{"id":852565,"date":"2025-12-14T21:01:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T21:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xdefiant-review-defying-no-tradition\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T21:01:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T21:01:14","slug":"xdefiant-review-defying-no-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xdefiant-review-defying-no-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"XDefiant Review – Defying No Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"XDefiant\"<\/p>\n

Reviewed on:<\/b> Xbox Series X\/S
Platform:<\/b> PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X\/S, PC
Publisher:<\/b> Ubisoft
Developer:<\/b> Ubisoft San Francisco
Release:<\/b>

XDefiant\u2019s core modes offer temporarily fun stabs at the competitive multiplayer arena shooter, but Ubisoft\u2019s latest attempt at carving out a slice of the lucrative esports pie feels half-baked. Core modes like its practice mode and ranked queue are gated off by construction tape at the time of writing. This leaves a bland battle pass with head-scratching progression decisions and standard weapon-based leveling systems as the only tangible means of rewarding you for playing the game or doing well beyond an individual match. And with questionable netcode and missing mainstay features and modes, not even its interesting hero shooter-like abilities and small tweaks on the run-and-gun, low-time-to-kill formula coined by Call of Duty make me want to return to XDefiant.<\/p>\n

Ubisoft\u2019s crossover shooter couldn\u2019t have picked less interesting properties to kit-bash together. Though each of the five factions currently available in the game adds a cool approach to gameplay, they\u2019re not exactly the superstars you think of when you hear Ubisoft. Instead, players step into the arenas as unfamiliar characters from Ded Sec (Watch Dogs), The Cleaners (The Division), Libertad (Far Cry), Echelon (Splinter Cell), or The Phantoms (Ghost Recon); there\u2019s no Sam Fisher or Dani Rojas for you to recognize or get excited about picking because you liked their game. Each faction has three playable characters (two or more of which you need to unlock in each faction) but they have no differentiating traits between them aside from some cosmetic stuff. <\/p>\n

Combat is fast-paced, with a quick time-to-kill to make each shot count and almost nonexistent respawn timers constantly pushing you back out of the gate to chase down the objective and juice up that K\/D ratio with its hyper-realistic arsenal of guns and devices. The standout here is XDefiant\u2019s selection of 14 maps, each boasting plenty of cleverly laid out lanes and chokepoints, with open areas and tight corridors in different spots to encourage and reward different playstyles.<\/p>\n

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Getting enough kills in one life unlocks a cool ultra ability to help your team out in battle and stack up some extra kills or extra time on the objective. Here\u2019s where things start to change from the familiar: Ultras, alongside a less powerful but still useful secondary ability and a helpful passive, vary based on the faction you choose. Each faction is based on an organization or group from another Ubisoft property and has its own set of specialties and abilities. You can switch between them anytime during a game, letting you adjust your strategy based on the task at hand.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019re playing Domination, but the other team has a sniper in a perfect sightline to pick you and your teammates off one by one, keeping you from capturing the point. Setting up one of the Phantoms\u2019 Mag Barriers might help absorb some sniper fire long enough for your team to grab a reliable foothold and return fire. But as tactical as these abilities can be, XDefiant\u2019s basic setup doesn\u2019t do enough to encourage strategic play over simply rushing the objective and trying to beat the enemy team to the draw until the score limit is reached.<\/p>\n

That game of quickdraw doesn\u2019t always feel right, though. XDefiant\u2019s netcode and hit detection are way off; I can\u2019t tell you how many times my game has registered a shot on an opposing player as a hit, only for them to kill me and the game to tell me that they had full health after I\u2019d been downed. Even with a wired connection and the best ping in my lobby, I\u2019ve been shot through walls as I move and even been killed while hiding behind cover that should block my entire body.<\/p>\n