Another simple game, if not one of the most simple, easy to pick up and enjoy game I have ever had the pleasure of playing. You are the Earth Defense Force (EDF), humanity’s last hope in the desperate struggle between man and the Ravagers, an alien species of giant insects and robots. Like children with huge magnifying glasses made of steel and rocket propelled grenades, you charge in and lay waste to everything in sight. The vibe is very reminiscent of those wacky Japanese Sci-Fi movies from way back. Terrible production values, check. Hilariously campy dialogue, check.  Aliens that are basically huge super imposed ants, check. There are quite a few EDF titles, spanning several generations, but each one is just more of the same. This is the last one released for the PS4 in 2015 and is a remake of EDF 2025.

The gameplay itself could not be easier to grasp. You run, you jump, you shoot. That’s it.  There is some slight variation depending on what class you pick, and most weapons achieve vastly different goals. The Ranger is your run of the mill space marine, whose special ability is being able to reload really fast and roll though fences. I’m not even joking. The Air Raider is the tactical class, who can call in airstrikes and eventually even hulking mechs as tall as buildings to aid you in battle. Just prepare for endless, meandering walks between battles, as the Balam Walking Fortress is about as slow as it sounds. The Wing Diver can fly and uses bizarre energy based weapons that are by far the most ridiculous guns ever to be seen in a game. Yeah, I said it, Ratchet and Clank be damned. And finally there is the Fencer, equipped with battle armor, shoulder mounted missile pods and a fucking hammer.

There are literally hundreds of different weapons for each class that you unlock via weapon crates that enemies randomly drop. Higher difficulty means better weapon drops, but stay away from anything higher than normal though if you are just starting out, because on higher difficulties the game actually becomes quite challenging, and thus loses some of its charm. Giant spiders and wasps on Inferno will mess you up faster than a life long addiction to crystal meth.

After you have picked a class and two weapons, its time to put them to use. You choose one of the many levels, in many ways too many levels… and wait for the rather lengthy load time to end. Once the level loads, all you do is hold down the fire button as you walk in the direction of the red dots on your mini map.  Anything standing in the way of you and those giant ants, or spiders, or whatever gets blown apart, be it cars, buildings or civilians. Yes the Ravagers may be killing off people in droves, but at least they leave most of the city intact while doing it. The same cannot be said for the EDF as every level is completely destructible and will frequently look like Hiroshima after the bomb dropped when the level is done, posing the philosophical question, “Are we worse than the Ravagers?” Ah well, most people playing are probably too drunk to care.

There is actually very little to say about EDF. Its one of those games that on the surface of things looks stale and dated, but once you start playing you realize just how fun it is to decimate legions of giant insects with a growing pile of weapons of mass destruction for the good of mankind. Add couch co-op and alcohol to the mix and we’re talking about a life-altering experience. Experiences that will make you question every decision you have ever made and why it took you so damn long to buy a copy of EDF, any will do.

If you don’t care about graphics or frame rate, it’s a 9/10
If you do, maybe a 6/10, but only if you’re allergic to fun