Review in Progress: Earth Defense Force 6

I received my pre-release key for Earth Defense Force 6 on Monday of this week. Do you know how many missions these games typically have? We’re talking around 40 hours, at least, and I’m lucky to be awake for that many hours in a week.

The marketing materials even say that this is the biggest one yet in terms of mission count. I’d say that I believe it, but it’s really hard to tell. The narrative pacing is so choppy in these games that it’s hard to say what part of the arc (if there is one) you’re even at. Big bad baddies get introduced and then taken away until later. Super weapons are developed and then disappear. It’s hard to get a handle.

That might sound like a complaint, but there’s a lot about Earth Defense Force that you just take as-is. They’re far from the most sophisticated games, and any attempt to push them more in that direction would threaten their charm and appeal. So you either accept all the rough bits and just enjoy blasting ants into orbit, or you don’t. Earth Defense Force 6 doesn’t change that one bit.

Earth Defense Force 6 (PS4, PS5, PC [Reviewed])
Developer: Sandlot Games
Publisher: D3Publisher
Released: July 25, 2024
MSRP: $59.99

EDF 5 restarted the series’ continuity for, like, the fifth time if we include the games that weren’t developed by Sandlot. EDF 6 continues from there. It picks up a few years after the invasion depicted in the previous game, and things absolutely suck. The world is in ruins and humanity is completely failing in any effort to try and re-establish society.

The setup is different, placing you in crumbling cities fighting off the remnants of the aliens who were left behind, but it will be excruciatingly familiar if you played any of the previous games. You start off with a tiny arsenal, fighting small groups of easy enemies, and things grow from there. If you’ve been playing since 2007’s Earth Defense Force 2017 like I have, the opening missions where you’re just taking out a few ants with a peashooter will have gotten really boring by now.

Also, definitely skip the tutorial. It has a prologue where you and a scientist dressed like a banker get moved to a new military base. The commanding officer gives you this massively long and boring speech. Then you’re given a quick rundown of some extremely obvious controls. The only information that might be slightly necessary is that you play as the same protagonist as the previous game, and the man dressed as an accountant used to make weapons.

Once again, you have four classes. There’s the straightforward Ranger, the shapely Wing Diver, the supportive Air Raider, and the mechanized Fencer. Each one has a completely different playstyle, which is especially useful in multiplayer. However, the EDF games have never really had much strategy to them, so while each feel and play quite different, the difference isn’t hugely impactful.

You’re once again fighting ants, which eventually give way into weirder enemies. There are plenty of new foes to face off with, but it’s the same flow.

The narrative is strangely compelling. Story is not something you typically play EDF games for, considering a lot of it is told through scratchy, one-sided radio conversations with fantastically over-acted voiceovers. It’s just as clumsy in Earth Defense Force 6, and while it’s not exactly well told, it twists in ways that I didn’t expect. I’m almost on edge wondering what is going to happen next.

On the other hand, I can’t stress enough how much EDF 6 is like EDF 5. The graphical upgrades are so minor that you might not even notice them. It still looks like a PS3 game with a 4K texture pack.

In fact, if I had to name a single new feature that was added, I could only tell you that there’s a new sub-weapon slot. Of course, new weapons and monsters have been added, but that’s just what you’d expect from a continuation. If EDF 6 wasn’t such a massive game, I’d say it should have just been an expansion pack.

I’ll get deeper into things when I’m ready to give you a full review, but that’s the warning I want to give if you’re eager to click the purchase button on Earth Defense Force 6. If you didn’t finish EDF 5, you aren’t missing much if you just go back and play that instead. If you did finish EDF 5, and want more, then this is a safe purchase. Earth Defense Force 6 is assuredly more Earth Defense Force.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}