I got the PS3 import of this during the week there, 2 import copies so me and a mate could play online together. I would have got the 360 version but it's region locked. (i'll be getting it this coming week 
)
So far I am enjoying it a lot with a few niggles bothering me, i'll get into those later. First of all it's a different game to EDF2017. It has it's EDF spirit but it's a bit different in its approach. For a start the levels are longer and can take 15 - 20mins to finish. They aren't too complicated, it's just things like 'go here and take out these ant hills' or 'kill all the ravagers' Personally I think they're a bit too long. I know the other EDF games just tend to use locations again and again but I guess I just prefer the smaller levels. The numbers of enemies in the swarms are smaller but they do disguise this well. In 2017 the main threat was always in the numbers attacking you. In IA it's more to do with how much more aggressive and versatile they are. The ants and spiders have more weight but things such as the ships, wasps and hectors are much more versatile. They run around like mad bastards really making you work for the kill. It's fun but I initially found it quite tiring until I got used to it
Some of the design changes they have made is due to the online capability remit D3 gave them. If you read the 360 board on Gamefaqs for IA, the devs are posting there a lot answering questions and talking about the decisions they made and why, it's pretty interesting.
The way the weapons work is that there are 8 tiers and you gain XP from missions to level up the tiers. The Tiers you can level up to are restricted based on difficulty. It's up to Tier 5 max on normal, 6 or 7 on hard and up to the maximum on Inferno (which I believe is Tier 8). Each level unlocks weapons but you also get weapons from drops within the game, usually from killing a tougher enemy. I think there's around 100 in drops only and maybe another 200 from the unlocks. (not 300 weapons for every character but 300 weapons in total)
The four armours are different and fun to use. So far I've levelled up to Tier 5 on Trooper and up to Tier 3 on Battle. I haven't really used Tactical or Jet too much yet so I can't really talk about that much just yet. For Trooper it's basically IA's version of Storm 1, their abilities are more passive such as quicker reviving etc. From what I've played so far Battle is a LOT of fun. You are slower but you're a walking tank. You carry a shield and it's great to throw it up and shoot ants in the face point blank with a rocket launcher You also have abilities related to your shield. So you activate your shield and you have what looks to powers related to each face button. I've only got 2 powers so far so I can't be certain if you do get 2 more powers. One of these powers is zapping the ants until they die whilst your shield is up whilst the other is causing a shockwave which kills everything nearby. Very fun and a nice addition IMO.
The destruction is good as well. It's more detailed compared to 2017 but I have found some buildings to be indestructible. This is usually due to a red level barrier nearby. Mostly everything is destructible but just a few buildings here and there from my experience. Other cool touches are the way ants flick cars towards you, the first time they did that I laughed like a loon since it knocked me over Also, ships falling WILL hurt you. So get out of the way. The first time I took out a carrier and it crash landed into the city, through building etc, it was very cool. Much more weighty compared to 2017.
The online has been incredibly solid so far and me and my mate have probably put in a good 10 hours or so without any hitches whatsoever. I've read complaints about quick matching or people just searching for any games but my only experience has been with private games. It ran smoothly and worked right out of the box. In a time where developers seemingly can't get it right first time with many games needing online patches it's funny to see a budget title do it well. I've personally had no problems so far. It's been a blast.
In the game you also have AI bots. The game is 3 player online coop and when you don't have two friends you have 2 bots. The bots are pretty damn good from my experience so far. When playing with my mate we barely revived each other, the bot always got to use first They do some good damage to enemies as well. They certainly aren't useless.
The vehicles are also really good and fun to use compared to 2017. In 2017 they were charmingly awful but in this they are actually useful You have stationary turrets, mechs and a tank. They don't really give you enough opportunities to use them though throughout the game IMO, especially later on.
One of my problems with the game is that it isn't as good in scale compared to Sandlots games. I believe Sandlot are one of the best developers in the world at making you feel VERY small in their games. IA is by no means awful but the sense of scale just isn't as good compared to 2017, mostly with the ants and spiders. With the Hectors and especially the large Hectors they're a bit better but you never feel as small as you do compared to in a Sandlot EDF game.
