EDF: Insect Armageddon, a second look

I played more EDF: IA after my first article on it. There are a few more things I want to talk about for this game.

First up, Insect Armageddon is somewhat divisive among the larger EDF community as far as I can tell, at least for the Western audiences. It is so different from the main EDF games that a lot of people are put off by it before even trying it. The main series EDF games always have that very Japanese feel to them, while Insect Armageddon is, no other way to say it, distinctively Western. IA has a fairly realistic artstyle, or about as realistic as you can get in a game with giant insects. It has a colour palette that is rather murky and dull compared to the main EDF games, similar to AAA shooters around the peak of CoD. After all, IA is developed by a Western developer, Vicious Cycle Entertainment, instead of Sandlot, the Japanese devs behind the main EDF games.

Not to mention, the game is far shorter than the main series games. EDF: IA is very short, as compared to the behemoths that are the main games. Just for example, the game I was gushing about at the end of my previous article, Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair has 89 chapters for its single player campaign. EDF 4, which EDF 4.1 is a remake of (duh), has 85 chapters. EDF 3 which came out more than ten years ago, has 53 levels. EDF: Insect Armageddon has 15 levels.

Thus, compared to its stable mates, IA has always stuck out like a sore thumb. It’s different, it lacks the colour and craziness of the other IA games, and relatively speaking it is so much less substantial than all of them. But Insect Armageddon itself isn’t bad for what it is. On its own, it is a rather solid title. I stand by every criticism I made about the game, but I also stand by my recommendation for it. It is absolutely cathartic to fight giant insects and demolishing a whole street as collateral damage.

Now, last time I did not talk about the Survival and Campaign Remix modes at all, since I have not played much of them. So I’ll be going through them here.

First up, the Campaign Remix mode. This adds new enemies into the level, changing up what you are fighting at any given time. It gives old levels a new kick, which is very much needed considering how short the game is. Otherwise, it is exactly the same, gameplay-wise, as Campaign mode.

Next up, Survival mode. Like survival mode in most video games, you generally just fight waves and waves of enemies until you die. It supports up to 6 players, but only 2 players for local play.

It’s a decent game mode, but my biggest gripe with the game has to be about the Survival mode. Firstly, every other armour type aside from Trooper armour is locked away. This means that you can’t really have different armour types catering for an individual’s preferred playstyle, or have different armour types complementing each other in co-op play. It irritates me, but it is still a relatively minor issue to me.

My biggest issue with Survival mode is that it also locks away most of the weapons you unlock during regular gameplay. This annoys me to no end. Why not let me carry better guns into the fight? After all, I earned them already, why not let me use it to face the ever-escalating dangers Survival mode throws at me? It will be great for end-game messing around.

Now, some other minor stuff about the game. Remember when I said this last time?

I finally manage to see it. In fact, I even took photos of it!

Aside from that, I begin to see more value in the Trooper armour. The Trooper armour being able to do things quicker is rather fantastic even for single player games, as being able to quickly revive your AI squadmates means you spend less time standing still while being pounced on from all sides. And the reason I find it necessary to revive them is that I’ll almost definitely need them to rescue me later, especially on the later levels.

Not to mention, all armours actually have improved abilities as they level up (I can’t believe I forgot to mention that). The Trooper armour actually feels better and better the more I use it, and that isn’t just because i’m getting used to it. Not that the other armours aren’t getting noticeably better as well, just that I am much happier with it now.

I got more fun than expected while playing EDF: Insect Armageddon. Now I’m really eager to get my hands on EDF 4.1, as it is an extremely substantial game by most accounts. Still, Insect Armageddon is a rather good game in its own right, and I definitely won’t regret my purchase even if I bought it at its full price.