To my background: I grew up with Tom Clancy games like Rainbow Six, Rogue Spear and Ghost Recon 1-2, Splinter Cell and so on. Good old times. But times changing and I am fine with that. But what the nametag, the brand "Tom Clancy's" has become, it disgusting and honestly it hurts my heart.
The final nail in the coffin was Rainbow Six Siege with the ever growing ******** scifi-elements and more outrageous' skins. Then there was Ghost Recon Breakpoint where the playerbase stood up and said: "No. We don't want that. We deserve better" - and Ubisoft listened somewhat. Then there is Rainbow Six Extraction. Which is a disgrace on it is own. And now we have XDefiant. By. God.
Even if we take the name (both parts actuallym, they pisses me off) out of the game, and pretend this was just another generic shooter, it still hurts to see what Ubisoft stands for nowadays. So here is what some could've hoped for, starting with the Tom Clancy's brand name:
- Somewhat realistic 6vs6 shooter
- Somewhat realistic gunplay
- Somewhat realistic gadgets
- Somewhat realistic "world", grounded in reality
What we actually got in the trailer:
- Overwatch meets Black Ops 4 like 6vs6 shooter
- Non recoil gunplay like in CoD (the recoil is visual only right now)
- Complete BS gadgets, ripped out of the worst scifi-ideas the Ubisoft universe offered
- I have no idea in what world all of this will fit together
- An art style from color hell, as attention grabbing and kids friendly as possible
I am really shocked to see a game that smells "corporate" all over and is basically a mix between Black Ops 4, Overwatch and some SciFi-crap from the Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six and The Division Franchises, melted together in the Snowdrop Engine which proved to be very cheater-friendly and very buggy and full of exploits, using basically all the assets from The Division 1 and 2.
Is there hope? Yes. This can be a good game. A fun game. But right now everything presented is the opposite of it, the reaction from fans, players, media and literally everyone is clear: This is a game no one asked for. And I am pretty sure there would be a place and a time for an game where the best of Tom Clancy's meet each other. It can work. It can be fun. But so far it looks generic and soulless. I really hope they will step up their game and reconsider feedback after august and will show that a game like this CAN work. If done properly .
The trailer and the gameplay offered so far screams "corporate decision" by suits who needed money for their shareholders in 2022, not a game crafted by ideas, vision and love. Hopefully I will be proven wrong. But the last couple of years Ubisoft is trying to catch every trend (last: Hyperscape) instead of leading from the front and bringing unique, challenging games. How cool could've been a 6vs6 realistic competitive shooter in the Tom Clancy universe? But this is not XDefiant (the name alone makes me cringe). Please Ubisoft, proof me wrong.