Earth Defense Force 2025 (360/PS3) review

[^Katsu]

Looks like the third mission pack is now available Stateside. Dunno when we'll get it.

http://www.gametrailers.com/news-pos...packs-released

E-D-F EDLC DLC D-L-C! Still hanging back on the last DLC at the moment, it's not like there's not enough to get on with?

I'm joining the EDF this very eve, on my PS3 lonesome...what's a good class for a total noob? Does it matter? I'm fancying the wing diver and the one who calls in mechs, etc., or maybe the tank class...don't fancy the vanilla ranger, though.

If you are going it alone then the Ranger is the ONLY man for the job!
In fact he's the Chuck Norris of the game, the only reason I've not been Ranger online is that VP, Prinny, and Ploughboy have all usually had this guy selected.

My next selection is normally her ladyship, Cynthia Rothrock... However if your playing alone, lower difficulty is not very taxing with either of these, but hell you'll need the Armour later on anyway!

You won't be going anywhere fast with the other two lads for a long, long while yet? I need to find out if I can join you using my Japanese game... Are you on over this weekend?

[Golgo]

Well I got stuck in, tried a few classes, finally settling on Wing Diver and adjusted her costume to make it all pretty and shimmery pink as a girl should so she really stands out on the battlefied . Cracking fun - strangely I like it best when it's all going wrong and you've got the dramatic camera shake adding to the slowdown, lol. Was really struck about the major differences that load-out makes. In other games it's usually not such a big deal and you can get by, but here if you take the wrong selection you simply get wiped out mercilessly. Looking forwrad to trying out radically different strategies: the electricity-area-effect-lighting-gun-thing for the Wing Diver looks cool. Slow moving plasma grenades are a bitch to use, usually end of killing myself. The 'maps' are huge too, and you get an excellent sense of this from the air. Played a few early levels on normal and hard to try to unlock better kit, also played quite a bit online, usually tagging along on some higher levels. Was reasonably well populated last night - about 35 rooms in all - but tending to be of quite a high level. Opening my own noob room was quite effective though as I had randoms popping in and out frequently. Would be much better if there was a good BD PS3 community to match the 360 one, though - I think I'm the only one here...

Noob questions:

1. What do the yellow boxes/drops do? I hoover them up but they don't seem to do owt. I checked the hilarious Japlish instructions - worth the price of purchase alone - but they didn't say...
2. Can you do 1st person view and/or get a reticule when piloting the tank? (had a brief and calamitous go of Air Raider).

[Deuteros]

The yellow boxes are health, just like the smaller white ones, except they give you more of it.

I'm not sure if it's the same for the PS3 but, for the Xbox 360, you can download four (one for each class) free weapon packs. They each give you two weapons and the one for the Wing Diver gives you the Gleipnir, which I find excellent. It's a Level 2 weapon which I still use despite having Level 15 ones.

[Golgo]

Thanks, Deuteros. There's no download code for this, so maybe a 360 exclusive...

[QualityChimp]

Thanks for the feedback, Golgo, glad you're enjoying yourself.

None of the vehicles have reticules, which makes targeting a bit tricky. You can waste a lot of ammo trying to line up a target.

The default helicopter is great as it has missiles that lock on and double gatling guns. You can easily take out a hector with one.

[Deuteros]

Yes, there is. This is what you're looking for, Golgo. On the PSN, it's a single piece of DLC called 'Unstoppable Shooter Satisfaction Pack'.

[Golgo]

Yes, there is. This is what you're looking for, Golgo. On the PSN, it's a single piece of DLC called 'Unstoppable Shooter Satisfaction Pack'.

Ooh, thanks Deuteros. I was thinking along the lines of a DL code in the box or something. I'll get me some of that later!

Thanks for info, Chimp. Hitting flying enemies with the reticule-less tank is a real challenge.

[prinnysquad]

Good effort earlier on level 23 inferno difficulty with Chimpy. His artillery softened up them hector boys a bit, and my kick ass rocket-me-do sent hector pieces spiralling off in all directions. Nevertheless, it was still quite a challenge, as a few blasts from the red cannons could skank you up good and proper.

All's well, however, as the hector drops helped Chimpy get a few good weapons for his Air Raider. A canny farming level, that, as long as you're careful.

I keep chipping away at single player too, just to get through and unlock as many levels as possible. I've farted around on other people's games so much that I still only have access up to about level 41 on my own game.

