John Rabbit
Banned
Story: Eight years since the defeat of the alien invasion and the destruction of the Mothership, civilization recovered most of the prosperity it once had. But a new catastrophe falls upon Earth once again. In 2025 a new state of emergency arises as giant aliens and insects are discovered deep underground. The Ravagers have evolved, and are stronger than ever. The Earth Defense Force must now stand up to these terrifying creatures to save humanity once more! (taken directly from D3 Publisher’s website)
Earth Defense Force has its origins in the Simple series, started in the days of the original PlayStation by D3 publisher to produce cheap games, at cheap prices. Earth Defense Force 2025 continues the series’ tradition of combining LITERALLY LIKE HUNDREDS (700 total) of different kinds of explosive weaponry, giant alien antagonists, and highly destructible, large-scale urban and rural environments in a setting that is equal parts 1950s sci-fi camp, and bombastic mecha/near-future military action. Calling a “musou with guns and aliens” is probably apt, if not a little reductive.
SERIOUSLY THOUGH THERE’S LIKE A TON OF GUNS AND GIANT SPIDERS AND ROBOTS AND EVERYTHING IS CONSTANTLY EXPLODING.
Earth Defense Force 2025 marks the return of not only the EDF2 fan favorite Palewing class (in this case now called Wing Diver), and the Ranger, but two additional classes in the form of the Air Raider, a mainly support style classes who uses turrets, bombs, and airstrikes – and the Fencer, a bulky tank-like class who utilizes heavy artillery and giant melee weapons. Regardless of which class you pick, the general idea is to keep firing until everything is dead. Along the way you will find permanent armor upgrades, collect HUNDREDS of new and better weapons, and health pick-ups.
The gameplay in the EDF games is quite simple: Shoot anything that moves and avoid dying.
There are four classes to choose from in Earth Defense Force 2025. Each comes with their own style of play and set of weapons and each can be color customized to your liking.
Despite the name this is a ground-based light infantry unit, meaning they can’t use the heavier weapons available in the game. They specialize in providing support to other units such as calling in Air Strikes or vehicles, setting up turrets (the only class that can do so), or setting up beacons that buff allies and provide protective shields. The Air Raider is kind of a tough class to start with. He is not outwardly offensive and his weapons can take quite a long time to reload. A more tactical, strategic-minded player would do well with the Air Raider. He is also an indispensible ally in cooperative Multiplayer.
These are the regular trooper units from the previous games, capable of carrying various forms of weaponry. The Ranger is largely unchanged from his previous appearances in the EDF franchise. His available weapon load-out is perhaps the most diverse but his versatility is compromised by his relative lack of mobility. Rangers are suited for players who basically want to never take their finger off the trigger. The Ranger is also unable to use turrets, a weapon-type that was previously available to him.
Successors to the Pale Wings, these units take to the sky and use a variety of weapons such as lasers, pulse cannons and rail guns. The Wing Diver uses a singular source of energy to power both her weapons and her trusty jet wings. Playing the Wing Diver requires careful balance of using the jet pack for high mobility, and for reigning destruction down on the Ravagers with her laser and plasma-based weaponry. If you exceed the energy limit, the Wing Diver’s suit will overheat, lose her ability to fly or reload her weapons until the suit has cooled down. Wing Diver players love being quick and taking out trouble spots for her grounded companions.
Heavy armored units that are the precursors to Space Marines, trailers refer to them as Samurais so they may as well count as successors to that as well. Playing as Fencer entitles you to laugh in the face of overwhelming terror when battling the Ravagers. Despite their heavy battle armor, Fencers are able to move quickly in short bursts by use of their thrusters. Though where they truly shine is their weapons. Fencer’s are slow, but pack the biggest punch – oftentimes literally – of the other classes. Their focus is on both taking and giving a large amount of damage.
It may have been 7 years, but the EDF hasn’t forgotten that sometimes it takes some serious metal to defeat the Ravager menace. Below is just a selection of the vehicles and mechs available for use in EDF 2025.
SDL1 Motorcycle: A side car that can be used by 2 players.
Armored Ambulance: Used for recovering health and recovering ammo.
Epsilon Armored Rail Tank: A mobile rail gun vehicle that can carry up to 3 players, one for the rail gun and two to provide support via turrets.
