PS5 FPS The Defiant Covers the Second Sino-Japanese War

A Part of WW2 Games Have Largely Ignored

Western developers have revisited Normandy beaches, Pacific island campaigns, and Eastern Front trenches dozens of times over the past three decades. The Second Sino-Japanese War has not gotten nearly the same treatment. That conflict, fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan across the 1930s and 1940s, forms the backdrop for The Defiant, an upcoming PS5 first-person shooter from Chinese studio Hoothanes. A new gameplay trailer dropped this week, reported by Push Square.

The press release lays out the tone the studio is going for. “You’re stepping on the land irrigated with warm blood,” it reads, according to Push Square. “Boundless snowy forest, heavily guarded lanes, dangerous villages behind the enemy lines. In these places you’ll experience the serious atmosphere during the War of Resistance against Japanese invasion.” That is not exactly subtle framing, but the subject matter itself is anything but gentle.

The Second Sino-Japanese War includes some of the most documented atrocities of the entire global conflict, among them the Nanjing massacre, which was depicted in last year’s film Dead to Rights, as noted by Push Square. Hoothanes says it wants to honor the historical record as closely as possible, with that commitment extending to the weaponry. All firearms in the game are reportedly inspired by arms actually used during the conflict.

What the Gameplay Looks Like

The trailer gives a first look at environments that lean into the period’s geography: dense forests, fortified lanes, and small villages. Push Square editor Sammy Barker noted in his write-up that the gameplay looks “a little rote,” but added that if Hoothanes can back up its historical ambitions with a well-constructed campaign, the result could be “a disturbing but ultimately engaging” experience.

Reader reactions on Push Square skewed curious rather than skeptical. Several commenters drew comparisons to older single-player military shooters, specifically the Medal of Honor and Call of Duty titles from the early 2000s, noting there has been a long drought of historically focused FPS games built around a solo campaign. One commenter described the premise as “a side of WW2 that has virtually zero representation in video games.”

That point is hard to argue. Japanese, European, and American theaters have been represented in games ranging from old-school Medal of Honor entries to the more recent Hell Let Loose and Call of Duty: Vanguard. The Chinese experience of World War 2 has, by contrast, barely registered on the medium’s radar at all.

What to Watch For

One legitimate question hanging over The Defiant is how the studio handles the complexity of the conflict. The Second Sino-Japanese War was brutal on multiple sides, with war crimes documented across the theater. A few Push Square commenters raised the question of whether Hoothanes will present a nuanced picture or lean toward nationalist heroism. It is a fair concern. Games set in World War 2 from any national perspective have historically tended toward simplified moral clarity, and a Chinese studio covering Chinese resistance to Japanese invasion will face scrutiny on that front.

Still, the premise alone sets The Defiant apart from the crowded field of WW2 shooters. There are stories from this period that have never been told in an interactive medium, and the environments shown in the trailer suggest Hoothanes has put real effort into period-accurate construction. Whether the moment-to-moment shooting can match the weight of the subject is the open question. The studio’s stated commitment to historical detail gives it at least a foundation to build from.