Earth Defense Force games thread.

[Wirbelwind]

Really loving the over the top nature of this game. I have only played 5 on PC and never tried any of the others before now, but this series is a hidden gem. Michael Bay would be proud.

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4.1 and 2017 are also fun, even if EDF 5 blows them out of the water in everything but story and art direction.

(and song, the EDF 4.1 song is very good)

Just avoid Iron Rain and Insect Armageddon, they are fun but not nearly as good as the main series.

 

[Destynova1]

EDF! EDF! EDF!

Storm-1 is a heckofa soldier.

 

[Grey Rook]

I have only played 5 on PC and never tried any of the others before now, but this series is a hidden gem.

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I've played 4 and Insect Armageddon. IA is pretty meh, but 4 is awesome, and from what I hear, 5 is basically just 4 but more so. Which is awesome. And yes, it really is a gem; pity that so few people know about it.

 

[asdx]

I decided to play EDF5 again after a long break. I have discovered Mothership 11. I am now playing a Touhou game, except, I can't dodge. I also can't see past all the NEVER ENDING BLOOM OF PURPLE. I am also getting melted by one specific set of hitscan beams. This mission really, really fucking sucks.

4.1 and 2017 are also fun, even if EDF 5 blows them out of the water in everything but story and art direction.

(and song, the EDF 4.1 song is very good)

Just avoid Iron Rain and Insect Armageddon, they are fun but not nearly as good as the main series.

Click to shrink...

Oi! Show the whole series some love! Insect Armegedon is worth a playthrough. And Iron Rain might be even better. I had a fucking blast with IA as my introduction to the series.



Edit: Also, I've learned to be terrified of Green Ants. Because they can't just erupt out of the ground while you're focused on other enemies and then suddenly you have a hundred ants melting your hp to zero in a heartbeat as they encircle like a plague of locusts if you're not prepared for them.

 

[Wirbelwind]

I decided to play EDF5 again after a long break. I have discovered Mothership 11. I am now playing a Touhou game, except, I can't dodge. I also can't see past all the NEVER ENDING BLOOM OF PURPLE. I am also getting melted by one specific set of hitscan beams. This mission really, really fucking sucks.


Oi! Show the whole series some love! Insect Armegedon is worth a playthrough. And Iron Rain might be even better. I had a fucking blast with IA as my introduction to the series.



Edit: Also, I've learned to be terrified of Green Ants. Because they can't just erupt out of the ground while you're focused on other enemies and then suddenly you have a hundred ants melting your hp to zero in a heartbeat as they encircle like a plague of locusts if you're not prepared for them.

Click to shrink...

IA was good enough but the main issue was how short it was, and how restrictive the maps were.

As for Iron Rain, it is pretty bad for a EDF game. Controls are sluggish, numbers of enemies are small, many missions repeat, story is less impactful then the normal EDFs, and it is short.

The weapons are unique but generally feel worse, and every class having the same weapons really decreases the diversity.

Vehicles are generally worse when it comes to handling to the point where the gunships aren't controllable and tanks have issues over rough terrain.

Another issue is that enemy attacks now stun lock you, making fighting swarms in close combat very difficult.

 

[asdx]

IA was good enough but the main issue was how short it was, and how restrictive the maps were.

As for Iron Rain, it is pretty bad for a EDF game. Controls are sluggish, numbers of enemies are small, many missions repeat, story is less impactful then the normal EDFs, and it is short.

The weapons are unique but generally feel worse, and every class having the same weapons really decreases the diversity.

Vehicles are generally worse when it comes to handling to the point where the gunships aren't controllable and tanks have issues over rough terrain.

Another issue is that enemy attacks now stun lock you, making fighting swarms in close combat very difficult.

Click to shrink...

Oh yeah Iron Rain came out, didn't it, I was still thinking it was in development.... woops.

 

[NemoMarx]

Has anyone tried 5 on PC? Is the port good?

4.1 was a fun game (except for the horrifying underground tunnel levels) but the port seemed kind of awkward there. Not a lot of options and the menus were confusing to me at least.

 

[Wirbelwind]

Has anyone tried 5 on PC? Is the port good?

4.1 was a fun game (except for the horrifying underground tunnel levels) but the port seemed kind of awkward there. Not a lot of options and the menus were confusing to me at least.

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Port is very good from what I have heard, and the underground levels are now much brighter and often more open.

 

[asdx]

And that is EDF5 beaten. Died twice as Wing Diver before switching over to Fencer and rolling Dual Miniguns. The hail of lead doesn't stop for anyone...until they ragdoll you, then it stops. But until then it doesn't end!

