There aren’t that many arcade shooter series left, folks. They’ve started to vanish, along with the middle-tier game developer and the dodo. There is, however, Earth Defense Force, the unapologetically arcade-y shooter that puts you and maybe some friends up against unending hordes of giant insects, alien invaders, robots, flying saucers, and extra-large kaiju in a battle to mow down the enemies of Earth no matter how many blocky collapsible buildings get leveled in the process.
Yes, this year will see the international debut of Earth Defense Force 6, a game which series fans in the West have long awaited after its 2022 Japanese release. At five years since EDF5, I’m happy to say that after spending plenty of time with a pre-release version of the English edition, this is a pure iteration for the series that takes the gameplay of EDF forward with tweaks and twists while not disrupting the core features from EDF5 that really worked.
It’s still EDF at its core, certainly: Blow through missions, tweak your weapons, find favorites, find upgrades, get chewed up by a horde of monsters, get better, roll credits, unlock a new difficulty, and start the grind over against bigger nastier enemies with your new bigger, nastier weapons. There’s a story here, but it’s more of a B-movie story experience about laughing at the silly characters while getting ragdolled by giant ants, and any important story stuff is going to get repeated by random NPCs six or seven times because this is not a super-high-touch, pay-attention-at-all-times prestige television story or game. This is a chase-high-scores-on-the-couch, dead-tired-with-buddies-after-work game series.
The four Earth Defense Force classes have gotten some great tweaks. The classic grunt infantry Ranger retains its flexibility and raw damage potential, gaining a new backpack slot for grenades and having all the turret weapons move to its lineup. They can also now mantle over obstacles, their sprint seems a bit faster, and their dodge roll blocks a lot of damage. Flying Wing Divers are a bit weaker than their godlike EDF5 incarnation, but they’ve also got access to a backpack slot for fast-firing specials or long-charge ultimate moves.
The power-exoskeleton Fencer is a bit easier to play, with enhanced mobility from more default boosts and the vital power to actually hop onto obstacles it can’t just walk through. Some of its trickier weapon handling has been made easier too, especially the spin-up gatling guns.
The biggest changes have come from the Air Raider, which has gained a new playstyle as a Wizard whose only spell is Summon Drones. They can now mark targets for a swarm of machine gun drones, bomb drones, mortar drones, and more. As you can imagine, this makes them much, much more powerful underground where their previous arsenal of airstrikes couldn’t reach—not that those are gone! They still have the ability to level city blocks with airstrikes, and their supportive defense and healing gadgets have moved to the backpack slot as well.
The new story for EDF6 is honestly pretty weird stuff, but I have to praise it. Early chapters take place in the ruined world created after the alien invasion from EDF5 before jumping into flashbacks during the alien invasion…and then stuff just gets really weird from there. For me, that’s good to see: Any narrative innovation in a series this long-lasting is worthwhile because there’s too much potential for it to get stale. A few interesting twists or story beats about cyborg frogs and flying saucers can only be a good thing.
Of course, a convoluted non-linear plot will probably be confusing for new players, but don’t sweat it: The story and characters are still mostly here for you to laugh and guffaw and roll your eyes at, and by all indications EDF6 won’t disappoint there.
Where it might disappoint is in the maps and missions. Many of them are dead ringers or outright copies of missions from EDF5. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this is in many ways EDF 5 Part 2. It’s definitely a turn-off at times and may be a dealbreaker for some people. In my time with the preview, though, I felt like that was okay because the sheer volume of new enemy types, new weapons, and class tweaks made it play like a brand new game—but if you’re looking for something wholly new here you’ll be sorely disappointed. This is more of the same, but with a refined recipe and higher-quality ingredients.
There is a new Earth Defense Force anthem for your characters to sing, however. Which I think we can all agree is the most important part.
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