XDefiant review – a derivative shooter lost in the crowd

Free-to-play shooter XDefiant lacks a sense of identity despite its fun firefights. There’s space for an arcadey shooter with Battlefield 2024 and Modern Warfare 3 mismanaging their strengths. But XDefiant doesn’t get there. With factions and abilities inspired by Ubisoft’s stable of games, I hoped it would lean on their past. But instead of Far Cry 6’s makeshift harpoon bow or Splinter Cell’s SC-20K rifle, XDefiant settles for a slate of modern weapons and an attachment festival. When live service games like The Finals and Helldivers 2 continue to break new ground, ‘good enough’ isn’t enough. 

XDefiant’s insistence on keeping things simple might also be its greatest strength. With no lore behind why Yara’s revolutionaries are fighting DedSec hackers, it’s an invitation for players to learn about Ubisoft games they might not have paid attention to. Heading back to basics wouldn’t be complete without responsive shooting and slick movement, areas where the game handily delivers. 

Sprints feel great and quick respawns aid the fast-paced nature of matches. A higher TTK (time to kill) than Call of Duty means the first person to fire won’t always win a shootout. Failing to register gunshots and an awkward post-slide recovery are minor hitches that can be ironed out with updates. XDefiant can feel like a work in progress, with the lack of a killcam and enemy collision (you can’t walk through allies) being a curious oversight.

XDefiant’s small selection of guns is pretty cookie-cutter in appearance and performance. You get assault rifles like the AK-47 and M4A1, SMGs like the P90, and a bunch of sniper rifles, LMGs, shotguns, and marksman rifles. Guns feel snappy but don’t sound as hefty as Call of Duty’s arsenal and could use some work. Thankfully, you can unlock them in a couple of matches. But if you want to add attachments, an uphill grind awaits you. With weapon XP drip-fed to you at a snail’s pace, I’m discouraged from trying new guns if I want their attachments. I hope a patch greases up this hamster wheel to ensure you’re earning something once every few rounds.

Combat is tense and engaging thanks to faction-specific abilities. The level design is great, with plenty of tight corridors and sightlines across locales inspired by Ubisoft games. XDefiant adds a hero shooter-like spin to its characters, letting you identify them at a glance and account for their abilities. Phantoms opt for defensive skills like a Mag Barrier that allies can shoot through. The Cleaners pack incendiary ammo while the stealthy Echelon can turn invisible or pop a wall hack. And the Libertad from Far Cry 6 are medics with an overpowered ultimate that doubles your health. Since the DedSec faction needs to be unlocked by earning 700k XP or via a purchase, you’ll run into their hacking-focused kit less frequently. 

Factions can be swapped like loadouts mid-match, meaning you can’t mentally assign a role to an enemy player. These roles aren’t as distinct as Overwatch’s heroes or the classes in The Finals. XDefiant doesn’t restrict how many players can pick a faction, enabling uneven teams of six snipers with Echelon wall hacks or Libertad healers. Fortunately, ultimate abilities take a while to charge up, meaning that you won’t see five Cleaners with flamethrowers purifying the map or five Phantoms in little bubble shields toting electro-scatter guns.

These factions are let loose in five modes that keep matches lively. While I hope Ubisoft will add a regular Team Deathmatch, Hot Shot is a great alternative that puts a neat spin on the usual Kill Confirmed mode of online shooters. While you still collect points from fallen foes, the top scorers on either team can be promoted to a Hot Shot, with enhanced stats and bonus points on kills. But their position is marked on your radar, turning them into an objective to beat or protect. 

Domination and Occupy function as you’d expect and Escort borrows Team Fortress 2’s Payload mode as you defend or halt a walking package. Zone Control pits two teams in a race to capture five successive target zones. Expect more modes with time but at the moment, only Hot Shot attempts to stand out from other gray military shooters. Matches aren’t great at refilling teams when players drop out, resulting in lopsided rounds when this happens. Pair that with the Unranked playlist’s lack of skill-based matchmaking and the outcomes of matches become pretty unpredictable. You’ll run into players of all skill levels but that can work against you when FPS veterans keep sending you to the respawn screen. It’s a breath of fresh air after Call of Duty’s hidden checks and balances system that turns every round into a tense spectacle.

Despite varied factions and excellent maps, XDefiant’s shootouts are let down by a lack of identity and sluggish weapon progression. Outside an emphasis on making skill-based matchmaking optional, the game plays like every shooter from the last decade, leaning into nostalgia over attempting a breakthrough. You only need to look at Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Siege for a 9-year exercise in fostering a personality. While technical pitfalls can be resolved with seasonal updates, XDefiant needs novelty to sustain a player base. Getting Avatar’s Na’vi or Assassins to contest target zones with sniper rifles might feel off-kilter but nothing’s stopping Ubisoft from using maps and modifiers from different eras and universes.

A largely bug-free experience with minimal latency at launch is a good sign of things to come. XDefiant’s battle pass and paid cosmetics aren’t particularly offensive either. But on day one, Sam Fischer from Splinter Cell and Aiden Pearce from Watch Dogs aren’t here. And neither are their unique weapons. They might arrive with post-launch content drops. Hit registry, balancing woes, and even attachment unlocks can be fixed. But right now, my biggest concern for XDefiant is that it isn’t taking advantage of its heritage.

Reviewed on PC.