Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain Reviews
If you're a fan of the previous titles, go ahead and buy Iron Rain, you're not going to be disappointed by this one. If you're not a rabid fan of giant bugs, give it a miss or pick it up in a sale. It's a giggle after all if a little frustrating.
Iron Rain re-modifies the series formula, but doesn't abandon the no-nonsense approach of the other games.
When compared to the other entries in the series, Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is a major low point. The various changes that improve on the formula are outweighed by other design choices that actively hurt the title's overall appeal. The actual combat still has some of the magic the series is known for, and even if online co-op is barely there unless you coordinate with others beforehand, the game is still fun to play with friends. If you're new to the series, playing Iron Rain won't be so bad, but if you've already killed bugs several times before, this title won't be able to scratch that itch again.
Iron Rain makes some changes to core features of the series, bringing a new and somewhat familiar experience. It's a great shooter game due to its absurdity, combat possibilities and, especially, for its cooperative modes with friends.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Similar to almost every installments in EDF series, Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain delivers an enjoyable, engaging and fun gameplay and combat with good variety of weapons, gadgets and enemies. But again, like almost every EDF games, story is pointless, there are technical problems and some repetative missions. In the end, Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain Can be regarded as one of the most entertaining games of 2019 so far
Review in Persian | Read full review
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is the perfect addition to the series.
Despite huge changes, Earth Defence Force: Iron Rain remains loyal to EDF roots, and this is great news for the fans of the series. On the other hand, the graphical upgrades help to convince new players to join up as well. Iron Rain still needs improvements to be considered an elite action title, but it is arguably the best EDF ever made.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is definitely a very different experience to past games in the series.
With a different developer, Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain brings a lot of new elements to the series that can revive or break a certain nostalgia and familiar style of its veteran fans. Still, it's still a fun EDF-esque game and a great way for newbies to get their first taste of Earth Defense Force.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Iron Rain is a decent spin-off which focuses on a more Western Market. Although the game has a better story driven campaign and upgrade in terms of graphics, it delivers less of a comical arcade experience than the original titles do.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain improves on class and loot mechanics but fails at delivering an entertaining level design. The new war movie inspired presentation falls flat compared to the previous B-movie horror aesthetic.
Is this an EDF game that EDF fans will enjoy? Honestly, I ended up feeling fairly disappointed. Which is a shame because I think there are a lot of neat ideas here. Weapons feel rather underpowered across the board, and enemies just have far too much health for their own good. Couple this with incredibly annoying AI, and it’s just a very frustrating experience. Suffice to say, it’s pretty lackluster compared to the mainline EDF titles. The game took me 10 hours to beat, though I put about a total of 30 into it with harder difficulties. At a $60 price tag, I can’t really recommend it. A sale might make this a more tempting offer. Overall, if you’re looking for a good EDF game, I’d give this a pass and look into the mainline titles instead.
EDF: Iron Rain is a game that the even fan of the genre can not unseen the technical and artistic weaknesses.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Overall, Earth Defense Force: Iron Raid is rather lacking as a whole. While the gameplay is ok and I don’t particularly mind repetitive stages (heck, I finished Robotron 64), some of the unfair situations you can get into really put a damper on it. While not unplayable, the combination of choppy frame rates and frustrating mechanics leave you feeling like Iron Rain can often feel like more of a demo than a full game. While I would recommend picking it up if it’s on sale or packaged with something else, I would be a little more reserved about getting it flat out, unless you’re a fan of the series or are looking for a multiplayer game to play with your friends.
Iron Rain echoes Insect Armageddon as a spin-off that tries to take the well-loved series in a new direction. Unfortunately, it drained out a lot of the charm that made the older titles so fun to begin with.
It’s a different kind of EARTH DEFENSE FORCE, but not necessarily a bad one. IRON RAIN carries on the B-movie schlock in a new series, all in good fun. It’s like the newer Starship Troopers movies, they have newer CGI but it’s still not that great, and it has changed many things about it that you’re used to. You still watch of course, because it’s a good time. EARTH DEFENSE FORCE: IRON RAIN is bug-squashing fun at its finest, with some changes to core systems you may or may not like.
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is more of the same Earth Defense Force, and that’s great for fans. You will still spend your time battling giants, trying the save the Earth from certain doom. Even for how cheesy the acting can be, for how slow it feels, and for how janky the animation looked, I still had fun doing it.
Despite the disappointment I, as a veteran EDF trooper, endured at first glimpse of Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain in action, it soon grew into one of my favorite EDF games in the series, right behind EDF 4.1 and 5. And even with the reduction in the enormity of enemy swarms, it still offers the fun and frantic bug genocide that only the EDF really knows how to provide. Now, not all fans or newcomers will value the compromises Iron Rain makes; however, it cannot be denied that this spinoff was a necessity. In time, it may prove to be filled with a lot of great ideas that progress this underappreciated franchise in profound directions.
EDF is probably never going to reach the heights of the mainstream, and that’s all right. It trying to be different from other games is exactly what makes it appealing to certain gamers. For the time being, being aware of its strengths and weaknesses are good enough for now.