Earth Defense Force is a hilarious game series where humanity is under attack from giant bugs and strange aliens. As a member of the EDF you'll have to use a vast array of weapons to take out as many insects and flying saucers as possible. Thankfully you can bring your friends along for help via split-screen and online multiplayer. Even playing solo you can still enjoy the incredible and absolutely ridiculous dialog offered up by your in-game companions. EDF 5 is surprising lengthy especially considering there are four different classes, over a 100 stages, across five different difficulty levels. If you enjoy shooters but don't want the headache of the popular completive series EDF 5 might be the perfect game for you.
In EDF 5 you start as a brand new recruit when the bugs start to show up. Your commander says that he'll take you somewhere safe yet monsters seem to appear everywhere you go. Maybe it would be best just to stick with the EDF anyway since since the whole world appears to be under attack. As the story progresses you'll get news bulletins about the latest invasion updates in addition to encouragement from your commanding officers. The scripted dialog is always a joy as it is delivered in the most highly dramatic fashion. Additionally the random conversations between your allies are just laugh out loud funny. It is a joy to hear them discuss their motivation for joining the EDF as well their plans for celebrating after the battle is over. Oh, did I mention the singing!
Gameplay is delivered in a fairly traditional third-person style. Unlike some other third-person games that rely on cover mechanics EDF is more fast-paced and bombastic. Supposedly you are charged with protecting the cities but a couple rockets and grenades into a battle and many of the buildings start to come down. You can bring anything from assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, and grenades into battle with you. Unlocking hundreds of new weapons and finding upgrades for your favorites is a real joy. A key source of variety comes from trying the four different classes. The Ranger is the standard fighter with the best weapon balance. Then you have flying Wing Divers. armored Fencers, and the supportive Air Raiders.
If you are familiar with this series the gameplay and visuals really haven't changed too much from the previous games. A big change is the addition of weapon upgrades which is received from collecting duplicates. These upgrades can make a huge difference by increasing the capacity, accuracy, and damage output of each weapon. Although still not perfectly stable the game can handle many more objects on screen leading to improved frame rates overall. Where as the last games seemed inclined to more traditional fantasy such as dragons and robots EDF 5 seems to want to embrace the silliness of the series with more unusual enemies. This latest entry introduces an iconic bug into the mix along with more aliens such as the frog people.
Imagine Independence Day meets Starship Troopers and you'll have a good idea of what EDF is trying to do. This can be quite a relaxing game despite the many times where you must face an overwhelming number of aliens at once. As long as you bring the right weapons into each battle and don't turn up the difficulty too early you are bound to have a good time. It is honestly worth playing these games just for the amazing writing but shooting bugs is a real treat too. Multiplayer really helps with splitting up the enemies' attention but the game does scale the difficulty up a bit when playing co-op. I recommend everyone try this series at least once as it is a truly unique experience.