Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon Review

Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon Review

Simple, action-packed and explosive, Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon is a budget title high on intense battles but low on variety. However, what this game might lack in originality in mission structure it makes up for in pure action, thanks to hundreds of unlockable weapons, four unique classes and a great co-op experience.

What Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon Got Right

Upgrading classes

The four unique classes each differentiate in strengths and weaknesses as well as the weapons available to you.

One such class, Battle, is slow but undeniably powerful, using a large blast of energy to push away smothering enemies.

Battle showcases the balance incorporated into each class. Although slow and not ideal for long distance traveling, this is a class suited to those that love causing as much damage as is humanly possible, using the strengths of the class to annihilate nearby enemies.

The Jet class is probably the coolest of the bunch, equipping you with a jetpack and weapons powered by pure energy.

Tactical relies on efficient weapon placement on the battlefield, such as the placement of turrets in sticky situations.

The Trooper class doesn't have any special abilities, but it can perform basic tasks like reviving squad mates quicker than any other class member. He can also wield every class of gun, which makes the class particularly appealing considering how awesome the weapon range is.

Awesome weapons to unlock

Not all weapons in Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon are available from the get-go. No matter what class you play as, you will need to put in a number of hours before you start unlocking some of the game's best guns.

With six classifications of weapon and literally hundreds of guns to unlock, there's plenty of reason to look forward to leveling up. With each new rank comes a bunch of new weapons and tools, which adds a decent sense of reward.

Your loadout is important as you can only carry two weapons at a time. Every weapon you unlock will probably be more powerful than the weapon you're using, so there's really no reason to not be frequently tinkering with what weapons you take out onto the battlefield.

Awesome enemies

Ant hills, large spiders and other bugs, UFOs and robots. Some bugs unleash little minions onto the pesky humans, and there is definitely no shortage of cannon fodder for you to unleash your fury onto.

Enemies generally come in two or three different types. UFOs for example are either small little flying saucers that fire down on you from above, while the mother ships unleash a hoard of gross little insects to do the dirty work.

Blasting up what seems like hundreds of enemies at once is a lot of fun, although getting the mother ships down takes an overkill of ammunition and attention. It can literally take 10 or more minutes to shoot down one craft, which is way too long.

That said, the enemies are relentless and fun to shoot down, especially when the battlefield is infected with hundreds of them. The more, the merrier!

Destructible environments

This might not be a particularly attractive or highly detailed game, but Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon relies very strongly on destruction and big, intense battles.

Blowing up buildings and taking advantage of the environments make for enjoyable battles, and although the game's visual style leaves a lot to be desired, it's quite satisfying to see a large building being laid to waste around you.

What Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon Got Wrong

Single-player quickly gets repetitive and dull

Despite the game's large weapon list and unique classes, there's still something missing from the single-player campaign. The game is most definitely a co-op experience and it seems to excel when played with friends. However, the levels don't offer enough variety or challenge to make the campaign particularly memorable, which is disappointing.

The main aim seems to have a lot to do with unlocking all weapons and simply trying to kill every single bug in sight, which gets old quickly.

There's plenty of reason to play through the game in its entirety, such as unlocking all of the hundreds of weapons across each class, but it would have been good to see a bit more variety in the objectives and gameplay.

Visually unimpressive

It's a little hard to criticise this game for its lacking visuals considering its low-budget. This is a game that doesn't want to be known for its revolutionary graphics or gameplay mechanics, instead relying on simple gameplay, explosions and action to offer an enjoyable experience.

The Final Verdict

Simple and satisfying, but lacking in variety and depth. Still thoroughly enjoyable at times. A great range of weapons and four unique classes give the game some value, and the co-op experience is a real blast.

By Gaetano Prestia