Earth Defense Force 6 PC Review

This latest Earth Defense Force may end with a six, but the series has seen numerous entries since it gained a cult following with the release of the third entry, Earth Defense Force 2017 (EDF 2017), on Xbox 360. This entry was my initial foray into the franchise, and although I have explored other releases like Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon (which was developed by a different team), I never quite invested as much time and passion as I did when I first started exterminating alien bugs in EDF 2017.

Since the release of EDF 2017 and its subsequent sequels, I have found myself drawing comparisons to another guilty pleasure of mine, Dynasty Warriors. The similarities in their releases and developments are not far apart, with the difference being that instead of fighting 1000s of ancient Chinese warriors and factions in ancient China, I am now facing off against 1000s of giant insects from outer space in various cities. Those games tell their stories repeatedly while adding small changes here and there for each new game entry. One thing they also share is the stimulating experience of mowing down endless swarms, whether they are bugs or sword-wielding fighters, it has the same addictive nature that kept me glued to the screen in both series. With the arrival of Earth Defense Force 6 (EDF 6), I find myself again immersed in the delightful gameplay loop of defending against an alien invasion which I have not done since EDF 2017.

EDF 6 serves as a direct continuation of its predecessor, EDF 5, commencing in the year 2025. Players are initially met with a rather cumbersome and excruciatingly slow tutorial mission that starkly contrasts the game’s core focus on constant action. During this tutorial, players are required to trudge through the army base at a sluggish pace, following the commander as he teaches the player the basic commands. This is 8 minutes of hell before the mission ends, Fortunately, the subsequent missions offer a more streamlined experience, yet it is not until players reach the early double-digit missions that the true chaotic essence of EDF begins to unfold, characterized by overwhelming enemy hordes and an extensive arsenal of weapons that are unlocked and designed to blast the adversaries to pieces. Do not let the statement about double digits worry you, as the game features over 140 missions – plenty of content to take part in. EDF 6 features five distinct difficulty levels and meticulously tracks the performance of each of the four-character classes across missions and their respective difficulties, ensuring that completionists will find ample opportunities for extensive gameplay spanning into triple-digit hours to do it all. EDF 6 thrives on constantly upgrading health and weaponry to help players take on the hardest challenges in the game.

There is a dark secret to this game as EDF 6 is not all that it seems. The game does not offer an entirely fresh experience across its 140+ missions. Instead, players will encounter several levels that have been repurposed and reimagined from EDF 5, featuring minor alterations such as new adversaries and a different narrative. The game employs a time travel plot to justify the reuse of content, allowing the storyline to revisit past events while introducing stronger alien forces that threaten the EDF. This narrative device facilitates the recycling of existing levels but also makes for a fun story beat as the outcome begins to shift in favour of the EDF on each cycle.

As the plot unfolds, the EDF player and his professor ally become increasingly aware of the aliens’ time-travelling capabilities, prompting them to devise strategies based on their knowledge of the impending invasions. This leads to players witnessing their characters evolve and adapt to the alien onslaught. The familiar tutorial levels, which may have initially felt tedious, transform into real action as the narrative progresses, with each time loop introducing more formidable foes. The combination of enhanced armour and upgraded weaponry further amplifies the time travel plot allowing players to confront the alien threat with enhanced gear, ultimately making the experience a blast. It might not be the most original story, but I like what the developers have done to back up the decision to implement reused assets to make more content for a low-budget game.

To be honest, players aren’t diving into EDF 6 for its storyline or the voice acting. Sure, some of the generic soldiers manage to convey a sense of shock or awe during the chaos, but others sound so flat that they could easily belong in a game like The House of the Dead 2. Presentation and voice acting have never been the strong suits of the EDF series, even the menus now feel sterile and simplistic, but all of it together gets by due to the feeling of representing that B-Movie aura. The visuals are adequate, showcasing the environments and settings sufficiently, and there’s a real thrill in demolishing buildings with your arsenal. One of the standout features of the game is the massive number of enemies on screen at once; you’ll find spiders, ants, androids, and various alien creatures filling the space without any performance issues. If there’s one thing EDF 6 nails, it’s that overwhelming feeling of being swarmed by foes, which is a big part of the fun in the game, especially with the relentless action that most missions deliver.

The action in this instalment closely mirrors EDF 5, where players engage in intense battles against hordes of enemies, supported by AI-controlled NPCs that contribute to the chaos of large-scale alien invasions. The fundamental mechanics of combat are straightforward, with variations primarily stemming from the selection of weapons and character classes. Each mission is centred around the objective of eliminating every foe, indicated by red dots on the map located in the upper right corner of the screen. The mission objectives rarely deviate from a kill-or-be-killed mentality against a horde, with some big enemy fights thrown in for good measure. The game features simple level designs set in urban and rural environments, filled with destructible buildings or trees. Cities are the best settings as all their buildings can succumb to demolition, with a city that once looked familiar turning into a flat concrete zone laid in rubble due to the carnage. The more confined levels lack this sense of scale and destruction. These are often situated underground and can feel less engaging due to restricted mobility and the limitations imposed on certain weapons that thrive in open spaces.