The charm compard to 2017 isn't there either. I think they knew this wasn't possible to recreate purposefully so didn't even try. There's some great dialogue between Ops and Intel and a character called Sully but your character, voiced by Steve Blum, doesn't really say much other than acknowledgements such as 'Roger' 'OK' etc. Some of the dialogue the other soldiers come off with is OK but there's nothing truly over the top such as the screaming reporter or 'THEY KILLED THE CAAAAAAAAPTAIN!'
Another problem is that the guns really don't sound as good compared to 2017's. In 2017 they sounded really LOUD. In IA they really don't. Sometimes I couldn't even tell if I was firing my gun it was too quiet. Turning down the music helped this a bit but it's something I'd like to see them change/alter in a patch. The developers said they are looking into it on the Gamefaqs board so maybe they will change this.
Also, on the PS3 version firing is R2 only which is something I'm not particularly keen on. It cramps up my hand a bit eventually. Not very comfortable Again they've said they're looking into this so maybe they will patch it and let you switch to R1.
The only technical issue I've noticed so far is the odd pop and crack in the sound which are definitely game issues. They are making a patch to address this right now from what they've said.
Overall I'm having a fun time with the game. I would say it doesn't feel as ambitious as Sandlots games, this feels like it has actually been properly designed (even compromised you could say since it was altered for the online remit given to them) rather than Sandlot, who I love to think just got drunk, thought of all these ideas and went 'MAKE IT WORK! **** THE FRAMERATE!' If you can accept it's not going to be exactly the same as the previous EDF games and can accept it for what it is I think you'll enjoy it and have a good time. I certainly am
Plus it's a budget title at a cheaper price!
My main issues are the gun sounds and the R2 trigger. They are bothering me more than any actual design changes and Sandlots developing a new EDF game anyway so nothing to lose! I'd say it's easily Vicious Cycles best game to date too. (though I did like Robotech Battlecry back in the day!)
)So far I am enjoying it a lot with a few niggles bothering me, i'll get into those later. First of all it's a different game to EDF2017. It has it's EDF spirit but it's a bit different in its approach. For a start the levels are longer and can take 15 - 20mins to finish. They aren't too complicated, it's just things like 'go here and take out these ant hills' or 'kill all the ravagers' Personally I think they're a bit too long. I know the other EDF games just tend to use locations again and again but I guess I just prefer the smaller levels. The numbers of enemies in the swarms are smaller but they do disguise this well. In 2017 the main threat was always in the numbers attacking you. In IA it's more to do with how much more aggressive and versatile they are. The ants and spiders have more weight but things such as the ships, wasps and hectors are much more versatile. They run around like mad bastards really making you work for the kill. It's fun but I initially found it quite tiring until I got used to it
Some of the design changes they have made is due to the online capability remit D3 gave them. If you read the 360 board on Gamefaqs for IA, the devs are posting there a lot answering questions and talking about the decisions they made and why, it's pretty interesting.The way the weapons work is that there are 8 tiers and you gain XP from missions to level up the tiers. The Tiers you can level up to are restricted based on difficulty. It's up to Tier 5 max on normal, 6 or 7 on hard and up to the maximum on Inferno (which I believe is Tier 8). Each level unlocks weapons but you also get weapons from drops within the game, usually from killing a tougher enemy. I think there's around 100 in drops only and maybe another 200 from the unlocks. (not 300 weapons for every character but 300 weapons in total)
The four armours are different and fun to use. So far I've levelled up to Tier 5 on Trooper and up to Tier 3 on Battle. I haven't really used Tactical or Jet too much yet so I can't really talk about that much just yet. For Trooper it's basically IA's version of Storm 1, their abilities are more passive such as quicker reviving etc. From what I've played so far Battle is a LOT of fun. You are slower but you're a walking tank. You carry a shield and it's great to throw it up and shoot ants in the face point blank with a rocket launcher
