It's been a while since we last had the opportunity to cover ourselves in the gooey bits of giant, extraterrestrial insectoids, but that doesn't mean we haven't been craving it all the same.  Luckily for us, we have a brand new reason to venture forth onto the streets  in search of alien bug gut showers (which is coincidentally the name of my new sci-fi punk band).  Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair has made its way onto the PC and brings with it all the four player online co-op your body can handle.

Who hasn't had their dreams haunted by the chant; EDF! EDF!?  Recently it would be everyone without a Playstation 4 as the latest outing for the series, Earth Defense Force 4.1, is only out on that platform.  To increase any potential jealousy, new DLC is out for the game and is free to download for the first two weeks.

If you've never played an EDF game before, it's hard to describe really. The game is intentionally "bad" - like a B movie. It's campy, over the top, and pure popcorn action. We've seen a few iterations of the game since the original launched early on in the Xbox 360's life. Last year's Earth Defense Force 2025 saw several additions to the series, but it seemed that the older consoles simply weren't capable of handling the game.

Earth Defense Force 4 may not come to North America and it may not have co-op. But it probably will. So we're covering it. We've actually covered it a little bit here and there, so we felt a data base entry was warranted. Nothing's officially official, yet - other than the game will support online multiplayer, which will probably focus on co-op. Do all of these details sound kind of wishy-washy and up-in-the-air? Yup. Are the new Air Raider screens so kick ass you won't care? Also yup. 

Get ready for more EDF fun. Earth Defense Forces 4 (I have no idea why "forces" is plural now, but it is) has a brand new announcement trailer. We first brought you news of the bug-busting follow up to Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon back in July. Some new information has recently come out of Polygon, via the Japanese super site, Famitsu.

Game Informer recently spied a teaser website for Earth Defense Force 4. The site offers no details, so we don't know what platforms will carry the game, if it will come to the U.S., or if it even supports co-op. So why are we covering it? The last two games in the franchise were cheesy awesome fun, and they both support co-op, that's why.