Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon swarming onto Steam
The invertebrate-annihilating Earth Defense Force Series will make its long-overdue debut on PC this holiday season, when EDF: Insect Armageddon hits Steam with all the DLC released on consoles.
The invertebrate-annihilating Earth Defense Force Series will make its long-overdue debut on PC this holiday season, D3Publisher has announced. Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon is to be released for download on PC via Steam, complete with all the downloadable content released on consoles and Steam Cloud save support.
Along with Steam Cloud saving, the PC edition will have the requisite Steam achievements. You'll also be able to buy four new DLC weapon packs, one per armour class, each with ten new weapons to blast the heck out of creepy-crawlies.
Developed by Vicious Cycle, Insect Armageddon was originally released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in July to middling reviews. There's no word yet on how much the Steam edition will cost.
Here's a look back at the console edition in action:
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replyAlice O'Connor posted a new article, Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon swarming onto Steam.
The invertebrate-annihilating Earth Defense Force Series will make its long-overdue debut on PC this holiday season, when EDF: Insect Armageddon hits Steam with all the DLC released on consoles.-
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The game really disappointed me. EDF 2017 surpassed it in every way.
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I can and will! I'm glad you asked, actually. I've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to write any game reviews, so this presents a good opportunity to talk about one of the biggest disappointments of the year.
- Level variety. EDF 2017 (which I'll refer to as EDF1) offered cities, caverns, beaches, rolling hills, and various permutations of each for, if I remember correctly, around 50-60 levels. Each one felt varied enough that you couldn't bulldoze through everything with the same weapon load out. Plus, the variety was enough that I didn't roll my eyes at yet another city level the way I did in EDF2 (Insect Armageddon), which only offers city-based stages.
- Newfangled unlock-then-purchase weapon system. In EDF1, when an enemy dropped a weapon, you picked it up and it became yours. Increasing your armament wasn't that simple, of course. Some weapons only dropped on certain stages and on certain difficulty levels; and you had to finish the level to gain credit for finding weapons, which was a fun and fair challenge on higher difficulties. But if you did that, the weapon was yours to use immediately.
And, the weapon drops were random. Did you find any new weapons, or were they all redundant? You had to wait until the level-complete screen to find out, and seeing "NEW WEAPON ACQUIRED" flashing next to different guns evoked a surge of satisfaction; all the hard work, especially on Inferno difficulty, had paid off.
EDF2 subscribes to the more modern and grind-ridden system of first unlocking a weapon, then saving up to purchase it. That's busy work implemented for the sole purpose of making me grind more than I already have to grind to unlock top-tier weapons. If an enemy drops a weapon and I pick it up, it should be mine.
- Fewer weapon drops per level, which facilitates more grinding. In EDF1, any enemy could drop weapons. In EDF2, only bosses can drop weapons. Most EDF2 levels include only 2-3 bosses per levels, and because the game has fewer levels that last much longer than any one of EDF1's, you have to play them over, and over, and over, and over again to find new loot.
- Level length. As I mentioned, EDF2 features fewer levels than EDF1, but each is considerably lengthy, with some of the later levels taking 45+ minutes to finish playing solo on higher difficulties. If you don't finish a level, you don't keep your weapon drops. Fair is fair, but claiming one new weapon only to die at the end and have to start over at the beginning really, really sucks.
I'll admit to a double standard here, because that very mechanic is one reason I love Demon's/Dark Souls so much. The difference with EDF2 is, EDF1 set a precedent that its sequel failed to match: yes, you had to finish a level to keep your life upgrades and new weapons, if you found any; but because the game featured more levels, their length fluctuated fairly between short, medium, and long.
- Terrible atmosphere that doesn't realize it's terrible. The writing in EDF1 was bad, but it KNEW it was bad. It was a self-aware parody of every sci-fi action movie and game ever made. In comparison, EDF2 tries to be cornball and cringe worthy, something EDF1 did effortlessly. This is a minor complaint, but most EDF1 players point to the game's atmosphere as being fun and campy, whereas EDF2's just felt awkwardly constructed.-
Agreed on all counts. I played one level of Insect Defense and that was enough to realize they lost the magic.
What a shame.-
It should have been such an easy formula to replicate. Unfortunately, that happens a lot: a developer--either the one who made the first game or a new one--looks at a game's success and determines that X, Y, and Z were responsible for its success, when really players enjoyed A, B, and C.
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Yea, I was really hoping that they would keep the existing mechanics and spend their time and money to make prettier graphics.
Can't say that I'm surprised at how it turned out, maybe they will get it right the next time around.
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Yeah, that sums up how I felt.
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I think you're being overly critical.
The game doesn't havbe all the charm of the first (much of it accidental and hard to purposely replicate and even mechanically has some flaws, it makes some improvements as well.
I mean, honestly, networked coop alone is a huge deal - I don't even mean playing with strangers, even playing with friends, as an adult, can be a hassle. I played the previous (the 360 one) with a friend, and it was a lot of fun, but it's hard to organize. I never even finished it because of the difficulty coordinating it with a friend.\-
I agree that EDF2 does offer a few improvements. I like the unique character classes, for example, as they make me think more about the weapons I might need for each level and the way I will handle each encounter.
But to me, the game's flaws far outweigh its strengths.-
And yeah, online co-op is a nice feature, but to me, EDF is more fun played locally. It's easier to communicate strategies and enjoy the game's ridiculousness with someone sitting right beside you as opposed to wherever in the world.
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I thought you lived in Switzerland.
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Whoa was I wrong. Somebody nuke this shit.
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