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Retro|Spective 120: Earth Defense Force

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    Retro|Spective 120: Earth Defense Force




    History in Games:
    2003 - Monster Attack
    2005 - Global Defense Force
    2006 - Global Defense Force Tactics
    2006 - Earth Defense Force 2017
    2011 - Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon
    2013 - Earth Defense Force 2025
    2015 - Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair
    2017 - Earth Defense Force 5
    2018 - Earth Defense Force 4.1: Wing Diver
    2019 - Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain

    Overview:
    As everyone knows, you've either fought as part of the EDF or you've never experienced gaming at all. Each game charts the invasion of insect attackers from space and tasks you with gunning them down using a choice of weaponry, class and mission objective to fight back the waves as the buildings around you crumble into the streets. Arguably the king of budget franchises, this series has grown where other mid-low budget franchises have long since perished in a cut throat AAA, microtransaction world. Launching as part of the Simple 2000 series on the PS2, the franchise quietly struggled along until its niche appeal grew with the 2006 Xbox 360 release EDF2017. The word of mouth opened the series up to more players so that by the time its successors and spin-offs began to hit the games had a baked in audience.









    Share your thoughts of the EDF elite! EDF! EDF! EDF!
    Last edited by Neon Ignition; 20-01-2020, 11:37.

    #2
    I think there was a wing diver shooter too.

    Comment


      #3
      What's this game, then?

      Comment


        #4
        Yes! Don't know why I forgot that one

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by QualityChimp View Post
          What's this game, then?
          It's the one where you drove round in an ambulance in a big circle, while everyone else was fighting for their lives against swarms of ants, spiddas, giant monsters and flying saucers.

          Comment


            #6
            Ha! You didn't seem too proud to heal up in my ambulance!

            Am I right in thinking you have every game in physical format, VP?
            Did you get EDF5 or Iron Rain physical?

            So, my love for the series can be attributed to [MENTION=7343]prinnysquad[/MENTION] and this exact moment when he wrote this amazing post about why I should buy the game, which seemed a step backwards when I'd been playing the superlative Lost Planet 2 for months and blown away by its variety and online co-op. EDF was offline co-op only and its rarity made it quite expensive for a "budget" game.

            So I bought Earth Defense Force 2017 and was smitten. One phrase that people like to throw around with this series is "B-Movie", but the game is so much more than a brainless blaster - you need tactics and a mix of weapons. Like the mission where you're stuck in a valley with a seemingly endless wave of red ants attacking, so you need turrets, the mission with a pit of spiders that you can drop dynamite into or luring the King Spider into a trap so you can get his Lysander Z drop.

            Insect Armageddon finally brought online co-op to the series and it was actually fantastic. Although not quite the same as Sandlot EDF and a bit too much grind, the game's co-op was brilliant and still the best experience with people on here of the whole series.
            One mission with Katsu^ and VP saw us taking turns to revive each other as a Hector looked for us and demolished any buildings in the way and is some of the most memorable gaming I've ever had.

            When 2025 was announced, I couldn't believe it. It had everything I wanted and more. I played as the Air Raider loads at the start as I love the idea of being a support character, calling in vehicles and air strikes.
            Some great tactics included using the missile laser guidance gun and directing the Fencer's missile (the size of a train) onto a wave of Hectors wading in from the sea and in the ant nest, using shields and buffs to protect everyone.
            Fencer's dash glitch was a great unexpected treat, but the Wing Diver is the most thrilling character. I seriously felt like a superhero as I flew around the map, rescuing people, Hoovering up collectibles or being a flying death machine blasting the enemy with a selection of weapons. I love the mission with multiple King spiders attacking the Tokyo Tower, but with careful flying you can get to the top and they can't hit you, then take your time sniping them. Tactics.

            There are dozens of great missions and everybody who has played it has some war stories.
            VP once said "The EDF never give up" and it's true. The number of times we've snatched victory from the jaws of defeat were ridiculous.
            It's still one of my most cherished games.
            When I wasn't playing it, I was daydreaming about it.
            I played it so much that one night I went to bed and all I could see when I closed my eyes were giant hornets were swarming my face. Not good!