The potential for repetitiveness is there in EDF 6, where prolonged engagement can bring this feeling. However, the game is designed to accommodate various play sessions, whether players choose to immerse in extended periods or engage in shorter sessions, as individual missions typically last around 10 to 15 minutes. Additionally, the game offers a cooperative experience, allowing two players to enjoy split-screen gameplay locally or enabling online play for up to four people. We all know cooperative games bring that extra bit of joy. Regardless of whether cooperative or not, EDF 6 helps mitigate the risk of repetitiveness with its core reward loop, which forms part of its diverse classes and weaponry.

In EDF 6, the four classes—Ranger, Wing Diver, Air Raider, and Fencer—each bring their unique flavour to the gameplay, making them stand out in their own right. While it’s a bit disappointing that there isn’t a new class introduced in this sequel, the existing ones have received some tweaks and enhancements that add something slightly new to their gameplay. These include equipment slots, such as auto turrets for the Ranger, homing grenades for the Wing Diver, defence mechanics for the Air Raider, and the Fencer being tweaked to have at least two boosting actions and better firing start-up times.

When it comes to the classes, the Ranger serves as the quintessential soldier, embodying the classic ground troop archetype with a versatile arsenal that includes assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, and rocket launchers. On the other hand, the Wing Diver takes to the skies with their jetpack, allowing for aerial manoeuvres, though they come with the trade-off of lighter armour and lower health. Their energy consumption for flight doubles as ammunition for their various energy-based weapons, which range from lasers to homing projectiles.

The Air Raider class shifts the focus from direct combat to tactical support, utilizing drones to inflict damage on tagged targets. This class features unique weaponry that can tag enemies for explosive attacks and even call in bombing runs for devastating area damage. It’s a class that requires a different strategy, which is why I often find it challenging to master, making it my least-used class in the game’s statistics summary. Finally, the Fencer stands out as the heavy hitter of the group, donning power armour that allows for the use of massive weaponry at the cost of speed. With the ability to carry four weapons—two active at any time—Fencer players can choose from a variety of options, including giant melee weapons for close encounters, mini-guns to shower enemies in bullets or powerful artillery for long-range destruction. The diversity among these classes means players will naturally gravitate towards their favourites, but the option to play something different is always good, especially when it alters the approach to the action.

The other key factor that prevents monotony in the gameplay is the continuous influx of newly discovered weapons. The EDF series has always integrated this feature into its core mechanics, where players can find new armaments emerging from green boxes that randomly appear after defeating enemies. These boxes not only contain weapons but also armour, which provides a permanent health boost to various classes, regardless of whether the mission is completed. This system ensures that players are consistently rewarded with new gear, as weapons are permanently added to their inventory. Each weapon is categorized by its specific class and type, and with an impressive arsenal of over 1,300 weapons available, players are always gaining fresh equipment.

The diversity of weaponry is significant, featuring unique variations of rocket launchers, missile launchers, drones, laser guns, inflatable decoys inspired by anime girls, grenades, sabres, shields, and even super weapons and traps. While some weapons may appear to be mere upgrades of their predecessors, distinguished only by a new letter or version mark, the overall creativity in weapon design remains ample. During the post-mission summary, players can see all the weapons they’ve acquired along with their stats. For those who appreciate statistics and progression, witnessing the enhancements made to existing weapons is a pleasing sight.

The performance of a game like this is hard to judge when it doesn’t require much and is running on a high-end system. EDF 6 ran smoothly in my experience on a setup featuring an AMD 5800X CPU paired with an Nvidia RTX 4090. Whether playing in split-screen mode or online, the frame rates were consistently solid. To engage in online play, players need to utilize Epic Services. I know there are a lot of mixed feelings about Epic Games, but I don’t mind using their service if it means developers can facilitate online interactions across different PC game stores. It seems like this was the most efficient route for the developers, allowing them to avoid the extra costs and time associated with creating a custom solution.

There have been issues of desynchronisation during online play, where players appear to take damage even when it doesn’t seem visually accurate. This can be particularly problematic in scenarios involving large blasts, as the game may register hits on players who are not actually in the affected area. It would be great if these issues could be addressed in an upcoming patch, especially since two DLC packs are on the horizon – the first hitting on the 29th August 2024 – that promises to introduce new missions and weapons. On the graphics side, the settings are quite minimal, limited mainly to resolution and a couple of other toggles. While I haven’t experienced any crashes myself, I’ve seen reports from others using AMD GPUs who have faced this issue, and the community has suggested some temporary fixes until an official patch is rolled out.

There are a lot of bugs to bite at in Earth Defense Force 6 which can easily extend a player’s engagement if they choose to explore all available missions, difficulties, and character classes. This extensive content is not a drawback as Earth Defense Force 6 will offer as much fun as a player wants. For those who are willing to invest time, there are countless hours of gameplay to uncover and numerous weapons to acquire, while even players who prefer to do a one-and-done approach to a single-player experience can expect over 30 hours of content during their initial playthrough.

Earth Defense Force 6 distinguishes itself as the most compelling entry in the series, successfully drawing me back into its captivating gameplay loop, a feat that previous titles had failed to achieve. Although this could easily be labelled EDF 5.5 due to asset re-usage and limited changes, the game ultimately delivers more of what fans cherish about the franchise, and new people coming in will find this all fresh and gain the best experience. If you never have been a fan, then this release will not alter your perception. Those in search of a radical change to the series may also be disappointed; however, there is hope that future instalments will introduce a fresh array of classes and features, as EDF 6 currently represents the apex of gameplay content available in the series.