One pisser is Pebbles' favoured farming level - 75. A few times, spiddas morphed out of thin air in front of me in the safety chamber. I got my own rocket full in the face as I'd already committed to the shot. It failed a level for me when I was doing really well on my own. A total pisser. Nakamura would cream himself at that kind if technical skankery - it'd reduce the game to a 3/10 at least.

[QualityChimp]

Yeah, a good level that, Prin.

I was a little disappointed that my level 76 artillery strike didn't do more damage, considering the 10 seconds of screen shake and the pad buzzing like crazy! I should've been more cautious, but I'd gotten use to the Normal setting and its room to take risky runs. Inferno cuts you down to size, pronto!

Some nice varied missions over the weekend. Katsu, Robster and myself took on a level that starts you at the top of a skyscraper, taking out dropships and flying drones. The problems start when you get to the bottom of the towers and find they're surrounded by spiders. We tried a selection of methods to take out the spiders, most of which failed. Most spectacularly was when I dropped an airstrike too close to the tower and it came tumbling down. Robster was last man standing and I was really chuckling at the sight of him running past the camera, followed seconds later by an absolute sea of spiders like some arachnid version of Benny Hill! We finally finished the level on another attempt which saw my mech accidentally jumping off the skyscraper, exploding in seconds and me rolling away as fast as I could.

Another nice level that Katsu and I took on featured lots of ants on a hilly area as the sun was setting. In the distance I could see a queen ant milling around. We soon found out that there wasn't one queen, but three! I'd finally found an effective limpet gun by that point, so the queens were soon usurped.

There's a good farming mission (11) that was re-used with dragons and ants instead of spiders. After taking out most my health with a misplaced limpet, I died not long after, patiently waiting whilst poor Katsu got repeatedly chomped by the remaining red ants and dragons. Once back on my feet, I summoned an ambulance and boosted my health back up.

We've discovered an absolute beast of a weapon against dragons is the webbing-based Caesar wire series. One or two shots point-blank will take out a dragon, but it has a large spread and can restrain dragons from taking off and it hurts them each time they try. I looked like I was out walking dozens of them as they were all tied down on web leashes. Keeping them at floor level makes it easier for team members to take them out too.

I hate the walking fortress levels, and I thought all hope was lost when both hardhitters, VP and Kats, were downed, but I managed to revive them both and we finished the level. I love how many levels have been taken down to the wire, it's so tense until the tides are turned again.

Final level of the weekend was met with defeat, but it really was a big transforming mech that did us in, so I feel no shame!

[Golgo]

Hapless scenes in the first official outing of the PS3 squad last night. Divers flapping pathetically in webs, raiders trapped in tanks they'd contrived to turn upside down, fencers wiping out entire squads with errant fire, randoms dropping out in disgust at the ineptitude of it all. This was at lvl 5 hard. Lvl 5! All told, it was a disgraceful shower that I'm ashamed to have been a part of.

[QualityChimp]

Ha ha ha, brilliant!

I'm an embarrasment to Katsu on 99% of our missions, so don't worry about it.

We played with a couple of randoms last night, but it was good times. If they put some comms on, it would help. One Wing Diver flew straight into the spider cave with two kings and 1.3 zillion spiders in it. He died and remained on the floor for the rest of the mission, although, to be fair, we tried seeing if he was still around, but he didn't reply so no revive for you.

One mission last night had looooads of dropships. I chipped away at them until the insects they dropped were taking my focus away. I had to tell the one numpty who was safe and sound away from the action to revive the other dead numpty as I was too low on health. Common sense, you'd think. They were good recruits, but needed a bit of guidance. It makes Katsu realise I'm not as poor as I could be...

We've played one level a few times that reaps some good rewards. It's a big crater with the "Brain" hovering over it. Two long leggy leggies, two hectors, two shields and a bunch of drones. If you take the first long leggy leggy out (with legs big enough to get out the crater), it's game on. There's a nice breather in between the mech attack and the final Earth Eater's retort.

I was pretty crestfallen whilst playing with Katsu and Prinny and getting a lock-on with my cruise missile the very second before the first long leggy leggy died!

Here's a Ranger doing the level solo, whilst packing a twin Lysander 2 setup.

[Golgo]

Strangely we went back in this morning for a quick blast with new loadouts and hellfire in our pants, and the air was suddenly thick with the stench of scorched chitin!

