This is a pretty terrible game—and you are either going to love that quality or hate it. Our little blue planet is in danger yet again in D3 Publisher and Sandlot’s newest chapter in the Earth Defense Force series, EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5, for PS4.
The cheese is piled high on the latest installment in this third person shooter and we would expect nothing less. The Earth Defense Force series has become widely known and loved for its campy B-movie dialogue and almost ridiculous quantities of enemies storming the screen at once.
If you are terrified of spiders, like myself, do not play this game—you will not get past the opening scene. As is the nature of my job, I had to press on screaming and squirming as these massive ‘monsters’ crawled over me with their mechanical legs, spewing yellow acid in every which way. Arachnophobia aside, if we are going to call these creepy crawlers monsters, I would appreciate not having my intelligence insulted and just call them what they are, or make them actual sci-fi monstrosities.
While EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 is simplistic in nature, the gameplay options are practically endless. Battle your way through over 100 missions at various difficulties. I did enjoy that I did not have to commit to only one difficulty level through the entire play through because some missions are really, really challenging. When the mega-spiders and UFOs become too much, it is easy to scale down the difficulty and subsequently your blood pressure. Choose from four distinctive classes of soldiers: Ranger—infantry special forces and experts in chaotic combat, Wing Diver—girl power, jetpack-clad special forces with unique energy weapons, Air Raider—air force cooperatives specializing in a communication system to annihilate the enemy via gunships and bombers, and Fencer—the Pacific Rim-esque exoskeletons capable of mass-enemy destruction with gargantuan weapons. Newbies should start with Ranger and slowly work their way up to Fencer, it will take quite some time to get comfortable with the so-so controls.
The detail in the 1000+ weapon options is probably the most boast-worthy component of this game. Not only is each class equipped with their own specialized weapons, enjoy a comprehensive description and extensive stats for each piece of equipment. Once you find your footing in the combat system, I recommend choosing the class with your favorite armaments that best suit your battle style.
My largest complaint with EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 is how many superfluous extras they try to force-feed us. The overload of reactionary responses on the left side of the screen seems unnecessary and more of a distraction than anything of value. The NPC dialogue is bad enough, I don’t need to proclaim that I am scared or excited when it does nothing to better my chances of battle success—instead it left me open for aliens to tear me apart.
If you’re a fan of the Earth Defense Force series, this will be a special treat for you, but if you are new to this crazy alien attack franchise, you may wonder why you shelled out hard-earned money to play.
Rating: 5.5/10
PlayStation 4 Review
Kendra grew up in the era where playing Donkey Kong in the dentist's office was a thing. Her creative mind enjoys the imaginative genius that goes into the intricate worlds and enticing narratives that have become the new wave of gaming. Forever a devotee of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro, Kendra has stepped into the next generation of gaming with favorites like God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Spider-Man. She is always looking for the next gaming challenge and utilizes her fancy English degree to articulate her detailed reviews for hungry gamers like you.
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