Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair Reviews
A solid representation of the B-movie in video game form, for better or worse. It’s got a lot of laughable moments, with a few design issues and crashes but they don’t ruin the fun.
Earth Defense Force 4.1 is a smoother, more polished version of the same cheesy, excellent product that Sandlot's gotten so good at making.
Earth Defense Force 4.1 is a fantastic example of what games are capable of – being big, dumb, and an absolute ton of fun all at the same time. Lots of content, presentation so silly that it's heartwarming, and giant swarms of bugs and robots to blow to smithereens alone or with friends make me come back time and time again. It's a high recommendation to basically anyone – you're never so high and mighty as not to deal with some giant insects.
While the game itself isn't a visual powerhouse, this is the best a Earth Defense Force game has ever looked. EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair is also the best-playing game of the series – combine this with the ability to play cooperatively online with a friend, and you've got magic in the making. EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 is not technically or visually impressive, but it makes a case for unadulterated fun being core to a game experience over the latter.
No polish or refinement, just lots of giant ants and plenty of ways to kill them. Ridiculously fun at its best, which it frequently is.
Overall, 4.1 is a raucous and fun shooter with a different as well as more open ended approach compared to the more scripted movie wannabe type games out there.
EDF4.1 won't win any awards but, if you can look past its failures, it's a pretty fun game.
Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair won't win any prestigious awards, but it still manages to be a fun little cult offering that will please those looking to simply have a good time. If you don't expect anything serious or realistic to come out of it, you'll definitely enjoy blasting away at your enemies while listening to some of the silliest dialogue ever put on a game
Despite being good, clean, mindless fun, Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair lacks the depth and polish to elevate it above its peers, and likely won't appeal to those unwilling to commit to the grind. Fans of past iterations in the series will no doubt lap it up voraciously and call out anybody who disagrees that it's the greatest thing since...well, the last EDF game. While it's fair to say that it does have a certain low-tech charm best enjoyed in small doses, extended sessions only serve to emphasise the shallow, repetitive gameplay, with prolonged exposure inducing what can only be described as brain atrophy. So bad it's good? Yeah, probably.
Earth Defense Force 4.1 is quite a disappointment given it's a remaster. A full-price release is far from ideal for this game and things like the mediocre framerate and graphics don't work in its favour either. But if you make the step to play Earth Defense Force 4.1 co-op with your friends, it makes for a fun-level not many games have been able to reach.
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It may look rubbish but EDF 4.1 plays brilliantly. You just have to try this game, it's loads of goofy fun.
The game is huge at close to a hundred levels, with some very reasonably priced DLC that makes an already vast experience half as massive again.
A great shooter that offers a surprising amount of variety and content. The mechanics may be simple but EDF 4.1 showcases spectacle above all else and it always proves to be thrilling.
Ultimately EDF4.1 ends up being an addictive game that is full of alien squishing fun on a huge scale, but as a last generation port to PlayStation 4, it ends up being far too expensive. I shall await with bated breath for a true sequel.
Everything about Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair is, let’s face it, pretty below par when it comes to technical, visual and audio quality. The gameplay isn’t the smoothest, the visuals leave a lot to be desired and the audio, what little of it, is just basic. Given all that, though I still can’t help but really enjoy the game, it’s just so stupid, so ridiculous that’s it’s actually a fun game to play. It’s even better when you can play it with a couple of friends as the ridiculousness just never ends.
A remake of a rehash of a disappointing sequel… that only hints at what Earth Defense Force could be if the series would only show some forward momentum.
Whether it's locally or online, playing in co-op makes Earth Defense Force 4.1 truly shine; its unsophisticated shooter gameplay being perfect for chilling out with a friend on the couch or with up to three allies on the internet
There is a lot to EDF 4.1, but nothing about it is going to change players' minds if they never enjoyed the series. The same rinse and repeat game play exists, the performance is still questionable, and the repetition is real. Still for those that enjoy it, this is by far the best the series has been to date.
As with most games in the series, Earth Defense Force 4.1 is an absolute riot at first.