The cult classic Earth Defense Force franchise has made its way to the PlayStation Vita. It's a re-release of the Xbox 360 Earth Defense Force 2017, but it's not a straight port. Instead we get added features like four player co-op, new characters, and a handful of new levels. Our latest review takes on the ravagers head on.
Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable is available now on the PlayStation Vita via the PlayStation Store. If you're not familiar with the series, I'll sum it up for you: You play as Storm 1, part of the Earth Defense Force. You forcibly defend the Earth from alien attacks. These aliens, called Ravagers, come in the form of giant bugs, hulking robots and menacing drop ships. You control a little dude with strangely animated hips and blast the bugs while gathering better weapons and armor. As an added bonus, the buildings which make up the cities you're supposed to be defending will crumble if you so much as look at them funny. There is no penalty for knocking over a skyscraper for the sake of a good explosion. It's simple, fun, and addictive.
Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable will be out early next year. How early? How about January 8th, which is just in time to catch the trade-in rush from all those single playthrough games you got for Christmas. This announcement literally doubles our title count for co-op games coming out in January. Hopefully some more games pop up, or it's going to be a long a winter.
Earth Defense Forces 3: Portable is coming to the United States as Earth Defense Force 2017: Portable for the PlayStation Vita. The four player co-op game is a remake of the original PlayStation and Xbox game. Several features have been added for the release including much lauded four player online co-op, something that was limited to split screen co-op in the original. Obviously, split screen doesn't fly on a 6 inch portable screen.
The EDF is back and better than ever! Earth Defense Forces 3: Portable launches for the Playstation Vita tomorrow. EDF3: Portable is a portable... port of the cult classic Earth Defense Force 2017. Now it features four player online co-op and the flying PaleWing character from Earth Defense Force 2, AKA Global Defense Force, which was never released in the US. The bad news is that this new iteration of the third person bug buster is only available in Japan (for now).
The Earth Defense Force series is one of those guilty pleasure type of experiences. These games are very similar to the shlocky 50s B-Movies that surely inspired them; full of sheer ridiculousness on a grand scale. The B-movies never won too many Oscars, and Earth Defense Force games don't get Game of the Year honors often, but that doesn't make them bad. Sometimes you just want to shoot giant bugs for a bit.
I'm a big fan of the EDF frachise. The "so-bad-they're-good" titles have captivated me since Earth Defense Force 2017. I love taking on the alien Ravagers, easily mangling giant insects, crippling robot Hectors, and menacing drop ships. The sequel, EDF: Insect Armageddon, was a fair game, but lacked the unpolished charm (and the 52 stages with multiple difficulty levels) of 2017.
