anyway at least I am not absolutely alone on this one. Once I really started looking into this game it moved right to the top of my must have list. I mean damn the game is looking near flawless even in Beta, and that means it can still get even better in the mean time.

I participated at the Beta weekend in january and I think the game is pretty good. I'm currently waiting to see if this or Firefall turns out better.