Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain Reviews
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
Overall, the game itself it the standard shooter from a third-person viewpoint. The controls are basic enough for younger fans to play, and not very difficult to learn. Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is a PlayStation 4 exclusive and is set to release on April 11, 2019, priced at $59.99 USD. If you are a fan of the series, like a die-hard fan, definitely pick this up for yourself. If you are just someone looking at the game because it looks interesting, then I would wait until the price drops. I definitely would not have paid the price for this game just based on a gameplay trailer.
I personally think Earth Defense Force: Iron rain is pretty good, maybe not so much my style of gaming as I didn’t feel the “nag” of wanting to go back and play it more like I usually would with many other games, the storyline is nice but I also think if I were to play the previous games I would understand the game and enjoy it more! I am going to give this game the thumb culture silver award as it did open my eyes to a whole new genre of gameplay, I just didn’t have the ” I NEED TO PLAY NOW” feeling towards it.
The way Yuke’s works with a series as peculiar and unchangeable as Earth Defense Force ends with a positive balance: different and with a unique personality, Iron Rain preserves the spirit of the originals.
Review in Spanish | 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
Although Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain attempts to take the franchise in a bold new direction, the latest installment in the long-running series makes too many mistakes to be anything other than a letdown.
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.
It's an insect party in the U.S.A.
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.
A more grounded approach and a fresh coat of paint fail to address the series' inherent flaws, as the cheesy charm of fighting giant insects is lost in the process.
And that's pretty much it. Despite the marketing of a more "serious" tone this is still very much EDF - a bug-shooting Dynasty Warriors-esque hack and slash at heart. Given that it's a standalone game you can also just jump right in (not that you'd need to keep up with EDF lore regardless).
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain shakes up the series at its core, and still manages to be a decidedly great EDF game. Character creation and the PA-Gear fit right in and offer a newfound sense of personalization and freedom, while the grim presentation and heightened difficulty will keep you engaged throughout. It's a real gem.
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.
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is an interesting side entry with new mechanics and a new look. It's just too bad there's something missing from the formula to make it truly great.
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.