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Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and gamers of all ages – lend me your ears and your twitchy trigger fingers. The moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived with the subtlety of a sledgehammer at a tea party. xDefiant has finally graced us with its presence, but the question on everyone’s lips is: is it any good, or is it just another pretty face in the crowded room of shooters?

Let’s cut to the chase – the launch was about as smooth as sandpaper. The servers, bless their digital hearts, went into full meltdown faster than an ice cream in a sauna. It’s the kind of worldwide release chaos you’d expect from a game as hyped as xDefiant, where getting into a match was akin to winning the lottery – rare but not entirely a myth.

As I sat there, watching the digital tumbleweeds roll by, I tuned into Optic Scump’s Twitch stream. The man’s patience could give a saint a run for their money, chatting away with viewers as if server crashes were just part of the day’s entertainment. Meanwhile, I took a leisurely stroll through the menus, where the graphics shone like a diamond in a goat’s… well, you get the picture.

The battle pass, a mere 50 tiers at 700 XCoins, seemed like a fair deal. I mean, who doesn’t love a good bargain? The item store wasn’t overflowing, but what was there didn’t scream “give us your wallet!” It was more of a polite nudge, suggesting, “Hey, we’ve got cool stuff if you’re interested.”

And then, the challenges and unlockable rewards – oh, be still my beating heart! The squeal I let out could’ve shattered glass, but in the best way possible. Progression rewards that actually reward you for, you know, progressing? Revolutionary!

So there I was, falling head over heels for a game I hadn’t even played yet. But the time had come to dive in, to walk the path that Scump had bravely tread before me. After several minutes and a few sacrificial offerings to the gaming gods, I landed in a game of Occupy on the “Welcome” playlist. The only casual playlist with Skill-Based Matchmaking (SBMM). And let me tell you, it was as gentle as a kitten, a welcome change from the usual lion’s den.

The controls? Smooth as butter. The graphics? Like a feast for my eyes. The NetCoding and time to kill (TTK)? Well, let’s just say there’s room for improvement. But hey, no game is perfect straight out of the gate, right?

And then, the pièce de résistance – players actually playing the objectives. I kid you not, it was like witnessing a unicorn prancing across a rainbow. Kills mattered, sure, but so did the objectives. It’s a concept so simple yet so mind-blowingly absent in most games.

In conclusion, despite its rocky start, xDefiant is shaping up to be a strong contender for my go-to multiplayer shooter. It’s got charm, it’s got style, and most importantly, it’s got fun by the bucketload. I’m giving it a preliminary 8/10 – a solid score for a solid game. Stay tuned for more in-depth analysis in the future, but for now, I’ll see you on the battlefield.

Scotty McG, over and out.