EF24 Bazelato Combat Helicopter: a one-player combat helicopter.
HU04 Bruto: an armored helicopter with two turrets players can control. While they can shoot enemies in the sky, the Bruto’s side turrets can’t aim downwards. Up to three players can ride the Bruto.
BM03 Vegalta Standard Power Suit: Bipedal mecha that has a jet pack and is equipped with a gatling gun and rocket launcher.
I’M FROM BUENOS AIRES AND I SAY KILL’EM ALL.
The Ravagers are back with vengeance on their disgusting insectoid brains! They’ve brought along a few new friends this time too! Here’s a look at some of the new Ravager foes you’ll be seeing on the other end of a well-placed rocket:
Retiarius: Giant spiders that like to weave their webs between tall buildings; will launch an exceedingly long-range webbing attack that will pull victims toward their deadly net.
Bees: Large flying bee-like creatures that in swarms will cover the ground in stinger needles. Will generally fly from imminent danger (i.e. Wing Diver units)
Dragons: Fearsome Chinese dragon-like monster that can fly at high altitude and walk on four legs. They will swarm and dive-bomb ground units with lightning speed using their claw and fire-breathing attacks.
Giant Hectors: Larger, taller, stronger version of the regular Hectors. It is hinted that some may carry new defensive measures, such as force shields.
Shield Bearer: Giant four-legged unit capable of generate large force fields that can be penetrated only at slow speed (i.e. walking inside the protected area). Enemy projectiles will leave the shield, but EDF attacks cannot pierce the field. Must be destroyed from inside the shield wall.
- 2-player Local
- 4-player Online
- Online-only levels (in addition to regular campaign levels)
- EDF 2025 uses a lobby system that allows up to 4-players to join in cooperative combat. You cannot join currently in-progress missions. EDF 2025 employs both an armor level and a ‘weapon level’ stat on every weapon that is used to gate players from using weaponry that is too advanced/powerful for a given mission. Players who attempt to enter a mission with an armor and/or weapon level that exceeds the limit will be required to lower their armor level and change their weapon loadout to play.
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Footage of DLC Levels from GAFfer iconoclast
Watch here
Earth Defense Force 2025 is slated to eventually receive all of its Japanese DLC content in North America. Here are the weapon packs scheduled to be available either as pre-order bonuses or DLC purchases:
Air Raider Weapons Pack:
- Pure Decoy Launcher (Setsu) — a weapon that distracts the enemy by discharging a large balloon that takes the shape of an attractive female, but the enemies will meet their fate when the balloon unexpectedly self destructs, destroying everything in its vicinity.
- The BMO3 Vegalta Gold — a limited edition, gold-coated model that will reflect radar waves and has a combat burner to throw flames. Players will also be able to take flight for short periods of time with it equipped.
We have plans to include additional Weapons Packs that will be available via pre-order or DLC, and will include the packs below. We’ll be sure to have more details on where exactly to find these packs, soon!
The Ranger Weapons Pack
- Volatile Napalm — A military grade discharge device that sets everything ablaze and damages the target and surrounding areas.
- Pure Decoy Launcher (Mian) — a weapon that distracts the enemy by discharging a large balloon that takes the shape of an attractive female, but the enemies will meet their fate when the balloon unexpectedly self destructs, destroying everything in its vicinity.
The Fencer Weapons Pack
- Ifrit — A cannon that launches rockets that will separate and disperse over the sea. Each rocket is equipped with multiple incendiary bombs that will ignite upon contact, causing massive damage.
- Blood Storm — A powerful cannon that will separate midair and rain down on the enemy’s head and inflict damage on an entire area.
The Wing Diver Weapons Pack
- Reflectron Laser — A special laser that fires in two directions and can even shoot through narrow passageways. It’s an effective weapon with giant insects, as it can maximize range without obstruction.
- Gleipnir — This super weapon silently discharges balls of energy with the ability to launch continuous attacks. Only Wing Divers can use this weapon, as it requires the Psionic Link.
Graphics and Writing by: John Rabbit
Additional Writing by: Tizoc
Thread title: NoirVisage
Sweet YouTube videos: iconoclast
(we have PS3/360s but have lapsed gold subs)