You also have abilities related to your shield. So you activate your shield and you have what looks to powers related to each face button. I've only got 2 powers so far so I can't be certain if you do get 2 more powers. One of these powers is zapping the ants until they die whilst your shield is up whilst the other is causing a shockwave which kills everything nearby. Very fun and a nice addition IMO.The destruction is good as well. It's more detailed compared to 2017 but I have found some buildings to be indestructible. This is usually due to a red level barrier nearby. Mostly everything is destructible but just a few buildings here and there from my experience. Other cool touches are the way ants flick cars towards you, the first time they did that I laughed like a loon since it knocked me over
Also, ships falling WILL hurt you. So get out of the way. The first time I took out a carrier and it crash landed into the city, through building etc, it was very cool. Much more weighty compared to 2017.The online has been incredibly solid so far and me and my mate have probably put in a good 10 hours or so without any hitches whatsoever. I've read complaints about quick matching or people just searching for any games but my only experience has been with private games. It ran smoothly and worked right out of the box. In a time where developers seemingly can't get it right first time with many games needing online patches it's funny to see a budget title do it well. I've personally had no problems so far. It's been a blast.
In the game you also have AI bots. The game is 3 player online coop and when you don't have two friends you have 2 bots. The bots are pretty damn good from my experience so far. When playing with my mate we barely revived each other, the bot always got to use first
They do some good damage to enemies as well. They certainly aren't useless.The vehicles are also really good and fun to use compared to 2017. In 2017 they were charmingly awful but in this they are actually useful
You have stationary turrets, mechs and a tank. They don't really give you enough opportunities to use them though throughout the game IMO, especially later on.One of my problems with the game is that it isn't as good in scale compared to Sandlots games. I believe Sandlot are one of the best developers in the world at making you feel VERY small in their games. IA is by no means awful but the sense of scale just isn't as good compared to 2017, mostly with the ants and spiders. With the Hectors and especially the large Hectors they're a bit better but you never feel as small as you do compared to in a Sandlot EDF game.
The charm compard to 2017 isn't there either. I think they knew this wasn't possible to recreate purposefully so didn't even try. There's some great dialogue between Ops and Intel and a character called Sully but your character, voiced by Steve Blum, doesn't really say much other than acknowledgements such as 'Roger' 'OK' etc. Some of the dialogue the other soldiers come off with is OK but there's nothing truly over the top such as the screaming reporter or 'THEY KILLED THE CAAAAAAAAPTAIN!'
Another problem is that the guns really don't sound as good compared to 2017's. In 2017 they sounded really LOUD. In IA they really don't. Sometimes I couldn't even tell if I was firing my gun it was too quiet. Turning down the music helped this a bit but it's something I'd like to see them change/alter in a patch. The developers said they are looking into it on the Gamefaqs board so maybe they will change this.
Also, on the PS3 version firing is R2 only which is something I'm not particularly keen on. It cramps up my hand a bit eventually. Not very comfortable
Again they've said they're looking into this so maybe they will patch it and let you switch to R1.The only technical issue I've noticed so far is the odd pop and crack in the sound which are definitely game issues. They are making a patch to address this right now from what they've said.
Overall I'm having a fun time with the game. I would say it doesn't feel as ambitious as Sandlots games, this feels like it has actually been properly designed (even compromised you could say since it was altered for the online remit given to them) rather than Sandlot, who I love to think just got drunk, thought of all these ideas and went 'MAKE IT WORK! **** THE FRAMERATE!' If you can accept it's not going to be exactly the same as the previous EDF games and can accept it for what it is I think you'll enjoy it and have a good time. I certainly am
Plus it's a budget title at a cheaper price! My main issues are the gun sounds and the R2 trigger. They are bothering me more than any actual design changes and Sandlots developing a new EDF game anyway so nothing to lose! I'd say it's easily Vicious Cycles best game to date too. (though I did like Robotech Battlecry back in the day!)
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