Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon review

The fight for planet Earth continues as the Ravagers' assault goes on unwavering, and grows even more desperate as new types of Ravagers are introduced. However, the Ravagers are not the only ones with something new on the field. Lightning Squad has at their disposal, the best of the current military technology to use to crush the alien invaders.

In the second installment into the EDF series you upgrade from a disposable EDF trooper to a member of the elite Lightning squad. This game is better then the first as it has better graphics and vehicle controls as well as the ability to play as one of four different kinds of soldier: Jet, Battle, Tactical, and Trooper. Each one has their own set of weapons and special abilities that will change the way you play, like the Jet armor is the fastest armor and has jump jets that allow it to get on top of buildings for great, long range sniper shots while the Battle is the slowest, but strongest armor and features a shield that will absorb damage till the energy bar hits zero (and features a few other special abilities). It also features a level system that has your character getting stronger and gaining new abilities and making the higher difficulties easier. The designers even added a survival mode which pits you against an endless onslaught of gradually more difficult waves.

The sequel is worse then the first as it is ridiculously shorter then the first (the first features 50+ missions while the second has about 15 missions and are usually short). Also the voice acting has not improved by much nor has the enemy AI. Several times I have been in the middle of a firefight with a Hector robot just to have it stop fighting me to shoot down a nearby building and then return to killing me. The achievements are all easy to get, but only if you are willing to put in the time to get over 25,000 kills of a specific alien type.

Over all I really like this game, but just wish it was longer. If you played the first and liked it then you should definitely pick up the sequel.

/ [Lord Josmar]

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