This new title is a fast paced, first person shooter, very much like some of my personal favorites: Killing Floor, Left 4 Dead, and Vermentide. If you are looking for a new cooperative experience with your friends, then you may be interested in taking a closer look at Earthfall by developer Holospark.
Plot-wise, it can be a little difficult to jump in and to immerse yourself right away. I still don’t entirely know how the alien invasion started, or how the resistance managed to survive where governments failed. You can, however, pick up little bits of lore as you explore the maps. Before starting your missions, you can get a briefing on what you will be doing from chapter to chapter. It does not feel like we are fighting for our lives as much as trying to bolster the resistance.
As you run toward objectives, you may forget just what it is you’re doing or why you’re doing it. There is a huge emphasis on gameplay, and I like it. You can pick up almost every weapon and gauge how you can use it most effectively. I personally mishandled the flame thrower when I first picked it up and there was a lot of friendly fire. Some maps have the world’s fastest 3D printers that print your weapons within seconds. There are regular old medkits and healing stations among other things, too. The barricades work well in particular, giving you extra time to outrun swarms or to implement a crowd control option.
There are a variety of enemies within the charging mobs aside from the many grunt units. There are enragers, which emit sonic blasts within a small radius and buffs enemies within reach, there are sappers, big time bombs filled with toxic liquid and fumes, and there are blackouts, teleporting squid-like creatures with shields. There are many more enemies that resemble enemy types from other objective based games, like the kinds that incapacitate you or are just too beastly to be one shotted. I would say that the variety keeps you on your toes.
The soundtrack is probably the first thing that grabbed my attention when I first started up the game. It’s pretty epic, and it doesn’t quit as you start playing the game. Occasionally it changes to fit the situation, like with swarms, but was otherwise consistent within the resistance context. I think it could benefit with more variety. I felt as though even the victory screen could have used a better theme, though that may be due to my excessive hours spent in XCOM.
If you are worried that this is just another clone of the classics, you probably shouldn’t be. Yes, it plays like Left 4 Dead, but that’s the genre. You can compare it to Vermentide, too, and come to that conclusion. Earthfall just has a future/alien theme instead of zombies and skaven. It’s fun, has some good ideas, and it looks very good. The characters are kind of forgettable, but that’s okay. They slap your steam username over their original names in the closed captioning.
While I would argue that Earthfall is definitely not a clone, it still doesn’t break the mode. It has an interesting take on objective hopping, and I personally enjoyed the junkyard mission. There will be more chapters coming in the future, and that’s understandable since it is still in early access. None of that gets in the way of having a good time with friends, though. If you give it a try, happy hunting!
Here is the EARTHFALL Release Date Announce Trailer:
Earthfall will be available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Steam on July 13, 2018 for $29.99 USD, with a special Deluxe Edition also available for $39.99 USD, which will include exclusive character biohazard suits and weapon skins.
Earthfall is available for PC via Steam Early Access and you can head on over to the official website for more information.
I like to think of myself as the average Joe who grew up alongside video games. I have fun playing strategy games, RPGs, shooters, sandboxes, the whole shebang! Every game provides an experience whether it strikes you as profound, mundane, or someplace in between. I'd like to weigh in my two cents before you spend a single penny.
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