Over the weekend, the XDefiant Server Test Session kicked off and concluded, which is the game’s first public appearance in over 10 months. While we’ve already played the game before, we’ve played the game again, and unless we’re mistaken, this is more or less close to the final build we’ll get our hands on when the free-to-play shooter is released.
With that in mind, we’ve written down our thoughts on what worked well, and what needs improving when it comes to the latest build of XDefiant.
XDefiant Server Test Session – What Worked:
Gun Balance – Most, if not all, the weapons available in the test behaved as it should, and no one gun felt it was too OP (overpowered). Sure, loads of players preferred the AK-47 and perhaps the MP-7, but even so, there were a lot of players rocking the ACR, MP5, snipers and so on. Of course, weapon balancing is an ever evolving thing, so expect the devs to adjust the weapons throughout the game’s release. That said, it is nice to see that for the most part, the devs seem to have a firm grasp of how weapon balancing should be.
Game Modes – The test featured the standard plethora of modes ranging from Domination, Hardpoint and so on, but renamed. For the most part, these are tried and tested modes, and thankfully, they fit well within the game’s gameplay loop. Oddly enough, Team Deathmatch (TDM) wasn’t available, which is weird to see given it’s usually the most popular mode.
Factions – While the DedSec group didn’t have access to the spiderbot, and the Echelon class was pulled due to a balancing bug, the factions did feel different enough that you had to make a conscious choice which one to pick depending on the game mode and perhaps what your teammates were rocking. I gather, we will see a crowd favorite shape up once the game is out into the wild (Far Cry Libertad healing spam, I’m looking at you), the devs should be able to balance these out as more game data is collected.
Gunplay – Bear in mind, gunplay and hit detection are two different things, and it also isn’t about the netcode. When I say gunplay, I mean the act of shooting your weapon and having it hit the enemy. In this instance, XDefiant seems to have nailed it down pat. Guns feel solid to wield, and when you hit an enemy, there is a certain satisfying feedback knowing you are pumping with bullets. Now, as for the netcode/hit registration, those are different animals which we’ll be tackling in this article as well.
XDefiant Server Test Session – What Needs More Work:
Netcode and Hit Registration – While I don’t remember dying from corners that much, I do know this is an issue the game currently has (even our own Jimmy Lara experienced this a few times). What I do remember though is the hit registration being hit or miss (pun intended). I’ve had instances where I shot an enemy, they died. However, other times, I kept pumping bullets at them and either the game turned my bullets into marshmallows or there was something wrong with the game’s netcode that it registers bullets late? It’s an odd feeling to experience, though one I’m hoping gets rectified soon.
Movement – XDefiant feels like a modern shooter in the sense that running and other actions are fast, but it’s not as overboard as say Titanfall. There are two sides to the game’s movement so far, with one side saying the game’s movement system is as it should be for a modern game, while others think it’s a bit too fast. Bear in mind that there are certain movement penalties not turned on in the test session as per confirmed by Executive Producer Mark Rubin, such as spam crouching where players crouch and stand up non-stop during a gunfight in order to make hitting them harder.
There was a penalty but it's turned off in this test as it is being re-worked.
— Mark Rubin (@PixelsofMark) April 20, 2024
Personally, I found the movement speed OK as it is, but my main gripe is how it feels “boxy” when strafing and running — at least on PS5 and using a controller. It reminded me of Battlefield: Bad Company 2’s movement, and that’s not a compliment.
Maps – While the map variety is good, I find that some are a little too “busy” that it makes spotting enemies from the background more difficult than it should be. Other than that, the maps offered good verticality, balanced attack points that didn’t give one side a distinct advantage.
UI, Loading, Clutter – The UI (User Interface) was simple enough, but it was also confusing. Until the test ended, I have no clue how or if we can check the different factions in the menu on PS5. I fiddled around the Loadout part of the menu to no avail.
Outside of that, there were too many loading or stoppages from game to game. Entering a match and waiting for it to fill? Fine. Waiting for the match to load was surprisingly slow given I was using an SSD (PS5). After a match, the Player of the Game, team scoreboard and whatnot took a long time too, and there was no way to skip it all. Whenever a player killed my character, I would see who killed me but then I wouldn’t really know what gun and attachments they used since there was so many stuff on the screen that it made reading it or trying to find it jarring.
The mini map was sometimes hard to read as well, with objects on it appearing a bit too faded. While I know these are small annoyances, they do pile up. Thankfully, these seem like small issues that can be patched.
We Need Killcams – This is an odd omission to have especially since Call of Duty and other multiplayer shooters have it by default, but we need killcams! Not only does it help with the cheating situation (yes, killcams shouldn’t be taken 1:1, I know), but it also gives us an idea how we died and what the enemy was doing.
While some might argue that faction balancing should be part of this, we will reserve judgement on that once the final live release makes its way out. What clicked for you when you played XDefiant? What do you think needs more work? Leave a comment below and let us know.
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