            I bought 4.1 for PS4 before I even bought a PS4 and borrowed a mate's to play it!

            By the time EDF5 was announced, I'd got a bit of series burnout. I know I sunk 360+ hours into 2025 alone.
            That, plus the promise of Iron Rain, which looked an interesting take on the series, meant I skipped 5.
            Then Iron Rain was so-so and I had loads of other games to play.

            I think I've missed the online peak for 5 (although EDF 5 and IR are on my PS watchlist), so may wait to see if there's an EDF6.
            No news on that, with Earth Defense Force producer Nobuyuki Okajima saying to questions of EDF6, DLC, weather, Iron Rain 2 or Switch versions: "I am afraid that I can’t give any comment regarding the new title release."

            That Prinny post in full:
            Originally posted by prinnysquad View Post
            You need to play an EDF game, QC. It's like Godzilla, Them, every cheesy monster movie and invasion movie you've every seen rolled into a game where the object of every level is to kill everything on it. It's right up your street. Playing it single player is still great - it also means you have the full screen of vision! Plus you haven't done co-op so you'll not feel as dragged down without it had you played it.

            It's way different to LP. LP is a technical powerhouse, with polish, smoothness and fancy explosions. EDF is a rough and ready doozy that grabs you in an entirely different way. Forget the comparison - on a technical level you'll sneer and laugh at EDF after playing LP. The aim of EDF is pure, exhilarating mayhem, and total fun - flaws are plentiful, yet simply don't matter. The imagination shown in EDF2 blows so many big games out of the water.

            EDF has dozens of weapons - assault rifles, rocket launchers, missile launchers, homing missiles, snipers, bombs, grenades, turrets - all with about 5-10 models of each type, with different rates of fire, reload rates, strengths, weaknesses. The vehicles are **** - don't even bother!

            I've played LP1, and it's technically far, far beyond EDF. But I'd say I am far more exhilarated when playing EDF. That moment when the ants notice you, and they scuttle down from the buildings and swarm towards you, and you're firing into this heaving sea of horrors rushing towards you... It's almost like the best bits of Starship Troopers - just insects running towards you, here, there and everywhere. Not for one second playing LP1 did I feel like I could make any comparisons with EDF, apart from superficial similarities. The gameplay, feel, set-up, is just totally different.

            It's so tactical, too. There are no linear 'levels' like on LP games. It's usually a big area - that may be a beach. Or a canyon. Or hills and valleys. Or a city. You go wherever you want, you decide the strategy, it's non-linear. You see 2 swarms in front of you. Do you risk firing at them, attracting the attention of both? Or do you flank to the left and chip away at one swarm from the side?

            On one level, nameless so as not to spoil, we were having trouble with it on inferno (hardest) difficulty. It featured a city with 'bug holes' spawning endless spiders, red ants and black ants. We tried all sorts of tactics and weapon combos, trying to outflank various bug holes, skimming from street to street, all ended in failure. Until we hit jackpot. We stood still at the start of the level. One of us equipped 2 rocket launchers, the other two turrets. Rocket launcher guy levelled ALL the buildings in the distance, revealing the bug holes at ground level. He took pot shots at them from the safety of the other player, who deployed his turrets on a rotating basis to tackle the onrushing, furious, swarms. This wasn't a set tactic for this level. Just one that we engineered that worked for us. Other players would have found success in the tactics we rejected. That's the beauty of it - no sweet spots, no contrived 'must-do' strategies. Just kill everything on the level in whatever way you can.

            Check out these reviews, they say everything that needs to be said, esp the 'cons' section of Mr Brats Overton's review:



            For less than twenty notes (if you shop around), if you don't get it you're cutting off your nob to spite your bollocks.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by QualityChimp View Post
              Ha! You didn't seem too proud to heal up in my ambulance!

              Am I right in thinking you have every game in physical format, VP?
              Near enough but some are download only. I like how on the harder levels, it's like a game of chess. You need the right combination of weapons, and it has to be done in the right order. If you level a load of buildings, it just means you get swamped quicker. You also have to take out stuff in the right order.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by QualityChimp View Post
                I think I've missed the online peak for 5 (although EDF 5 and IR are on my PS watchlist), so may wait to see if there's an EDF6.
                Actually I've been playing 5 online recently, and was telling stories of your ambulance prowess. true story!

