Woke up thinking about that new XDefiant DLC everyone was buzzing about. Grabbed some coffee and booted up the game straight away, super excited to jump in. Installation was pretty quick, no big hiccups there.
Getting My Hands Dirty
Okay, first thing first – checked what actually came in the pack. It wasn’t some small thing, man. They dropped two brand new maps. Cool names, kinda different vibes. Plus a whole new faction with its own special look and powers.
Started with the maps. Spawned into the first one – had this tight, close-quarters feel. Really intense firefights right from the get-go. Corners everywhere. Took me a couple of rounds just to figure out where the choke points were, where people would be hiding. Definitely gotta be careful with your movement on that one.
The other map? Totally different story. More open spaces, some long sightlines. Felt better for trying out different weapons, maybe a sniper rifle or something with decent range. Still had some buildings to fight through if you needed to get in close. Still trying to nail down the best spots to set up on that one.
The New Crew on the Block
After getting shot up a bunch exploring the maps, figured it was time to try the new faction. They look pretty slick, gotta say. But looks ain’t everything, right? Their special abilities… that’s where it gets interesting.
- Active Ability: Tried activating it mid-firefight near a contested zone. Kinda panic-pressed the button, honestly. Saw this big zone pop up – seemed like it messed with enemy targeting. It felt kinda strong for pushing points, or just buying yourself a second to catch your breath when swarmed. Can see people using this aggressively.
- Passive Perk: This one wasn’t flashy, but man, it felt good after a few matches. Didn’t have to worry as much about being tagged by explosives or that annoying fire damage. Seemed really handy for fighting against factions that love splash damage.
Getting used to their guns took a minute. One felt super stable but not super punchy, another felt like it packed more of a wallop but kicked like a mule.
So, Is It Worth It?
Played for, like, a solid three hours straight getting beat up and learning the new stuff. My early thoughts?
Good Stuff: New maps are definitely solid additions. They feel different enough from the old ones. Good variety. The new faction adds a whole new playstyle. That passive perk? Yeah, I’m already kinda loving it against certain setups.
Annoying Stuff: Okay, real talk. Jumped into a few matches feeling hype, only to get smacked by lag spikes. Seriously, Ubisoft? Thought they said they fixed that. Makes the game feel terrible sometimes. Also, ran into this one area on the new big map where the textures decided to go on vacation. Glitchy blocky mess. Not game-breaking every single time, but it happens.
Overall? It’s more XDefiant. If you dig the core gameplay like I do, you’ll probably dig this DLC. The maps are good, the new faction shakes things up in a fun way. But man, the servers? They still feel like they’re held together with duct tape and good vibes sometimes. And those visual bugs pop up when you least expect them. Kinda feels like they shoved this out the door without properly polishing it, which is annoying because the stuff they did add is actually pretty cool. Wish they cared as much about fixing the basics as they do about pumping out new toys.