That’s not a witty title. That’s the actual subtitle for the
game. Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders
from Planet Space is available on your Vita, and you should buy it. Like
now. There’s a reason this series has a huge cult following and it has been a
crime that it doesn’t get the attention this side of the ocean that it
deserves. Today we fight giant insects in one of the most video gamiest video
games ever made.
Giant ants are crawling all over Big Ben. You have a rifle,
point it at the ants and pull the trigger. It’s the simplest premise in the
world against the most inoffensive enemies this side of Nazis. Once you take
out hundreds of bugs you realize why you like this game, it is cathartic mowing
down enemies with six, eight, and even hundreds of legs. There is definitely room
in the industry for stupid fun, I am a total advocate for titles that fill this
niche.
Earth Defense Force
4.1 was released the same day as EDF2
and is, as of now, the definitive EDF experience.
This doesn’t stop EDF2 from being a
perfect portable game. There are a bevy of missions to take part in with 3
soldier classes and 5 difficulty settings each with most being finished in
under 10 minute bite sized chunks. It will take you quite a while to hit 100%
completion especially with later difficulties being outright punishing.
First things first, this is a remastered PS2 game. It looks
like a PS2 game and because it wasn’t released in the West this is the kind of
re-release I can get behind. The graphics aren’t the important factor here,
there are hundreds of weapons to choose from. Everything from machine guns,
rocket launchers, lasers, and even air strikes will be used to stomp the
opposition. When the bugs get bigger, get a bigger boot. Or a friend, EDF2 is even better with multiplayer!
Of course there are negatives to go with any game that comes
out. There are vehicles available to two of the soldier classes but they don’t
control very well and don’t have a crosshair (you do on foot) so it’s difficult
to know exactly where you are shooting. Underground levels can be a pain, this
is not meant to be a corridor shooter as it is easy to blow yourself up with
explosives and everything seems to be intended for a large, mostly flat
playfield with tons of space to fill with segmented body parts. The Air Raider
class fills more of a support role and will likely cause trouble if you are
trying to clear missions solo on higher difficulties. Grinding is also integral
to the gameplay, you pick up armor and weapon drops from enemies that increase
your health and arsenal for the coming missions. Some people don’t mind the
grind but it may be enough to put people off.
Earth Defense Force deserves a look. It almost plays like a
recreation of classic games; Robotron
2084 when clearing gobs of insects, Space
Invaders when shooting up at UFO’s that threaten your planet, and Centipede when you face the giant, well,
centipede enemies. EDF!
