XDefiant for Xbox Review: The only thing this “COD Killer” is destroying is my goodwill toward Ubisoft

[Windows Central]

Pitting Ubisoft’s free-to-play shooter against Call of Duty feels almost as unbalanced as XDefiant’s matchmaking. Ubisoft has a long history of canning free-to-play shooters that don’t capture virality, so don’t get too attached.

XDefiant for Xbox Review: The only thing this “COD Killer” is destroying is my goodwill toward Ubisoft : Read more

 

[Raansu]

The welcome playlist does have sbmm enabled. It literally says so in its description. It sounds like the writer just isn't very good at FPS games.

 

[Monday Moods]

Have to agree with the other reviews. I read hundreds of game reviews and this review feels way off. I've played nearly every shooter ever created for console and I personally think this is a great revival of a classic concept. It feels to me that the writer has taken his sudden awareness of his poor FPS skills personally through the realization that without SBMM he is the bottom of the skill barrel. I find it refreshing to have such a wide variety of wins and losses. I want to experience dominating wins, devastating losses and close games. I don't want every game to feel like an edgy battle because I'm constantly competing against my equals. It's not a perfect game by any means but it's simple and fun and that's enough for me.

 

[Monday Moods]

It unfortunately may be true that that this game will have a short shelf life, but it's fun for the simplicity it is. I find the unbalanced match making very refreshing. It makes it unpredictable which is exciting. SBMM has made me bored of games like call of duty. SBMM only belongs in ranked play lists in my opinion.

 

[blackhat91]

"Why you can trust Windows Central Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you."

Yet reviewers can't even read the descriptions of the playlists in the game... For example:

Welcome Playlist: Learn to play XDefiant with other players under level 25. Skill-based matchmaking is ON for this introductory playlist."

Emphasis theirs, in-game description when entering the playlist. Maybe their game reviewers aren't as good as their physical product ones?

In seriousness though, I get if the design of the game isn't for you- if you are a fan of the current Call of Duty design, you WILL hate this game. That's because the design of this game is supposed to be that way. For years many people have been upset at Call of Duty's ridiculously fast TTK and insanely heavy SBMM in all modes. XDefiant is for those players. Nothing wrong with that, but at least own that in the review since that was literally a selling point of the game since it's announcement. Not including that up-front, that this review is from someone who (hopefully) understands they are stepping into a game NOT made for their tastes, isn't very fair.

Its like someone who hates Sims reviewing a Sims game as if they are being in any way objective. They aren't, they are going into it knowing the developers were making a game that wasn't in their tastes, and then are acting upset it isn't in their tastes. Its ok to write an "outside in" review, coming from the perspective of someone to whom the game isn't trying to sell itself, but declare that at least.

 

[bayonettarocks]

You do realize that the golden age Call of Duty games like Modern Warfare and Black Ops didn't have skill based matchmaking right? Even though Activision is now claiming they did, everyone with a brain knows they didn't and that's what made them fun. When you're a new player, you're going to get your butt kicked. But keep playing the game and you'll see yourself getting better, and in no time you'll be the one pwning the noobs. That's how online gaming used to work. Nowadays Activision made it so that the noobs only play with the noobs, and the good players only play against hackers and packet burst. The noobs don't get better this way, they stay as noobs, but Activision manipulates their matches to make them feel good so that they buy more bundles. XDefiant is taking us back to the days where the Casual playlist is not the same as Ranked, it's actually casual. Obviously you're not going to be that good if it's your first time, it's like any other skill in life.

 

[aLeeknBoat]

Wow, what an unbiase review we have here. It's almost like you came into XDefiant not fully prepared to hate it. (Sarcasm)

Hey, I totally get it if a game is not your cup of tea, but don't make the article sound like you're shilling out for a game like it's honor needs to be defended. Both games can exist at the same time. Both games can be enjoyed, too.

 

[aLeeknBoat]

"Why you can trust Windows Central Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you."

Yet reviewers can't even read the descriptions of the playlists in the game... For example:

Welcome Playlist: Learn to play XDefiant with other players under level 25. Skill-based matchmaking is ON for this introductory playlist."

Emphasis theirs, in-game description when entering the playlist. Maybe their game reviewers aren't as good as their physical product ones?

In seriousness though, I get if the design of the game isn't for you- if you are a fan of the current Call of Duty design, you WILL hate this game. That's because the design of this game is supposed to be that way. For years many people have been upset at Call of Duty's ridiculously fast TTK and insanely heavy SBMM in all modes. XDefiant is for those players. Nothing wrong with that, but at least own that in the review since that was literally a selling point of the game since it's announcement. Not including that up-front, that this review is from someone who (hopefully) understands they are stepping into a game NOT made for their tastes, isn't very fair.

Its like someone who hates Sims reviewing a Sims game as if they are being in any way objective. They aren't, they are going into it knowing the developers were making a game that wasn't in their tastes, and then are acting upset it isn't in their tastes. Its ok to write an "outside in" review, coming from the perspective of someone to whom the game isn't trying to sell itself, but declare that at least.

Well said, bruv.

 

[SgtGuarnere]

There's almost as many things wrong with this review as it claims there is with the game. Sure, I can come up with a couple of things I dislike about xDefiant and I can even name a few things that are just not working well enough (hitreg and -feedback for instance). However, basically all the negatives named by the writer are actually the game's strong suits and are the way it distinguishes itself from what Call of Duty has become over the years.

To shine a light on the most obvious one; Call of Duty is a sweatfest for each and every player. There's no single round in which you just get to relax a little, knowing you'll be alright. That is what SBMM does. I play games because I like to relax a little every now and then, while still experiencing some challenges along the way. Having done that for quite some years, I've grown to be relatively good at it too. In CoD, I get punished for that and get forced to play every match at my best in order not to get destroyed. There's no fun in that for me, let alone relaxation. In xDefiant, there's quite some matches in which I know after a minute that I can just do some fun stuff, knowing my team's gonna be alright.

Lastly I'd like to point out the writer holding xDefiant's engine in high regard. Which to me is funny, as the visuals in the game are actually rather poor to me. I have a great PC setup and am able to run the game at my monitor's native 165 FPS at the highest settings. The game still doesn't look at all visually appealing though. Please note, I don't mind that at all as I think gameplay is more important. I just thought it was funny that the writer points that out as a positive for this game.

 

[fdruid]

Honestly SBMM sounds like the right way to do it.

Despite SBMM’s good intentions, it has drawn the ire of influencers and content creators, as well as their followers, all of whom believe that it is holding them back from being better at the game. If only they could just steamroll new players, their K/Ds and clips would be so much better.

This is plain dumb. Basically these clowns feel entitled to be allowed to have fun (and make money) at the expense of others. Killing players below their skill is not "being better at the game". Another proof that the whole streamer/"influencer"/youtuber culture is absolute garbage.
Play the game, gett better at it, in fair and real terms, then show that to your audience.

 

[K Shan]

Wow, these posts are full of very obvious bots. "I agree with other reviews".

Very obvious it's a bad game with comments like these. I won't even try it out now.