New Defiance Trailer Offers More Explosions and Oddly Shaped Eyes
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Next year, if you weren’t already aware, SyFy will be premiering what could be a revolutionary experiment combining the worlds of gaming and television…but it probably won’t be, given Syfy’s lack of anything revolutionary beyond misspelling. Four years in the making, Defiance aims to combine televised storytelling with the personal experience of playing an MMO game. You can’t tell, but I’m trying really hard not to scoff while saying any of this, though I could be eating these words by April of next year, when the show debuts.
With “Watch the show. Play the game. Change the world,” as its tagline, the show still isn’t selling me based on premise alone, but the trailer actually does a good job of presenting a series that, while caught up in something gimmicky, isn’t going to rely on gimmicks alone. Hang onto your hat, and watch it below.
As a quick summary, the story takes place after aliens, fleeing the destruction of their home system, have settled on Earth. The governments deny them peaceful treatment, and a war breaks out and rolls on for decades. By the time it’s finished, Earth isn’t really Earth anymore, having been terraformed and destroyed in places by war. Lead character Jeb Nolan (Grant Bowler), no longer needed in the military he’d fought for since childhood, goes back to his much-changed hometown of St. Louis and appoints himself a lawman ’round those parts to protect the area from further battles and danger.
Definitely a show of its time, what with all the CGI and tie-in gaming, Defiance could either break ground for new and exciting ways for TV to extend its reach, or it will be a cautionary tale warning creators to keep it simple. Though this isn’t my usual viewing pleasure, I’m intrigued by the whole thing, and may have to set aside a place on my DVR for it. Find out more about the creation and gaming aspect below.
