REVIEW: Earth Defense Force 2025

I’m of a fairly mixed opinion about the game’s presentation. The art itself looks great. Character models are wonderfully detailed, and the explosion and blood effects pop nicely. The monsters also look… disturbingly realistic. This may be the first time I’ve been pretty unhappy with how detailed a model looked. I just don’t like seeing every strand of hair on a spider’s body, the distinct glint off their many eyes, the creepy-crawly movement of their legs. This is something I was not OK with! But… yes, I’m sure other gamers would enjoy that kind of realism. One thing I did not appreciate, however, was the game’s frame rate. Given the seemingly countless numbers of enemies you fight over the course of any mission, the screen can get a little… busy. I’m usually happy with the PlayStation 3’s processing power, but I could tell EDF was pushing the system to its limits. This is even more apparent while sitting at the loading screen before each mission, which takes upwards of 30 seconds before the action starts.

The game also suffers from some strange collision and clipping issues that, while not game-breaking, can be annoying at times. As the ants, spiders and other bugs can climb all over the urban environments in the game, you’ll sometimes want to eliminate the high ground by demolishing taller structures. However, in the aftermath, the Giant Insects will still climb the rubble as they would a building – sometimes simply floating in the air as they attach themselves to invisible walls. Additionally, on thin platforms, like bridges, enemies’ attacks will sometimes clip through the ground, causing damage when you should be safe. This was made apparent to me almost immediately as, in the very first mission, an ant was able to grab me in its mandibles from under a bridge and started slamming me into the ground, as if I had been caught in its regular charge attack. Needless to say, it was a startling and bothersome experience. However, given the grand scope of the game, I was willing to give these minor glitches a pass, as it gets so many other things right.

I found EDF’s multiplayer mode to be something of a double-edged sword. As I’m usually a big hermit, I hadn’t really expected to be able to say much about the multiplayer. However, I was able to wrangle my sister into playing a few missions with me, so here is my brief experience with it. Co-op is nothing short of hilariously hectic. I stuck with my Ranger class, while my sister went with the Wing Diver because she was, quote, “so pretty.” Having her fly around, raining death down from above while I was in the thick of it on the ground was an extremely entertaining experience. Be careful, though, as friendly fire is definitely a thing in this game. Not only that, but it’s pretty unforgiving, too. You’ll take just as much damage from a teammate’s weapons as your enemies do. Co-op is not the time to see what that new grenade you just unlocked does. What was much less entertaining, however, was, as I already mentioned, the smoothness of gameplay. Single player’s frame rate already suffered from some pretty awful lag, so this was only compounded when going split screen. It still isn’t unplayable, but it was an incredibly noticeable drop. Though, when you have a 30-foot spider staring you down, the game’s smoothness isn’t what you’re worrying about.

I’m pleased to report that, for the most part, online multiplayer is a great experience, as well. Whereas local split-screen co-op only allows for two players, online lets up to four soldiers join up and take on the alien armies. In a way, I feel that EDF’s usually-laggy animations helped online play here. I noticed absolutely no difference between single player and online’s speeds – whether it was hidden in the choppy animation or the connection was just that smooth – it was a great experience, and I experienced no unusual slowdowns whatsoever. Unfortunately, there’s one problem that really puts a damper on the fun. While the game keeps track of your character progression, like weapons and armor acquired, it does not record the missions you’ve completed between the two modes. So, if you’ve been going along in single player, and are looking for some help on a particularly tough mission, you’re going to have to go through every mission yet again in online to reach that point. That is, unless you’re fortunate enough to find someone online hosting a room covering your desired mission. Sadly, it seems as though the online play is not particularly popular. During my time playing, I never saw more than a combined 20 total players on the servers. That’s a real shame, because, in a game with such plentiful enemies to blow away, it feels like multiplayer would be the default reaction.

I spent a lot of time deciding how I felt about the audio presentation of the game – whether it was abhorrently bad or hilariously awesome – but, in the end, I went with the latter. While the music is entertaining fits well with the setting, the writing and voice acting are a bit… off. The only way to really describe it is to look at it as a super campy sci-fi movie. The voices you hear on the radio explain things in way too much detail, and every voice actor in the game really hams it up when delivering their lines. The (possible) pop culture references were also amusing. Whenever something didn’t go according to plan, the commander would yell “What you say?!” seemingly along the vein of Zero Wing. I also enjoyed when the squad leader would issue an order, and the entire team would yell, “Yes, sir!” or “Roger!” It almost felt like it was channeling The Wonderful 101 (and that certainly isn’t going to hurt my opinion). Some sound effects, however, could have been handled better. The most notable of these was the way that the Flamethrower deals damage. Rather than making burning noises, the game registers hits from the weapon as if they were bullets. As the nature of the Flamethrower is to deal damage very quickly, this meant that the sound of impact from the attack overwhelmed everything else, which could get quite annoying – enough so that I needed to turn my volume down while using it. However, this was a fairly temporary problem, as, when I found a weapon I liked better for close-quarters combat, I was no longer plagued by this particular issue.

I’m not saying that EDF 2025 made me want to go stick my hand in a bowl of tarantulas, but it certainly was some helpful arachnophobia therapy. As it turns out, even against my biggest fear, I’m going to grit my teeth and fight through anything standing between me and victory. Beyond all the creepy-crawly enemies, though, there is a solid action game that is incredibly entertaining while trying not to take itself too seriously. With armies of giant bugs, robots and dragons to fight, and the vast arsenal at your disposal, there’s a lot of incentive to keep playing. Plus, with the promise of getting more impressive equipment on higher difficulties, you’ll likely want to keep challenging yourself far beyond the 20-hour campaign until you’re a real pro. Even with the odd processing and sound issues, EDF is still an excellent experience, and, if you can grab a few friends to come along on your Earth-saving adventures, you’re going to have an experience that more than makes up for the $50 price tag.