Earth Defense Force 2017

"This gen's hardest shooter will bring about immense frustration ... but you may just love it."

Before you read any further, there are a few things you need to know about EDF 2017.

1) It doesn't have the best graphics you've seen this gen, by a long shot.
2) At times its frame rate can slow to a crawl.
3) It has little to no narrative.
4) Its gameplay is highly repetitive, often recycling the same levels, all of which are populated with differing combinations of the same few enemies.
5) This game is, quite probably, the hardest game to come out in decades. It easily earns the title of this gen's Ghosts 'n' Goblins for its sheer difficulty, at least if you harbor any dreams of beating it 100%.
6) You will do absolutely nothing in this game other than run, shoot, roll, and jump. That is all the gameplay will ever consist of, and that will never change throughout the course of the game's 53 levels.

Still with me? You haven't closed this page and said, "Screw that game!" already? Good. Then read on for why this game deserves an 8 out of ten in my personal opinion.

EDF 2017 is a third person shooter with an extremely straightforward design philosophy and extremely simple gameplay. Giant insect aliens and robots have invaded the Earth. Your job is to destroy these enemies and, occasionally, the ant hills, flying saucers, and walking fortresses from which they spawn.

While that sounds simple enough, this game does something no other third person shooter dares to attempt doing: it gives you hundreds of progressively more powerful weapons to unlock, all of which have their own advantages, disadvantages, and associated strategies, while requiring you to actually grind for hours upon hours to increase your health (called Stamina here) to survivable levels. Yep, that's right. EDF 2017 is the world's only 100+ hour basic shooter.

The weapon categories in the game include Assault Rifles (great for mowing down hordes of weak enemies,) Shotguns (used for taking out dense pockets of enemies that can take more damage,) Sniper Rifles (for trying to take down solitary or extremely distant foes before they can annihilate you,) Rocket Launchers (ranged weapons with more firepower and splash damage,) Missile Launchers (homing missiles for fire and forget situations,) Grenades (individual hand-held explosives and grenade launchers,) and Special Weapons (exotic weaponry ranging from bombs, to flame throwers, to the extremely useful auto-turret guns.)

Initially, the weapons available to you will barely suffice to cope with the game's enemies on its easiest difficulty setting, however by the end of the game you will have unlocked weapons with tremendous firepower sufficient to wipe out dozens of acid-spewing ants or web-shooting spiders at a time. The degree to which your selection of weapons affects your strategy, and the avenues of success having just one or two weapons you previously lacked can open, are what this game is all about.

How do you acquire these weapons? The same way you acquire anything in this game, which is probably its greatest strength. Enemies randomly drop health, armor, and weapon upgrades upon their deaths. When you pick up health, you regain lost stamina (health) just like in any other similar game. When you pick up armor (more on this later,) at the end of a successfully completed level you gain however much armor you picked up during the level in the form of additional stamina, thus raising your total HP permanently. When you pick up weapon upgrades, at the end of a successfully completed level, you acquire random weapons. Sometimes these will be weapons you already have, but often they will be one or more of the game's more than 160 unlockable weapons that you don't have yet. The higher the difficulty you're playing on, and the higher the level, the better the weapons are likely to be. This creates an impetus to go back and replay levels on harder difficulties, to make life easier on your current difficulty level.

And you'll need that extra firepower. A lot. This game gets hard. VERY hard. On the hardest difficulty level, even with all weapons unlocked, the game remains virtually impossible without enormous reserves of stamina (health.) This relentless requirement for better weapons and more health, the need to grind, and the desire to test your new weaponry and increased health out to see if you can yet defeat a level you were previously stuck on, somehow combine to make this simple, otherwise flawed game, one of the most addictive, and enjoyable games I have ever played.

I mentioned the importance of armor upgrades earlier. One of this game's driving factors is the requirement to grind. Depending on your skill level, you may end up grinding for less time than others, but make no mistake: You WILL grind for health for hours upon hours before you beat this game. No combination of weapons alone will make it possible to get 100% in this game unless you have enough health to survive the sheer overwhelming numbers of enemies that will be thrown at you.

Which brings me to another of this game's strengths. The battles are ENORMOUS. They dwarf what you will see in just about any other game. Hundreds of enemies swarming toward you from miles away. Enormous walking robots getting closer and closer, all the while lobbing plasma like artillery at you and your AI controlled allies (which on higher difficulties actually help to draw fire and keep you alive, and even at times take out some of the enemies for you.) Huge walking fortresses the likes of which you haven't see in a game, but which will bring back memories of AT-ATs in Star Wars.

A few caveats notwithstanding, if you love classic, simple, arcade-style third person shooters, if you love truly EPIC battles, and if you want a shooter that will definitely challenge you and last you a very, VERY long time, then you absolutely can't go wrong with EDF 2017. This is a game that is truly far, far more than the sum of its parts. On paper, it sounds awful. In practice, it's a delightful, if maddening, addiction that will - if you let it - suck up literally hundreds of hours of your life. With nice rewards for beating each difficulty level in its entirety, and 53 levels of grinding and havoc, this game will definitely last you a while if you actually set out to complete it 100% And again, don't be fooled: This game is HARD. If you do not desire a maddeningly frustrating challenge, DO NOT play this game. You WILL get angry and frustrated while playing it. It's just that hard. Know what you're getting in to. You'll be bald from pulling your hair out by the time you beat this incredibly challenging game.

You'll enjoy every minute of it though, if this is your cup of tea.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/21/09

Game Release: Earth Defense Force 2017 (US, 03/20/07)