There's a new Earth Defense Force game on its way, recently announced by D3 Publisher and Sandlot, and there are few things here at Tokyo Game Show that I was more excited to see. Here on the show floor, the Xbox 360 version was available to demo with six different missions to play.
The mission I chose was focused on the new type of spider enemy. In EDF 2017, spiders were among the most frustrating enemies in the game, bouncing around, firing webs and pulling you in every direction. The new spiders feature thick yellow stripes on their abdomen and produce massive webs that stretch between buildings.
The webs can trap you, as well as your fellow soldiers and civilians, and must be destroyed to liberate its captives. No movement is possible at all while in a web, beyond looking to aim. Spiders will still use their silk to try and drag you in (dealing constant damage as they do) and the webs now provide another obstacle to keep track of while this is happening, as the only thing worse than being pulled toward a spider is getting stuck, health draining away, and having to focus efforts on clearing a web.
Earth Defense Forces 4 is a direct sequel to 2017 and represents something of a return to form for the series, following the western-developed Insect Armageddon. Loot hunters will be happy to learn that armor power-ups and weapon drops are back in full effect, with lots of stuff littering the environment.
On the flipside, however, the destructibility of the environments has changed considerably. No longer can the player just fire a rocket at a building and watching it crumble to the ground as if part of a controlled implosion. I swear that I did see one such demolition, but subsequent efforts to take down a structure with as many as twenty rockets had no noticeable effect on my target.
I can't decide if I like this element. From a gameplay perspective, the heartier buildings will make the game more challenging to play, forcing the player to run through the maze of streets in a city. But when I think about it as a fan of the series, I cannot help but feel just a smidge disappointed. I take a ridiculous amount of joy from the lack of realism in this element and I fear I'll miss it in Earth Defense Force 4.
That said, the game does play well and it's a significant graphical improvement over EDF 2017. With luck, we'll hear soon from D3 that they're bringing it out of Japan and into everyone's homes.
12:00 PM on 11.05.2012 //
Hamza CTZ AzizHalo 4 is out this week and to celebrate we're giving away the Limited Edition Halo 4 Xbox 360! The system retails for $399.99, and comes with a copy of Halo 4, a 320GB harddrive, two controllers, and headset. The syste... more
11:30 AM on 11.03.2012 //
Mr Andy Dixon[Update: Contest over! Winners @tehOldsMobile, @SuperMonk4Ever, @noisybear, @JQM78, and @sundin0013!]
Destructoid is collaborating with our friends at Game Revolution to give away 10 copies of the brand new Zon... more
3:30 PM on 11.02.2012 //
Mr Andy DixonI reviewed the new multiplayer-only indie FPS Ravaged today, and I thought it was OK! The vehicles and maps are a lot of fun, but the on-foot segments and general lack of polish held it back a bit. Check out the review, ... more
12:45 PM on 10.31.2012 //
Mr Andy Dixon[Update: Contest over! Winner is Serkderg the Herkderg!]
What better way to celebrate Halloween than by dressing up as your favorite videogame character? And what better incentive to share that costume with the world than the... more
3:20 AM on 10.30.2012 //
Mr Andy Dixon[Update: Contest over! Congratulations to Dtoider Monkey News for winning a brand new Wii U!]
Hi. We've redesigned Destructoid. We hope you like it. Here's what's new.
To commemorate the launch of our badass... more
2:30 PM on 10.29.2012 //
Mr Andy Dixon[Update: The finalists have been selected! Head over to Big Fish's Facebook page and vote for your favorite!]
Our buddies at Big Fish Games are currently giving away codes for their latest golf-themed iOS puzzler, Fairway Sol... more
6:30 PM on 10.25.2012 //
Mr Andy Dixon[Update: Contest over! Winners have been emailed their codes!]
Our friends at Devolver Digital have delivered 100 Steam keys to Dtoid's doorstep for their new top-down shooter Hotline Miami!
The game looks literally insane, a... more
3:30 PM on 10.17.2012 //
Mr Andy Dixon
[Update: Contest over! Winners will be notified via Twitter PM ASAP.]
You've seen the trailers for Wreck-It Ralph, right? You saw them and you said, "Finally, a movie where every single videogame character I grew up wit... more
5:00 PM on 10.01.2012 //
Mr Andy Dixon[Update: Contest over! Winners will be contacted soon.]
To help promote our interview from earlier today, our new budds at Multiverse Studios have given us a bunch of awesome Bobble Budd figures to hand out to you l... more
1:30 PM on 09.27.2012 //
Mr Andy Dixon[Update: Contest closed! Check your Dtoid PMs to see if you won!]
In celebration of the game's upcoming Steam release, Destructoid has 20 Half-Minute Hero watches to give away today!
These sleek, LED watches have one of the s... more