XDefiant preview: ‘Tom Clancy’s Smash Bros.’ doesn’t have much fun

Ubisoft’s XDefiant is an arena shooter with a familiar cast drawn from the publisher’s array of shooter and action-adventure franchises. Echelon Spy can be used to defeat their enemies or players can join them as spy Echelon straight out of Splinter Cell. It’s a fun premise backed up by competent, crisp gameplay — but does the game manage to make these matchups memorable?

XDefiantThis is a fast-paced and competitive, free-to-play shooter. Players can choose from five factions, including the Libertad revolutionaries. Far Cry 6; Phantoms are ex-Ghost Recon specialists known as Phantoms. They also include agents from DedSec’s street hacker agency, Echelon spy agency and DedSec street hackers. Cleaners were former sanitation workers that love the Division games. Ubisoft previously described the game as partially a “punk-rock mosh pit,” with earlier materials being significantly more colorful.

It XDefiantThe preview made available to the press featured a more reserved visual style, along with a lot of tacticool. This is great for gameplay, because it’s easy to read both enemy movement and your own squad. But it lacks a certain je ne sais quoi; the closest thing I can say to try and sum up the game’s identity is that it’s Tom Clancy’s Smash Bros.

Six-vs-6 battles take place on two maps: the original and the updated. XDefiant ones drawn from Ubisoft’s Far Cry and Tom Clancy games. Arena-style maps are available. XDefiant’s Domination and Occupy game modes, and then more linear paths for Zone Control and Escort.

After the game starts, players have the option to swap between different factions or weapon loadouts. Factions are the game’s character classes; every player will spend plenty of hands-on time with a weapon, but with a faction they have access to additional powers and abilities. For example, Libertad are excellent battlefield healers and medics, while Cleaners are skilled at controlling areas thanks to their extensive use of fire.

For those feeling a little bit agitated, this game may be able to help. Valorant is a little too slow, or for those who find the focus on Overwatch’s unique hero abilities to be overwhelming. You can find fun tools for every faction, as well as Easter eggs. DedSec can unleash the Infiltrator Spiderbot on an enemy’s face, blocking their view and forcing them to cartoonishly flail and fumble. Joe Ferro is the blue-collar boss of the Cleaners, and he has the Noo Yawk accent. He announces the matches to them.

But XDefiant also doesn’t measure up to the casts of other contemporary shooters. DedSec and Phantoms are tech men. Echelon is also a tech guy. Perhaps this is why the Division is represented by the Cleaners — they’re one of the few groups in the setting that aren’t also tech guys. The Cleaners, who are straight-up villains, spend their time in The Division torching children alive and assailing asthmatics. I’m not morally opposed to the concept of putting pyromaniacs in your game, but the Cleaners are still painted with the same vaguely heroic brush as everyone else. They feel like they are merely checking a box, rather than paying homage and tribute to the Division franchise. The other factions also lose their individuality.

This feeling of wasted potential is felt all over the place XDefiantEven if the gameplay is technically proficient and well executed, it’s not fun. There was never a moment when I felt genuine excitement or enthusiasm. XDefiant is perfectly fine, but in a market already choked with a variety of great shooters, it doesn’t stand out. Its name, even though it is short and confusing, sounds almost like an energy drink or clone of 2006 Halo. Playing XDefiantI was left wondering what this game is. For.

Ubisoft intends to include new factions every three months, so it’s possible we could see something very out-there, like a modern-day take on Assassin’s Creed. For the time being, XDefiant doesn’t elevate any of the characters or gadgets it takes from Ubisoft’s catalog. It’s also hard to think of too many interesting additions that aren’t just more soldiers with cool technology.

XDefiantThe crossover lacks that indulgent pleasure of good crossover, and there are no original or interesting ideas to compensate. It raises the question: Why get all of these franchises in a room if you aren’t going to do anything wild or fun with them?