The latest developer to roll out their own take at the Arena-FPS genre of video game, Ubisoft, has today rolled out their free-to-play fast-paced arcade shooter dubbed XDefiant. Developed by Ubisoft’s San Francisco studio in collaboration with a range of their other regional development teams, including their Sydney-based them, this has been developed with current-generation hardware in mind: supporting the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (via Ubisoft Connect).
This release comes following a series of closed and open beta tests, and offers all preseason content to players, including 14 maps inspired by other Ubisoft games, five Ubisoft franchise-inspired factions, 24 weapons, 44 attachments and five devices. Future content will be made available through seasonal content – featuring one new faction, three new maps, three new weapons and more each season using a similar format to many other live service games.
Players can experience playing as one of five Ubisoft franchise-inspired factions: The Cleaners (The Division), Libertad (Far Cry 6), Echelon (Splinter Cell), DedSec (Watch Dogs 2) and Phantoms (Ghost Recon Phantoms). Each faction includes three characters, but only one will be unlocked from each faction. The others are unlockable through completing in-game missions.
But how do you actually play the game? Players can battle it out in matches from two game mode styles: Arena and Linear. More information on each are available below:
There are three Arena-style matches available:
In Domination, teams fight to control three fixed zones.
In Occupy, teams fight to control one zone that periodically moves around the map.
In HotShot, players fight to get the most Kos. Points are granted or denied when players collect tags from fallen foes or allies. The player currently holding the most tags becomes the HotShot and is granted a host of speed buffs but is marked on the map for all to see.
There are two Linear matches available, casting players in attacking or defending roles.
Zone Control has the attacking team working to secure five zones in a progression across the map, while defenders must fight to stop them.
In Escort, the attacking team must bring a package to its final destination across the map, while the defenders attempt to stymie their progress and push the package back.