[MisterBubbles]

Think thats EDF Dog, just need to take the correct weapons and classes and a bit more knowledge of enemies and want you can and cannot do. Ive tried out and might keep playing Fencer.

[QualityChimp]

Weird review from C&VG: http://www.computerandvideogames.com...ellent-review/
He kind of, almost gets it, but not quite. Then gives it a 6.
He describes EDF 2025 as 16-bit era game (such as Smash TV), rewritten for the modern world, turned all the way up to 11 with a Garth Merenghi script, which gets a thumbs up, but gets hung up on saying how ugly it is, there are no tactics and the classes add no value.

He also mentions the game constantly says "eight years" since the last game and they actually say "seven years" (a lot), plus he says the soldiers never actually mention they're fighting giant ants "during the game's twenty-odd hours". I'm up to around 50 hours and I've still not completed normal so there's another three classes and a further three difficulty settings to go through.

For me, aside from the sight of a sea of giant insects, arachnids and robots and their even bigger king/queen counterparts, one of the biggest thrills I'm getting from this is how the different classes slot together and how selecting the right weapons totally turns the tide.

For example, last night, me, Katsu and a random were taking on a couple of the last few levels. 5 or 6 dropships were releasing ants, spiders and drones and there were hectors and long leggy leggies waiting too.
We tried it several times, all ending in failure. The best run saw Katsu taking out a couple of dropships with twin snipers, but once the spiders reached him, progress was ground to a halt whilst he dealt with the immediate threat.
The solution: calling a Brute helicopter that could wipe out just under 3 dropships with its 80 rounds, so whilst Kat was dealing with the drones and taking pot shots when he could, random and I were in the sky.
Between us, we dropped power posts to boost attack power and defense posts for shielding, plus an ambulance for healing. By the end of the level, I'd racked up three chopper drops, so I landed them in a line and used the powerful cannons to make mincemeat of the leggies. Lovely.

Although the Brute's pilot can't shoot, I've found just parking it out of range is ideal for taking out hives, Kings and Queens.

[^Katsu]

Weird review from C&VG: http://www.computerandvideogames.com...ellent-review/
He kind of, almost gets it, but not quite. Then gives it a 6.
He describes EDF 2025 as 16-bit era game (such as Smash TV), rewritten for the modern world, turned all the way up to 11 with a Garth Merenghi script, which gets a thumbs up, but gets hung up on saying how ugly it is, there are no tactics and the classes add no value.

He also mentions the game constantly says "eight years" since the last game and they actually say "seven years" (a lot), plus he says the soldiers never actually mention they're fighting giant ants "during the game's twenty-odd hours". I'm up to around 50 hours and I've still not completed normal so there's another three classes and a further three difficulty settings to go through.

For me, aside from the sight of a sea of giant insects, arachnids and robots and their even bigger king/queen counterparts, one of the biggest thrills I'm getting from this is how the different classes slot together and how selecting the right weapons totally turns the tide.

For example, last night, me, Katsu and a random were taking on a couple of the last few levels. 5 or 6 dropships were releasing ants, spiders and drones and there were hectors and long leggy leggies waiting too.
We tried it several times, all ending in failure. The best run saw Katsu taking out a couple of dropships with twin snipers, but once the spiders reached him, progress was ground to a halt whilst he dealt with the immediate threat.
The solution: calling a Brute helicopter that could wipe out just under 3 dropships with its 80 rounds, so whilst Kat was dealing with the drones and taking pot shots when he could, random and I were in the sky.
Between us, we dropped power posts to boost attack power and defense posts for shielding, plus an ambulance for healing. By the end of the level, I'd racked up three chopper drops, so I landed them in a line and used the powerful cannons to make mincemeat of the leggies. Lovely.

Although the Brute's pilot can't shoot, I've found just parking it out of range is ideal for taking out hives, Kings and Queens.

I deserve a medal for care in the community for that session based on *Random* patience alone
Fighting off double figures of multitudes of waves of spiders, ants, and chandeliers, whilst simultaneously taking out 3-4 dropships 2 normal hectors, Plus a blue hector AND reviving team mates 3 times (FWIW lol) all on bare minimum health...
Paired with the most inane jibber jabba anyone could possibly handle? But that's enough about ChimpyChomper I kid, randoms FTL.


De-La-Chimps chopper may not look much and it does take him a while to get it up, but my gosh when he lets spray.. It, it's MAGICAL! [/Innuendo]