Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair
OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair Media
Critic Reviews for Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair
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.
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.
If I were to stick with a single installment going forward, this would be the one. Some of the upgrades fall short of expectations, and a good deal of the content is overly familiar at this point, but The Shadow of New Despair still represents the series at its best.
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.
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.
It would be easy to blow off Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair as just another HD remake, but that wouldn't give it credit for how much better it plays now that it's got appropriate processing muscle behind its enemy-packed levels. Simply put, Earth Defense Force has never looked or played as good as this, and while the framerate still drops a bit when the action gets particularly intense, it's never anything but playable.
A brainless shooter that manages to be fun despite poor aesthetics and a host of technical issues.
Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair is not an enjoyable game thanks to the ugly graphics and repetitive nature of the gameplay. It does not help that enemy types and levels are reused over and over again too.
