Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain Reviews
What hurts the game the most isn't the lack of follow through on its initial critical gumption, but rather a lack of compelling drama in its later levels.
If you want a game which is pretty much the polar opposite of the vast majority of modern AAA titles — in most of the right ways — I can wholeheartedly recommend Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain.
For more on Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain, check out our interview with series producer, Nobuyuki Okajima, where we discuss the series and more.
Earth Defense Force : Iron Rain is another vision of the franchise made by an other studio. The new approach is quite good, more serious and more accessible.
Review in French | Read full review
I wouldn't recommend Iron Rain over Earth Defense Force 5, since it fails to deliver the distilled, charming experience I adore from the Sandlot series.
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain introduces some big changes to to the B movie-style shooting franchise, including universal weapon use among classes, streamlined gear acquisition and improved visuals. Some of the changes might not necessarily please some series veterans, especially when it comes to the lower enemy counts. It does make the game more accessible to newcomers, though, so this can be a good time to try the franchise out if you've never played EDF before.
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is a buggy masterclass in third-person shooter fun.
With a dollop of polish, a variety of new locations and much more challenging enemies EDF: Iron Rain might just be the best entry in the series so far, and while the trademark jank remains, new franchise developer Yuke's has done a fantastic job of tweaking the formula without breaking it. EDF: Iron Rain is a must for fans of the series and fans of fast-paced, deeply fun shooters alike.
It had been several years since I had played Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon so I was a tad worried about doing the series justice in this review, but I can definitely say that outside of a couple of issues with giant insects blocking my camera view, repeatedly getting knocked down when surrounded by the critters, and the sensitivity of clicking L3 to turn around when moving backwards, Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is a solid entry into the EDF series and one that anyone wanting to blast the heck out of giant insects should enjoy.
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is certainly the prettiest insect-splatting simulation to grace the PlayStation 4 and there are a number of innovations to appeal to a Western audience, but Iron Rain still falls into that campy B-movie aesthetic.
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is some of the most pure, unadulterated fun we've had in 2019 so far. It's not pretty and it's not stable, but if you're able to look past its technical drawbacks, then you're in for a supremely wacky, boisterous, and delightful takedown of humanity's greatest threat. Earth Defense Force is proud of its simplistic nature, and that's probably the best thing about it.
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is light on narrative and heavy on fast paced action.
Outside of maybe the difficulty of playing on normal (there are different difficulties) this is hands down the most accessible EDF has been to a wide audience
Iron Rain is a good game on its own merits, but it's simply not as good as EDF5. It is a pretty different experience that's easy to recommend to series fans that are hungry for more, though.
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain lets you blast away at hordes of alien enemies, making you feel powerful. The framerate drops when too many enemies appear, but it doesn't ruin the game. The story isn't very compelling, but manning your PA gear in combat makes up for that.
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain has a lot of good ideas that mostly come together well but it still doesn't feel as fun to play as the mainline series.
Unpretentious entertainment that drags too many technical and artistic aspects too outdated today.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
In the case of Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain, in particular, the good definitely outweighs the bad. I love this game and I will probably be playing it until the next one comes out, which could be a bit since we just got EDF 5 and Iron Rain about four months apart.
Iron Rain is a solid shooter and reminiscent of what made the mainline games so much fun. However, I think some of the backend changes don’t really work and the visual and aural impact of the weapons feel diminished.