So after the end of October, the band season was over, and I won my battle against my future cold. I had decided that after playing horror games all last month, I was ready to just have some fun. What was expected was just lying in bed watching Viewtiful Joe before getting to homework. One thing led to another however, and next thing I knew, nine hours had passed and I was reading Sailor Nothing and watching Puella Magi Madoka Magica. So much for having fun. But now that I've recovered from the dark depths of games, the internet, and anime respectively, now I'm ready to have some fun. And since I'll have to deal with stupid gamers honoring our lord and savior Call of Duty for the next few months, I better put up my barrier of "do not care" and actually play something good. So in that regard, Earth Defense Force will have to do.
Earth Defense Force 2017 is a third person shooter released on the Xbox 360 in 2007. It was made on a noticeably low budget, and was very simple. Despite simple graphics and gameplay, the game managed to gain a cult following to the point of getting a sequel with a much more noticeable budget. Now cult followings are nice and all, but is the game actually good?
The plot is literally paper thin. One day in 2017, alien bugs decided to be jerks and invade Japan. The world calls upon the Earth Defense Force, a group that deals with otherworldly forces while looking fabulous in pink. So its up to you and a buddy if you so desire to take down these giant bugs and save the world. That's it. I guess this is one of those games that you don't go to for the plot. All right then.
In Earth Defense Force 2017 you play as a random johnny in the EDF and blast through the bugs. That's also it. Wow this games simple. All you have to do is blast away the bugs until their all gone and the mission ends. As you blast through the bugs you need to try to pick up all the power ups like weapons and health upgrades that will carry over if you complete the mission in the same run.
The different weapons in this game are pretty neat, and by that, I mean missiles. Stupidly powerful, have great homing, and the two previous points make up for a long reload time. Just try not to leave your friend in the crossfire, because it will instantly kill them.
These paragraphs are short. This game is very well known for its multiplayer, and that's because its very good. The entire campaign can be played with a friend from the very start. You'll be battling the bugs while trying to snipe the power ups from your friends. Its good to have a friend playing with you, because if you die, then the game will go on. There's no way to revive when you lose all of your health though so watch out. There's also battle mode, where you and a friend are placed in a map and forced to battle to the death. This mode is also fun due to the vehicles you can drive and use to destroy your friend. Unless they get a vehicle too, in which case it becomes a luck game. And remember to press the strange back button to get in. Easy to forget that. Overall, Earth Defense Force is a game best played with friends. Its only local multiplayer though, which might upset some.
The presentation in this game is...well, kind of meh. The graphics are passable, with some small glitches and stiff animations being present, as well as some slowdown when things get hectic. The music is practically non-existent, with all of it being buried under the sounds of the bugs and the noise of guns being fired. The same also holds true to the voice acting, which is good for what you hear, but its mostly covered by the noise of guns and bugs. There's no subtitle feature either, so any increase with the story is lost with that.
However, Earth Defense Force 2017 isn't a game you go to for a ground breaking story or next-gen graphics, but a game you go to to just have fun. Blasting through the bugs with the different weapons is fun on its own, but having a friend makes it even better, regardless of if your killing alien bugs in the campaign, or killing each other in multiplayer. Passable presentation and a shallow story can't hold back fun, simple gameplay so on that end, Earth Defense Force 2017 is a success. And its available for really cheap on the Xbox 360 and PS Vita, so it gets my recommendation for sure.
The Silent Protagonist notices that Japan has a lot to worry about in 2017. First giant alien bugs, then LeMU breaking down. Hang in there Japan.
The Silent Protagonist also wants to announce that he has a Twitter account where he posts stuff that sometimes isn't about video games. The URL is https://twitter.com/SlntProtagonist and the link can also be found in the new Links page.
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