The missions in EDF 6 vary wildly, but they nearly all involve going into an urban, outdoors, or subterranean area and cutting through waves of enemies. Returning foes include the series’ staple giant ants, spiders, and hornets, plus the human-like frogs and cosmonauts of EDF 5. Before too long, players will also face new types of android enemies, flying drones, shield-wielding tentacled Kruul monsters, deadly flying Excavators, and more. There are only two species of kaiju in this installment, but otherwise, the variety of enemies is impressive. Some of the new foes like the Kruul and Excavators can be downright annoying, but there’s real satisfaction in overcoming them in co-op. Make no mistake, EDF 6 is harder than the last game. Even some early missions throw incredible numbers and assortments of deadly enemies at players, and overcoming them can be daunting on higher difficulty levels. Thankfully, the option of beating a level on an easier difficulty and then returning to it later remains.
As always, EDF 6 truly shines in co-op. 2-player split-screen allows two local players to play on the host’s save file; split-screen players can’t join online games. Online games allow players to host their own game or browse and search for open lobbies. When joining in-progress games, the joining player must sit and wait in the lobby rather than watching the ongoing mission – a recurring issue in this series. Otherwise, the online co-op experience is fantastic. Each of the four classes brings something unique to the team, but multiple players can choose the same class if they like. Enemies have more health in online games, encouraging the team to stick together to overcome threats. Still, dividing and conquering can be effective as well. When a player goes down, another teammate can revive the fallen friend at the cost of half their health. Once the mission ends, everyone gets the full portion of weapon and armor drops collected by the team. It all works together to create one of the best co-op experiences in gaming.
Steam Specifics
Whereas EDF 4.1 and 5 launched on PlayStation before eventually landing on Steam, the worldwide version of EDF 6 arrives on PlayStation and Steam at the same time (2 years after the Japanese release). The Steam version looks and plays great, but it’s not without issues. On Steam Deck, my team and others have experienced random crashes that we greatly hope will be fixed. Even on a desktop, typing messages with a keyboard is semi-borked. If you’re playing with a controller, the spacebar of the keyboard will instantly send the typed message, preventing users from typing multiple words. This was never a past issue in previous EDFs, and it really needs to be fixed.
Controversially, the Steam version launched with Epic Online Services (EOS) required for online play. Epic doesn’t seem to bring any advantages to the Steam game because there’s no cross-play with consoles. Many Steam users dislike EOS, and so the game has suffered from review bombing since launch. D3 Publisher has already addressed the problem and promised to remove the EOS requirement, so this (truly minor) problem will go away in time. Be patient, PC players!
Join the EDF!
It’s a shame that Earth Defense Force 6’s launch has been mired by Steam review bombing, because the game itself is great. Class-based refinements, shared offline and online progress, and a humongous assortment of missions make EDF 6 the best EDF yet. Earth Defense Force is a series that improves incrementally rather than through vast evolutions, and that’s okay. Each of these games offers more than 200 hours of play for completionists. There’s so much to do through playing all the missions, difficulties, and classes! Even without the sheen of a big-budget AAA game, Earth Defense Force 6 offers the most co-op fun of any game this year – and my team will be playing it next year as well.
Earth Defense Force 6 is now available on PlayStation and Steam for $59.99. On PlayStation, a deluxe edition is also available for $89.99 that bundles the game with DLC. The Steam version of EDF 6 is fully Steam Deck compatible.
A Steam download code was provided by the publisher for this review.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: Play with up to 2 local players or 4 players in online co-op. Players can resurrect downed teammates at the cost of their health.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.