Earth Defense Force 2017

A bit similar to "Crackdown." The sum of its parts doesn’t really equal anything outstanding. In fact, it’s downright crap in some ways. But when you actually play it, you’ll find yourself coming back for more…even if you’re not totally sure why.

As archaic and clumsy as it can be, Earth Defense Force 2017 succeeds because of what a ridiculous bit of dumb fun it is.

Part of what is so incredibly endearing about this game is that it’s so technically abhorrent. You’ll feel like you’re playing something from Xbox Live Arcade, but the fun factor is where EDF 2017 makes the leap to a standalone title.

Objectively, it's not hard to tell that Earth Defense Force 2017 is poorly made compared to the vast majority of 360 titles, although the localization is quality work on D3's part. What makes it so compelling to play, despite its many obvious flaws, is that the gameplay formula is by itself amazingly addictive and satisfying regardless of the graphics.

Recommending this game isn’t hard, in fact I can’t think of a reason not to buy this game. With a nice price, fast-paced action, and tons of giant bugs to demolish this is one of the most satisfying experiences on the Xbox 360 to date.

Go ahead and say that EDF is repetitive, but we had more fun trying out the 150 weapons than in almost any other recent shooter. Every level is packed with pure, nerdy fun, and the five difficulty levels prodded us into taking new weapons back into early levels to see how we'd fare. Weak-kneed animations and silly dialogue made it that much better, just this once.

So steeped in wacky old-school charm that any flaws are promptly washed away in a sea of explosions and giant ants. [Issue 18, p.97]

Speaking of destruction, every building in the game can be destroyed - something which was quite a surprise at first, after a stray missile missed its target and downed a building a few hundred metres in the distance. This combined with the complete bombardment of enemies makes for a game that constantly brings a smile to the face of players.

This is a slice of simple fun, and a better one you’ll be hard-pressed to find, but it’s simplicity is just a little too basic to hold your attention for long.

You are going to want to hate it, but the simplicity and mindless fun behind it will probably have you coming back.

It doesn't hold a candle to some of the more technically savvy games on Xbox 360 and that may be more than ample reason to give this one a pass depending upon your tastes. For good mindless shooting, this game delivers.

Players will be able to tell that this game had a low budget, because almost every area of the game needs improvement. Even though this is the case, this is an extremely fun game to play with your friends just because you want to kill everything in sight and protect humanity from extenuation.

When I played the game in front of a few friends, they were constantly screaming at me that I was getting surrounded by ants and yelling "constructive" advice in my direction. Any game that can elicit that sort of reaction from an inactive audience must be doing something right.

It’s not particularly innovative, it doesn’t have ground breaking graphics, but it does what it’s meant to do and is a fun way to spend a little time.

Having hopes of a grandiose, multifaceted sci-fi adventure will leave you extremely disappointed in Earth Defense Force 2017. If you embrace its narrowly-focused action gameplay you’ll have a blast saving the planet one dead alien at a time.

It is a very simple game with little depth in terms of story and characterisation and when it works can produce some genuine wow moments. However the poor controls for vehicles and the repetitive nature of the game coupled with some irritating moments of slowdown present a game that lacks a final polish.

Earth Defense Force 2107 isn't a great game, but it's a really fun one and unlike the grease bomb you score from the local burger emporium, it won't have any long-term deleterious impact on your health.

I guess the biggest surprise of EDF3 is that the graphics are actually amazing. The character models, enemy models, the sprawling city, and all the textures look great. The effects are crap and the physics are laughable but the city as a static object looks amazing. [JPN Import]

Nowhere near as good as the full-priced alternatives - but you're still guaranteed a pretty good time.

If you’re the type who can get behind some solid-yet-repetitive gameplay with plenty of fast paced action, EDF 2017 might be the game for you.

Sadly, while mowing through thousands of baddies and flattening entire skylines does hold a certain appeal, your $40 is better put toward other 360 action games. [May 2007, p.78]

The setting and the scale of EDF set it apart from anything else on the market. Enemies in this game have to be seen to be believed as they tower above everything else in videogames, save for a couple of the colossi from "Shadow of the Colossus."

Ultimately, the repetition and rough edges do hurt the expeience, but Earth Defense Force's wacky charm will certaily keep you entertained for a while. [May 2007, p.90]

It's dumb, it's derivative and it's cheap. Yet neither of those are the reason you should consider spending a bit of cash here. Instead, it's the vintage gameplay, the mindless arcade blasting entertainment and an ability to rise above a bedrock of flaws to emerge victorious. [Issue 25, p.56]

The illusion of epic-scale warfare remains a powerful and entertaining one, broken most significantly by the player’s need to avoid overexposing themselves to its fundamentally tedious nature. [Feb 2007, p.85]

Spend about 30 minutes to an hour of time with this game and you will realize that the makers of EDF just didn’t put their all into the title.

The excitement of shooting oversized insects grows old rather quickly, and the scarcely earned Achievement Points will most assuredly leave this game on the outside of your counsel more than in it. The lack of Live play is a major deterrent to picking up this simple-minded title.

The bottom line with this game is that you get what you pay for, and even at $39.99, Earth Defense Force 2017 is simply overpriced. The physics and audio are so last gen, that even after blowing stuff up for some limited enjoyment, you just want to put the game away and play an Xbox Live Arcade title instead.

For balls to the wall, mindless shooting this game will satisfy, if you can focus on the destruction you cause and not the technical short comings.

While almost every facet of this game is atrocious, there is a sort of charm that EDF carries that has so far been unseen on the platform.