Earth Defense Force 6 Review (PS5)

Earth Defense Force feels like a relic of a bygone era. An era of arcade shooters with the sole purpose of throwing shapes, colours and sounds in your general direction. Ever since 2003’s Monster Attack, franchise dev Sandlot has gathered a faithful fanbase, who ignore the technical shortcomings and revel in a varied class system and wealth of customisation options. Oh, and mindlessly destroying thousands of giant insects.

Coming to us two years after its native Japanese release, Earth Defense Force 6 arrives in much the same way all the previous titles have. It’s a game out of time. It looks nothing like a PS5 title should, it has none of the modern mechanical trappings of a progressive action shooter. It's very much a twenty year old experience. Does this make it any less enjoyable? Absolutely not.

EDF6 is a direct sequel to the previous title, taking place three years after mankind is almost wiped out by an invading alien force called Primers. Protagonist Storm 1 is supporting the cleanup of a devastated Earth when a new invasion begins. Despite the simplicity of the gameplay loop, EDF has a surprisingly complicated franchise continuity that's been rebooted multiple times. This instalment alone has a bonkers story hook that upends the plot — time travel. Revisiting the events of EDF5 via time loops is an engaging idea; experiencing the invasion as a seasoned veteran adds a meta spin to the usually straightforward mission narrative. It's amusing to hear your past squad-mates note how good the rookie is at squashing bugs. Think Edge of Tomorrow with wobbly robots and jumping spiders.

It would be pertinent to assure any franchise newcomers that, if you like the look of this, don’t worry about the story. It’s intriguing for the most part and there are some epic reveals across more than a hundred missions. However, it is so much window dressing when compared to the bug-mulching carnage happening on the battlefield.

Imagine if Dynasty Warriors had hordes of bus-sized wasps instead of imperial soldiers. Instead of Lu Bu entering the fray, you face a flying ant with the wingspan of a fighter jet. You cross the vast killing fields, not with a sword, but a plasma cannon.

Every mission of EDF starts with you choosing from four main classes. Ranger is your basic soldier class, with military weaponry and thrown projectiles. Wing Diver has a jetpack, the energy from which powers her devastating plasma weapons. Air Raider employs drones to swarm enemies, as well as several deployable support weapons. Fencer wears a chunky mech suit and can dual wield heavy weapons. Each has variation in their weaponry and movement options. There's a deep well of unlockable guns and abilities. Everything can be upgraded alongside your main stats, either via general usage, or from crates that burst from enemy corpses.

No class has any particular weaknesses; they're each attuned to a particular play style. Air Raider’s lack of mobility is made up for by the versatility of his deployable buddies. Wing Diver feels easy when you're zipping around in the sky, but managing energy levels adds complexity. Fencer’s lumbering stride complements his big guns perfectly. Finally, Ranger is a great all-rounder and a powerful version of the basic grunt archetype.

Missions consist of enemy waves appearing at various points on large, open maps. In the beginning, finding the aliens and wiping them out is the only objective. Later, mission parameters become more varied, and every now and then you’ll get a story scenario to keep the plot moving along.

You start the game by killing shambling cybernetic frogmen, which are creepy in their own right. Later, when the bugs arrive, it can be a terrifying experience for the uninitiated. Skyscraping ant queens, hundreds of wasps descending from the sky, fire ants flooding a huge canyon, it's a lot to handle. While daunting at first, coping with the sheer volume of enemies soon becomes second nature. You’ll have killed thousands of bugs before you're 10 per cent into the game.

Adding to the chaos is four-player online co-op and two-player split screen. Much like the previous games, every mission can be played with others. Tackling the Primers is immense fun alone and multiplayer only adds to the enjoyment. Co-op is also when the classes really shine, abilities and weapon sets complementing each other as you team up to waste mobs of enemies.

So, the spectacle is there, the classes are as fun as ever, but what about the presentation? Well, the good news is that Earth Defense Force 6 runs like a dream. In 4K performance mode there's barely a frame lost in the sheer chaos of the missions. You spend most of this game surrounded by debris, body parts, and explosions. At times it feels miraculous that everything runs so smoothly.

That being said, EDF6 is not a looker. There have always been graphical sacrifices made to offer the B-movie chaos of hundreds of giant ants on screen at once. The overall presentation is more suited to early PS3 than the latest generation. Humans are stiff, lifeless models. Aliens are so big and numerous that you seldom notice the shortcomings in their art design.

Maps have some variation, moving from different biomes that all have the same urban aesthetic. At least the time travel moves us away from the grey post-apocalypse early on. Everything in the environments is destructible, which makes the bland landscapes easier to deal with, as you’ll be blowing them up during the course of a mission. Elsewhere, the soundscape is just generic weapon fire, explosions, and the endless screams of dying monsters.

It feels odd to recommend a game we've spent a lot of time criticising for its frequently abysmal visual presentation. But, such is the charm of Earth Defense Force. It's a stubbornly old school experience that features some of the best human-on-bug violence in gaming (yes, even competing with Helldivers 2). Multiplayer across a huge volume of missions, combined with deep classes to mix and match, should extend this instalment's lifespan until the inevitable next sequel.

The franchise hasn't changed much at all in 20 years, which will suit existing fans. For those new to the fight against the aliens, expect nothing less than a good time.