                Comment


                  #9
                  You might have a grenade launcher equipped because that worked with the ants on one level, but the next one has saucers out of range, so you need a different weapon loadout.

                  That one mission that's like Destroy All Monsters with a King version of every monster was so tough, but really rewarding when we did it.

                  I love getting the Wing Diver and hopping from building to tower to UFO and taking them out at close range.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    You should get 5 and get online.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      That's the thing, the ambulance didn't work on that level, but did on others. I loved experimenting with the different kit.

                      As the Air Raider I called in a bunch of helicopters (sometimes dropping on an inaccessible rooftop!) and the Ranger would be eternally grateful. I got pretty good at blasting Hectors from one after a while, strafing around them as they tried to target me, whilst a sea of ants waited below.

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                        #12
                        EDF! EDF! EDF! HAI HAI HHHOOOoooOOoOO!

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Some of the best games ever made.

                          First one I played was 3 and is one fo the things that made me import a J360 before it got announced for the west.

                          The pacing is superb. Each game has a variety of mission types and levels (straight annihiliation, nest clearing, ally protection, set piece stories, underground etc) and they are paced perfectly. You'll do a couple of city fights against Hectors and then go underground to clear out giant hornets. Then you're off to the mountains to fight dragons. No mission or enemy type outstays its welcome. Variety is kept fresh constantly.

                          The shooting feedback is better than 99% of other shooting games. Every enemy's animation is overridden by physics IK when they get hit. Where as in most games, the enemies play a take hit animation after receiving a certain amount of damage, the EDF enemies mostly show the impact of every bullet while still in their attack behaviour. You shoot them in the arm and the arm recoils from you bullet impact. Enemies struggle to stay on their feet after being blown back by a rocket blast. They never stop attacking. Even though the physics makes their gun arm flail when they take a hit, they still carry on shooting wildly. This gives them a very daunting feel. These are not humans reacting to bullets, these are unfeeling killing machines that will only stop advancing on you when they have been blown to pieces. This looks great (seeing a Hector reel from your sniper shot from 2 blocks away) but also provides tactical gameplay. If a Hector's plasma cannon is about to blast your face of, target them to make them react and watch the shot blast away from you. After playing EDF, other shooter's enemy reactions look extremely dull and like actors hitting their cues rather than reacting (except the greatest game ever made, Resi 4).

                          Lots of insipid AAA games try to create Drama and Awe by limiting the player into performing the correct action at the right time to trigger a set piece animation that took devs 2 months to get right and lasts for 30 seconds. EDF creates wonder and awe and set pieces by having a bunch of systems interact freely with the devs being hands off. Watching a burning transport ship that you shot down crash into a city park while bipedal robots are sent reeling by a cascade rocket launcher is far more impressive and engaging than generic hero just managing to dodge some trite little threat while the player isn't allowed to press 90-100% of the buttons on their pad.

                          And why do games have skill trees with a billion slots on them? Worthless. EDF just gives you all your abilities and then the game is kept fresh by a wild variety of guns and vehicles and non-linear levels to use them in.

                          EDF is kind of a perfect game. No GCSE level story dressed up in performance capture sandwiching bland, trivial AAA gameplay here. Just raw gameplay that strikes a perfect tone, is paced brilliantly, has super satifying and rewarding shooting and is insanely generous. 100 levels and 4 classes that all play wildly differently. This is a real gamey video game and utterly wonderful. Lots of heart and soul and blue skies and fun and silliness and wonder.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Beautiful, [MENTION=3985]chopemon[/MENTION].

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by vanpeebles View Post
                              You should get 5 and get online.
                              Tempted...
                              Is the Deluxe version worth the extra money?

                              SAVE 58%
                              EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 Deluxe Edition
                              Bundle | PS4
                              £61.99
                              £25.65

                              SAVE 60%
                              EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5
                              PSN Game | PS4
                              £39.99£15.99

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