I’m a little bit of a newcomer to Survival games, but over the last few weeks I’ve been trying out Dawn of Defiance. The game, which entered Early Access on Steam on August 15, 2024, is badged as a blend of Greek mythology and open-world adventure, offering players an immersive experience as they ascend from mere mortals to god-like heroes.

Developed by Traega Entertainment, Dawn of Defiance sets players on a journey through ruined isles, where they are known as the Defiers. Transporting players to the Forgotten Crossroads with a purpose that unfolds as they progress. The game promises a mythic plot that challenges players to build, craft, and upgrade their gear as they face the trials of the gods.

Early Access

The developers have expressed their intention to integrate community feedback into the game’s development, ensuring an adaptable experience that supports different playstyles. With plans to expand the game during its Early Access period, players can look forward to character customization, new enemy types, spell upgrades, and more.

The current Early Access version of Dawn of Defiance offers a much less detailed version. There is no character creator and you are limited to the first biome. You will get access to the first tiers of armour, tools, and structures, and most crafting facilities are present, though not yet fully upgradable. This approach to game development reflects a growing trend where players are invited to be a part of the creation process, contributing to the game’s evolution. Whether or not this level of Early Access will appeal to everyone is a different matter.

Hunter, Gatherer, Glider

For me, who as mentioned is a little bit of a beginner in this genre, the limited biome, crafting and structures made this a little easier to get to grips with. The main focus is on exploring and crafting which for me was a lot of running around and spamming ‘E’ to pick up as many things as possible. The graphics and movement were a lot smoother than I would expect for a game in such an early stage of development, in fact Dawn of Defiance looks wonderful. Running in Unreal Engine 5 the textures and lighting are very impressive, and I had a lot of fun jumping around with my axe picking loads of berries. There’s also a glide ability that added some variety to the exploration.

I did have some trouble working out some of the requirements to unlock certain things. You don’t have quest markers, which doesn’t bother me, but some of the gear upgrades and unlocks were a little obtuse. Maybe the tutorial quests could give more clarity than just a list of objectives. The main quests in Dawn of Defiance are also a little bit same-y. Once you get out of the tutorial area, you’ll have access to Shrines of the Gods that you need to defile as part of the main quest. Obviously not all of the are available, due to early access, but the ones that were all had very similar objectives.

In keeping with the Early Access theme I found the combat of Dawn of Defiance a little lack lustre. You can craft a variety of weapons and a shield, and there is a roll and parry mechanic but I just didn’t find it great to engage with. Which I think was down to the AI being a little dense. There’s some promise with the mechanics though, so hopefully as the development progresses they’ll make some changes here and there.

Final Thoughts

As the game continues to develop, the community around Dawn of Defiance is thriving. They have weekly build challenges and updates keep the players engaged and offer a glimpse into the potential of this game. Whether you’re a solo adventurer or prefer to team up with friends, Dawn of Defiance offers a fun world to explore that the devs seem to be working hard to improve as it moves through Early Access.