I stumbled upon a German article about which games died in 2021. One of them was Defiance / Defiance 2050. Now, I am not a fan of shooter games. The main reason (other than some games being too realistic and too close to our real world out there) is that I cannot play games with a first person view as I suffer from simulation sickness. Defiance was different. It was set in its own world (and I also liked the TV series, at least the first season – note to self: Finish watching the last few episodes one day…) and it did allow to play with third person view.
The article mentions similar games: Destiny 2 and The Division 2. But they’re either in first person view or don’t have the open world setting. Defiance felt just right with being enough of an MMO, with a nice and unique science fiction setting as well as being a nice “loot shooter”. So these two suggestions don’t work for me… but it got me thinking: Is there a game like Defiance out there?
Also, why did they have to do that really really bad switch to Defiance 2050 which for us PC players meant either staying behind in the “old version” (which apparently a lot more players were still playing than Defiance 2050) or going to the new version but losing so many things already unlocked… All the while without knowing what exactly was the benefit ot switching. I did go to Defiance 2050, because I couldn’t imagine Trion updating both versions and I wanted to work on the newer version and level up my character there in case they ever do close down Defiance. But I was lacking the motivation to log in and play because it just wasn’t “my” Defiance account. I had more stuff in the original version. And well, in hindsight, I should have just sticked with playing in the original one instead, enjoying the game as I had been, as Defiance and Defiance 2050 got shut down at the same time anyway.
When I am now getting the itch to play a game like Defiance… I am a bit at a loss. I know I don’t want to play a regular shooter game. But what else is out there that is like Defiance?
Nerdy Bookahs 
Warframe? It’s 3rd person.
LikeLike
My husband also suggested Warframe, but also said that it doesn’t have an open world which is something that I want – so that I don’t have to find other players and can just work together with others casually, like in open world events. But I read something about Warframe getting (or already having) some open world maps…
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s actually got 3 “open world” areas… though, tbh they’re probably smaller than a typical MMO zone. But considering that the typical mission map is all about corridors and tunnels and spaceships, the 3 open world areas feel positively massive. If you want to do missions in the open world you still do your matchmaking before you enter, though, so in that aspect it’s just like any other mission area — you get matched, then go to the area. Same for the open world zones. They’re just bigger and don’t have a procedurally generated map ;-)
TBH, the open world areas are pretty low on my totem pole of features I like in WF. I do like to wander around in them solo from time to time, but not often.
LikeLike
With Defiance, I just logged on, looked at the map where an event was taking place, went there and fought in it. Or I did a quest here or there. No grouping with other people. I refuse to do that nowadays because it’s less drama and I can log off whenever I want to.
LikeLike
Yeah, WF doesn’t have anything like that.
OTOH, it’s F2P, so all you lose by downloading it and giving it a look it a little bit of time ;-)
LikeLike
Yeah, time is what I’m lacking at the moment. But I can check out gameplay videos to see if it could be worth some of my free time. :p
LikeLike
WF’s claim to fame is fast parkour-style movement and slaughtering hordes of enemies in a power fantasy, as a 3rd-person looter-shooter. It’s much more frenetic than Defiance, though if you’re playing solo you can change it up as you like, playing stealth, playing run and gun, etc. So yeah, a little something for everyone, but if you play with people, especially if you do random matchmaking there’s definitely a “gogogogogogogogogo!!!!” mentality.
LikeLike
Warframe is the first game to come to mind… but I don’t like it because you specifically cite SHOOTERS and it most certainly is not. I want to say Outriders instead, but frankly, I don’t think that’s it either – some elements might scratch the itch, but it’s certainly not a 1:1 to thing. I’ve not played it personally despite it being on Game Pass forever (my Hard Drive Space is precious; I buy a lot of games), so I can’t give any personal impressions. Sorry.
Firefall would’ve been a recommendation, or Anthem, but neither game is alive anymore, lol. I know there’s a indie successor to Firefall being built atm (called Ember; stylized moronically as Em-8er), but like any indie MMO or game approaching an MMO, I’d be wary of development progress. For whatever reason(s), indies have an incredibly poor track record of pushing MMOs successfully over the finish line than they do every other genre combined.
Maybe Hi-Rez’s Global Agenda? It’s pretty old at this point, and I don’t know much about it personally, but it could be worth investigating? Maybe Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet as well? I would also suggest keeping an eye on Arc Raiders, from some former DICE devs. It looks amazing, is third person sci-fi, has online co-op of some sort… not sure about the gameplay loop or the world design (especially whether or not it’s open world), but it could certainly be something to scratch that itch when it releases. We just don’t know enough about it yet: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1808500/ARC_Raiders/
Not gonna lie; this is a toughie!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, these are a lot of games – even if none of them really fit. Sometimes I end up liking a game that I didn’t think I would like, for whatever reasons… like Defiance. I did start watching the TV series first – I think… – but since I do not like shooter games, I knew I wouldn’t like Defiance. And yet, I did!
LikeLike
Fallout 76 has an open world with world events, and the option to switch between first and third person. Although it isn’t an MMO as the servers only allow somewhere in the region of 15-30 players on a server.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did give that game a try before actually, but it didn’t really hook me.
LikeLike
If you want open world with a touch of shooter and something that’s kinda just out there, maybe consider Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis. It’s a game I can just pick up and play for an hour or two a day.
Another small perk depending on your style, the class system allows you to just swap freely and you can try different play styles beyond just shooter. Even the Ranger class (the shooter class) can be played as either a MMO with lock-on or as a third person shooter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It looks interesting. But it also says that up to 32 players can play together. Still, I’ll take a closer look at the game. Thanks for the suggestion. :)
LikeLike