Keepin' it couch.
EDF: IA heavily improved one feature over its predecessor: co-op play. This game is great with friends. The entire campaign can be played by two players locally via split screen, or three people can team up and play online. There's also a six player online Survival Mode. All of these modes offer drop-in/drop out play. There's a revive mechanic, which will keep the action going. You'll need to use this often since you can't turn off the friendly fire. ( I know! That's what I said, too!) Still, you shouldn't mistake your teammate for a bug. If you do, you can heal them quickly. Oldman and Kicker, the AI stand-ins, will even heal you if you become incapacitated while playing solo. In your face, sixty dollar games with crap AI partners!
A few notes on the co-op modes: In split screen co-op mission selection is restricted to the player with the least amount of completed levels. If you have completed the game, but your buddy has only made it to level five, then together you can only choose missions up to level five. Granted, you will have access to all of your powered-up suits and weapons. When playing online, you can't join a game unless you have already accessed that mission. Weapon drops are shared and random. This means if one person picks up a weapon, everyone gets it. True to form, higher levels offer better gear. In Survival Mode everyone is given a generic Trooper and weapon load out, so none of your armor or weapons are accessible. It makes sense, since someone with tier 8 gear would break the mode.
If you see this message you need to man up, or your internet buddies need to man down.
The lower difficulty levels put a cap on armor tier XP. For example, the Normal setting caps at tier 5 while Hard caps at tier 7. If you want to play with a lower level buddy on Normal difficulty with your bad-ass tier 6 armor, go ahead. You just won't gain any experience toward tier 7 armor. You will, however, still gain credits you can spend on any tier level weapons. (So long as you have unlocked them). You gain credits in all modes, including Survival Mode. Everything you do in the game is like roofing in July or digging a ditch in January: it builds character.
Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon has made a lot of improvements over EDF 2017. Sadly, some of the charm of its predecessor have been lost in translation. For a forty dollar game there is still a lot of fun to be had here, whether with friends online or on the couch. EDF: IA is like a summer blockbuster. You could experience it by yourself, but then your just that guy in the theater. Grab some friends, turn off your brains, and enjoy the Insect Armageddon.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: 3 players can team up through the campaign while 6 players can team up for a survival mode!
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.