Defiance Preview: A Look At The Making Of Syfy's New Series And Video Game

Among the TV projects I'm most anticipating is Syfy's Defiance an actual sci-fi drama series that's also being set up as a video game. The story is set in the near future on a transformed earth where aliens and humans are living together. Syfy and Trion Worlds released a video that shows us some art from the upcoming series and video game, and gives us some insight into how the two will blend together.

Not being much of a gamer, I'll admit that my interest in Defiance lies largely in the TV series, which I'm hoping will turn out to be a truly great piece of science fiction for a network that doesn't offer much of that in the way of original content these days. The cast of the show includes Grant Bowler, Jaime Murray, Julie Benz and Tony Curran, all of whom are featured in the video below, along with Syfy's Mark Stern and David Howe, as well as numerous people involved in the making of the show (including executive producer Kevin Murphy) and video game.



What did we learn from the above video?

• The setting is a sort of "new frontier" with aliens and humans living side by side.
• The game takes place in San Francisco, but the TV show takes place in St. Louis. (Saint cities appear to be winners here) - I'm hoping the different settings means playing the game isn't a requirement for being able to follow the show, though it sounds like there are benefits to that, with the mention of "Immersive stories on two platforms that are seamlessly living together."
• The St. Louis Gateway arch is still standing.
• It's described as an "immigrant drama," which to me suggests multiculturalism, likely between alien and human.
• The art and comments suggest a blending of human and alien culture with regard to visual style and backdrop.
• A lot is being done digitally.
• It's a "human story," despite their being aliens.
• People aren't just trying to survive, they're trying to live, which I think implies a fair amount of drama as we see these two races attempting to coexist.
• Big events in the TV show immediately reflected in the game. - This actually makes me want to play the game, even though - as I said - I'm not much of a gamer. But I like the idea that things that happen in the show will affect the game. That seems like a big reward for viewers of the series.

Right now Syfy is aiming to get Defiance on the air in April 2013.

Defiance is a visionary enterprise in collaboration with Trion Worlds, with the Syfy series and Trion’s multi-platform shooter MMO poised to debut simultaneously.  Set in the near future, Defiance introduces a completely transformed planet Earth, inhabited by the human and alien survivors of a universal war.  Forced to co-habitate, the disparate group struggles to build a new society among the devastation. The dramatic tapestry of the series and the intense action of the game will exist in a single universe where their respective narratives will inform one another and evolve together into one overall story.