Want more DEFIANCE? OK, here you go, and with the game hitting retail on April 2 and the show popping up on syfy April 13, it’s clear that all that hard work will pay off as soon as both pieces of this long in development project launch. As I’ve noted previously, the game is great fun, fast paced and NOT like any other MMO on the market (Yes, even SOE’s epic shooter Planetside, which some are comparing it to). While there’s NO single player offline component, hopping online and playing at one’s own pace or with a group is smooth and the world is constantly active with things to do. I’m gathering the eleven-day lead up to the show will see some really hardcore players try to break the game by power-leveling and trying to defeat some of those massive bosses or Hellbug spawns solo (good luck with that, by the way). But I think Trion has planned well enough ahead, as the PvP and other more MP focused elements all take place in the same world and can be joined or avoided as one pleases.

As for the show itself, it certainly looks great with all those nicely made-up aliens (and a few alien languages created for the show), well-crafted CG vistas and some cool vehicles (most of which will be in the MMO). As for the writing? I can’t say anything other than we’ll need to see an entire season’s worth of the show to see if it can indeed stand up on its own as something that deserves a long run. For all the time and talent that’s gone into both the show and game, it certainly deserves a ton of respect I don’t yet see it getting. As always (repeat after me, folks): we shall see…