Defect, a sci-fi action strategy game from Three Phase Interactive where players build custom space crafts, take them into intergalactic dogfights and eventually face their own design in battle once their crew inevitably revolts, launches on Windows, Mac and Linux on July 26, 2016.
By selecting from a pool of more than 175 components, players can build more than a billion different ships that are distinctive in appearance and performance, from scrappy fighters to massive Death Star-sized battlecruisers and any variation of scale in-between. As ships will eventually fall into enemy hands, it is important to include hidden exploitable weak points.
In Defect’s Campaign, players control a low-ranking captain through more than 50 missions where they’ll face fleets of enemy ships, epic boss battles and their own handiwork when the unavoidable mutinies arise.
Defect’s other game type, Challenge, provides four single-player variants. Manual allows players to select a ship to fight against. Core provides a random opponent comparable to the size of the pilot’s ship. In Survival players face endless waves of enemies. Finally, Pick a Mission has pilots select a stage from the campaign. In Core and Survival, players are provided the option to only face ships created by friends, strangers or themselves.
Defect’s ships can channel three visual themes; industrial visuals reminiscent of Star Wars, sleek futuristic builds similar to Star Trek, or realistic designs emulating NASA’s 1950s aesthetic. A dynamic music system also alters the soundtrack based on the components a ship is built from.
As players venture through space, they’ll find some familiar sights in Defect’s cast. Nods to sci-fi and pop culture icons join a talking seagull to help flesh out Defect’s quirky roster.
“Defect is all about customizing your dream spacecraft, piloting it into battle then taking it out via the hidden Achilles heel,” said Paul Baker, project manager, Three Phase Interactive. “By providing a near limitless set of design tools, players will be able to build ships we’ve never emulated. We can’t wait to see their creativity.”