Dawn of Defiance Review: A Hidden Gem?
| Pub Date | August 15, 2024 |
| Developer | Traega Entertainment |
| Genre | Crafting Survival |
| Play on | PC |
| Mode | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Size | 5.34 GB |
| Price | Regular 19,50€ |
| My Rating | 3.9/5 stars |
Dawn of Defiance is a fresh, open-world crafting survival game released on August 15th by Traega Entertainment. As an occasional enjoyer of this type of game, I felt like I just had to try it. I’ve played it since the moment it got dropped, and here is everything you need to know about the game.
Gameplay
Now, listen — before we start I want to make a couple of things clear. Firstly, Dawn of Defiance is still in early access, which means there are still things to be improved before we can call it a complete game. Secondly, I’ll mention a few issues which may sound like a bad thing but keep in mind that I only mention them because I believe the game can be huge one day if they keep working on it.
Dawn of Defiance can be played solo or with up to 4 players on the server. Once you start playing, you’ll need to gather basic materials and build a starter base.
After that, you’ll have to do a few quests to get blueprints of the more advanced buildings and machinery. You can do that pretty fast, especially if you are playing with a friend. It took me a few hours to get my ducks in order.
Besides getting blueprints, you can receive “powers” like dash, floating/flying, and inability to take fall damage. Which are pretty handy for getting around. I really hated the fact that you can’t climb stuff, couldn’t comprehend why wouldn’t they implement that. Then I received the ability to fly and everything was forgiven.
On top of having abilities, your character also has gathering tools (ax, pickaxe, etc), weapons (spike, sword, and bow), and armor. As you progress deeper into the game you can get better quality of mentioned items. The better the quality, the easier time you’ll have in the game. Also, you get experience while using the items/powers which improves their usage.
Fixes and Improvements
Personally, I think that Dawn of Defiance is on the right track and I like what they’ve been doing so far. With that in mind, here are a few things that I would love to see fixed/improved:
- Story: I would love to see more story content added. I just feel like there isn’t much and adding some would make this game stand out from others.
- Character customization: In this day and age, I feel like at least basic character customization is a must. Which would make every players experience more unique.
- Map Markers: I don’t know if anyone else would agree with this one but I for sure would like to be able to put markers down on the map for the places of the materials I need to farm.
Graphics & Audio
As for the graphics for the games made by indie studios, Dawn of Defiance is looking better than most. There are a few details that still need polishing like a few scenery designs or animation here and there but nothing major that might affect the gameplay. As for the audio part, the music is well done but some of the sound effects still need fine-tuning. I’m pretty sure all of these will get fixed in the future.
Final Thoughts
I’ve definitely enjoyed my time playing Dawn of Defiance. It’s going to be one of the games that I plan to keep a keen eye on for future updates and developments. If you are comfortable playing a game that has a lot of potential then I highly recommend trying it. One of these days I might even do a competition to see who can build the best house/castle/kingdom. And who knows, I might even feel generous that day and let one of you win.
