Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon

While it may be different from what series fans are used to, it is absolutely a game worthy of the Earth Defense Force title and lineage.

There's nothing quite like EDF's insane thrills. Simple, old-school, but oh so very good at what it does, Insect Armageddon is well worth a look. As long as you don't mind a bit of ant vomit, of course.

Insect Armageddon lacks the clueless earnestness of the last entry and carries over some dated concepts, but it fully captures the same breed of unapologetic run-and-gun action. Ultimately, that's what kept me playing EDF 2017 for dozens of hours, and that's why I've got dozens more in front of me with Insect Armageddon.

It's just extraordinarily surprising how much fun this game can be, despite all the glaring problems.

You liked Starship Troppers? You always wanted to fight alongside all the other bug killing soldiers? Then Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon is for you! The game offers tons of weapons and even more enemies to beat. It's not the best game in history, but it's damn fun to kick some bug butts.

Despite lacking the scripted set-pieces of a so-called 'AAA' game, Insect Armageddon does a remarkable job of showing what a focused team can produce on a minimal budget.

Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon isn't some fancy-ass, top-of-the-line flea bomb, but an inexpensive can of Raid that gets the job done.

It isn't the best at anything, but it's got a flair for the ridiculous that makes it unique in a genre that often takes itself a little too seriously.

Played in small bursts, EDF's knowingly daft, trashy action is an unapologetic hoot. [Sept 2011, p.107]

Thanks to the splitscreen and online with up to four people, it's easy to recommend this budget-priced title that aims low but hits hard. [Sept 2011, p.87]

Insect Armageddon is a fun little game that has a lot of gameplay variation. However all that variation won't stop you from getting bored with the game after a short while. If you don't want to get bored, try the co-op mode with a friend and you'll have a ton of fun.

Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon has lots of explosions and destruction, but not quite enough variety to keep things moving.

This isn't a game that demands your undivided attention, though; it can be played sporadically, either on your own or with a few friends and some beers. It can become monotonous – mindless even, if you let it – but with the right frame of mind, there's a remarkable amount of fun to be had here.

It's fun and it's affordable, but it's short, nowhere near exciting or varied enough, misses the cheap-and-cheerful feel of the previous entries to the series and generally bores where it should entertain. [Issue#208, p.90]

Quotation forthcoming.

Its repetitive approach kills any lasting fun. [Sept 2011, p.105]

I'm honestly astounded as to how any game can be so good and so bad at the same time.

Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon may be a reasonably competent game given its budget roots, but somehow ends up being rather unsatisfying to play.

Insect Armageddon succeeds in one small regard. Good games should make you feel something. Unfortunately the emotion it frequently elicits is rage. While the price is about right, and measured against the games that came before it in the series Insect Armageddon doesn't look that bad. But that's a bung comparison in the wider tapestry of quality games out there that can be had for a few bucks more. [September 2011 p74]

Fair is fair, Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon is a game of below average quality. But because it doesn't pretend to be anything more than that, we'll let that slide. But even for a game in which simplism is the main attraction, it still does too many things wrong. That makes EDF: Insect Armageddon entertaining for an hour or two (possibly longer in coöp), but the lack of any variation makes you want to put it down rather sooner than later.

Dull as one of worst Dynasty Warriors, ugly to see, repetitious and disheartening. There's plenty of better games to play co-op, so don't let the standard variation of horde game mode lure you.

You have to fight against different huge insects who are terrorizing New Detroit. Sounds fun, but it isn't. The visual part of the game is way too bad, the animations are worthless, the gameplay is repetitive and the overall experience is mostly boring. The good parts of this game? The audio is okay and the co-op feature makes it a bit more fun to play.

Earth Defense Force 2017 wasn't very good, but you couldn't help enjoying it. Insect Armageddon, on the other hand, just isn't good.

Horribly disappointing spin-off that replicates the formula but not the soul of the low budget rentakill shooter.

A game that comes up short in almost every category. Yes, it is fun to kill insects and robots – everyone loves to do that. However, there is not enough variety in the enemies, missions, or classes to keep things from becoming stale rather quickly. Add in the fact that you never have to worry about ammo and you have mindless running and gunning at it's finest, with no depth to back it up.

The fundamental flaw with Insect Armageddon is that is simply doesn't capture the sheer scale and explosive chaos that made its Japanese predecessor so memorable. Couple that with a shooter backbone that's too simple and too repetitive to rope in fans of the genre and you're left with Insect Armageddon, a game that will fail to entice either fans of the genre or the series.