Defiance is not your normal massively multiplayer online game (first impressions)

Confession time: I’m tired of traditional fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). I’ve played them since the late 1990s. I’ve slain my share of bats and rats in newbie areas, learned my share of skill rotations, and seen my share of raid bosses. Now I’m looking for something a little different.

Defiance, the latest MMO from publisher Trion Worlds, is a little different. It’s a sci-fi third-person shooter for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC that feels more like Borderlands than World of Warcraft. It’s also a television show debuting tonight on the Syfy channel at 9 p.m. Eastern. The two will interconnect in some way, with characters from the show making guest shots in the game during Episode Missions. How the game will affect the show is still a mystery.