The cel-shaded visuals might have failed to impress when this one debuted as 'Tom Clancy's XDefiant' back in 2021, but, after almost two years of radio silence, Ubisoft's foray into the world of competitive shooters has returned with a shiny fresh coat of paint.
Ditching the cartoony punk-rock inspired art direction in favour of a more grounded feel, XDefiant is now gunning for a place among today's hardcore military greats.
The overhaul isn't purely cosmetic, though, and the quiet removal of the Tom Clancy moniker is emblematic of a wider change in course. Built around a unique faction system, what was initially revealed to be a roster containing four groups from across the Clancy-verse has grown to encompass some of Ubisoft's other most popular properties.
Thanks to new arrivals repping Watch Dogs' DedSec and Far Cry 6's Libertad, XDefiant has 1 XDefiant excels at providing dense, multilayered playgrounds. 2 Urban maps are filled with alleys and tight corners morphed into a full-on crossover shooter with plenty of room for future expansion. Still, in a competitive climate where countless other free-to-play titles have failed to find a footing, it is going to need more than a tangential connection to these big names in order to make much of a dent.
PICK AND MIX
Fortunately, after spending several enjoyable hours defying enemy teams with bullets in a beta build, we can say the foundations being laid here are already extremely promising. Positioned as something of a throwback to the mechanics of older Call Of Duty titles, everything is built around a style of arcade shooting that we haven't seen in a major release since 2018's Black Ops 4. That might seem like a step backwards at first, but when you're darting around the battlefield in these high-intensity firefights the minute-to-minute action feels anything but dated.
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Denne historien er fra July 2023-utgaven av PLAY Magazine UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Batman: Arkham Asylum
15 years!? Holy depressing passing of time, Batman!
The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road
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Up to your pauldrons in science-fiction action
DELTA FORCE: HAWK OPS
Teaching an old hawk new tricks
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Bricks and stones may break robo dino bones
ASSASSIN'S CREED SHADOWS
Presenting protagonist double trouble
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
A delightfully devilish refresh