Developer Hoothanes and publisher 4Divinity have announced The Defiant, an upcoming story-driven, cinematic, single-player World War II-set first-person shooter that sees players take part in China’s War of Resistance against Japan.
Powered by Unreal Engine 5 and created by “a veteran team of filmmakers and game developers,” according to its publisher, The Defiant clearly aims to mix things up from the usual WWII FPS fare we’ve seen a hundred times now. “Missions shift fluidly between stealth infiltration, close-quarters firefights, sniping, urban espionage, code-breaking operations, vehicular combat, and sudden large-scale assaults,” 4Defiant said. Check out the first trailer above and the first screenshots in the gallery below.
The Defiant’s developers said they’re aiming to convey a reverence for history, noting that “weapons in The Defiant are treated as historical artefacts, not just tools” and that the campaign “aims to reframe how the FPS genre approaches history, offering a perspective rarely seen in interactive entertainment.” The team added, “The game unfolds across occupied villages, frozen forests, fortified supply routes, and enemy-controlled urban zones, where every environment is shaped by the realities of guerrilla warfare and survival behind enemy lines.”
You can wishlist The Defiant on Steam if you’re interested.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