 

[Sergarr]

Has anyone tried 5 on PC? Is the port good?

4.1 was a fun game (except for the horrifying underground tunnel levels) but the port seemed kind of awkward there. Not a lot of options and the menus were confusing to me at least.

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I've tried it, and it works pretty well, even on my 6-year old middle-end computer. Though I did have to fiddle with the graphic controls to make it run at a decent speed.

 

[asdx]

I've discovered that the Ghost Chaser, a Wing Diver homing weapon. Can make a laser light show so bright and persistent you can't see anything past the wall of Blue death. It may do piddly damage but god is it fun to shoot with a core that lowers weapon charge time.

 

[Grey Rook]

So, I started playing EDF 5 after Christmas and found that yeah, it's still a pretty cool game. The shooting is great fun, and the enemy variety is good. I'm feeling pretty fragile, though, does anyone have any suggestions for good levels to farm for armour drops?

I've gotten a bit past the level where you finally get to kill Archelus by punching it with a giant mecha (that was fun) so I'm not done yet, but I'm well into the last quarter of the game or so. Colonists and Cosmonauts are far more dynamic enemies than the Hectors ever were, though the Pillbugs mostly seem to exist to piss me off. I really like the way that a portion of the drops you get trickle down to the classes you're not playing.

 

[NemoMarx]

So, I started playing EDF 5 after Christmas and found that yeah, it's still a pretty cool game. The shooting is great fun, and the enemy variety is good. I'm feeling pretty fragile, though, does anyone have any suggestions for good levels to farm for armour drops?

Click to shrink...

Level 39 or 40, brutal battle, is a pretty mindless armor farm. You get good allies and if you can bring a wing diver you can hide on top of one of the ships and fire homing weapons or just wait a while and then come and clear it out.

 

[Grey Rook]

Level 39 or 40, brutal battle, is a pretty mindless armor farm. You get good allies and if you can bring a wing diver you can hide on top of one of the ships and fire homing weapons or just wait a while and then come and clear it out.

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Okay then, I'll try that.

Do you know of any good levels to farm for weapons? I've been grinding Survivors on Hard mode, but I don't know if that is the best option.

 

[Sergarr]

Do you know of any good levels to farm for weapons? I've been grinding Survivors on Hard mode, but I don't know if that is the best option.

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Somewhere in the last 20% of the game, there is a level where you stand on a bridge with lots of Fencers, and the only enemies are pillbugs, called "[something] Monster Balls". There's a spot along the river where the stones actually form a sort of protective dome, so if you stand there, you usually don't get hit at all. That's probably one of the better spots in the game for weapon farming.

Alternatively, there's that mission in DLC 2 with a huge number of silver spiders and some empty mechas on the beaches. Silver spiders are a loooot more dangerous, but they drop an insane number of crates, and there's a ton of them in that mission.

 

[Destynova1]

Has anyone tried 5 on PC? Is the port good?

4.1 was a fun game (except for the horrifying underground tunnel levels) but the port seemed kind of awkward there. Not a lot of options and the menus were confusing to me at least.

Click to shrink...

A rapid fire rifle works wonders for stunlocking the biped robots. Never get a shot on you if you keep the crosshairs on them.

The 4 leggers pissed me off until I realised they weren't puzzle bosses(as in, shoot all the legs) and just went center mass.

I want to like sniper rifles, but when you are up to your ass in ants, you need to clear the swarm NOW. Also why I don't really use shotguns because 8 shots is just not enough against the swarm.

 

[Grey Rook]

Somewhere in the last 20% of the game, there is a level where you stand on a bridge with lots of Fencers, and the only enemies are pillbugs, called "[something] Monster Balls". There's a spot along the river where the stones actually form a sort of protective dome, so if you stand there, you usually don't get hit at all. That's probably one of the better spots in the game for weapon farming.

Alternatively, there's that mission in DLC 2 with a huge number of silver spiders and some empty mechas on the beaches. Silver spiders are a loooot more dangerous, but they drop an insane number of crates, and there's a ton of them in that mission.

Click to shrink...

Oh, that one; Approaching Monster Balls? Do you remember where in the river the spot is? Unfortunately, I don't have any of the DLC's, I wasn't sure if they were worth it.

edit: nevermind, I found it. When you start the level, turn right and follow the river all the way to the waterfall at the end; there's a pile of rocks there that are placed such that it creates a crevice that the pillbugs (usually) can't fit into but you can, allowing you to pick them off at your leisure. Do be quick, though, for if you're slow you're going to get bowled over.