Gameplay Today - Because You're Always Gaming

Earth Defense Force is a long running series most popular in Japan. For some time it has occupied a rather niche following in the US, and for the first time a game in the series has been developed by a Western studio. Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon was made by the guys behind Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard and more recently Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond. That might be a potential warning label for you, but I still recommend giving the game a try at it's budget MSRP of $40.00.

Having never played a game in the series prior, I was extremely excited to figure out what all the buzz was about. I had heard a lot of compliments through word of mouth about the EDF franchise, and a modern version with online multiplayer had me intrigued. Three players can co-op together through the game's 30 missions and various difficulties, as well as a typical survival/horde gametype. Luckily there is even a decent sized community around, so randoms can easily be found to match up with online. Unfortunately, the players you're likely to meet up with can either be completely useless newbies or overpowered death machines. Playing with friends is the best way to play, though of course not always possible.

Insect Armageddon's most noticeable flaw is the leveling system. I can easily overlook the simplistic graphics, reused assets, small amount of enemies and short campaign; those issues can all be redeemed when taking a glance at the price tag. However the leveling and upgrade system in place is outright illogical, and needs some major tuning to be acceptable. There are four classes to play as, each with their own unique assortment of weapons to unlock and purchase. To unlock weapons, you must reach a designated Tier (rank/level) and purchase them. Tier 2 is typically unlocked after completion of the very first mission, yet Tier 9 takes hours and hours to reach. Granted max level does offer completely overpowered weaponry to make higher difficulties a cinch, the requirements to reach that level is unreasonable.

The amount of available weapons also seems to expand like an upside-down pyramid; at low-levels there are few options, and the more you level up the more choices open up for you. With hundreds of weapons distributed amongst four classes, there was no reason to divide them up into nine tiers. A better option would have been to have more tiers in the game, thus allowing a more paced leveling process. And since each class has it's own individual experience, hitting max rank once only means you are a quarter of the way done. Had the campaign offered more than 15 stages (each has a “remixed” version) the nine tiers might have made more sense, but at the current state most gamers will never attain the higher ranks and weaponry included.

I can't say I was bored whilst playing Insect Armageddon, it's just that so much focus was on ranking up and acquiring new weapons. The actual gameplay, the part where you kill giant bugs and robots is overshadowed by the tedious experience-grinding. Amazingly the firefights became a means to an end, a rather unrewarding end at that. Really once you've discovered each enemies' weak point and attack pattern, successful play is simplified to proper dodging and movement and holding the gun trigger down constantly. Immediate impressions to Insect Armageddon had me thinking things would be tremendously difficult, but it eventually dissolved into brainless busy work.

Insect Armageddon aimed at being “hardcore” with its amount of unlockable content and leveling system, but only managed to be an unnecessary and repetitive grind. The multiplayer is in many ways fun, definitely if you can find two buddies to play with; but if that is out of the question then so is this potential purchase. Even forty dollars is too much money for the real amount of content presented in Insect Armageddon.