While Microsoft is focusing big time on their Game Pass subscription service, we can’t forget about good old Xbox Live Gold. So much is talked about in regards to other subscription services, it can be weirdly forgotten that Gold is still a thing, and it’s still giving out free games- and today we learned what we can expect for September.

It’s quite the mishmash of game types, as for the Xbox One specific titles we have Hitman, the episodic 2016 title in the franchise that relaunched it to modern audiences, and We Were Here, an indie puzzler game that’s good for a brain teaser. Hitman will be available the entire month, and We Were Here will be available September 15th-October 15th.

On the Xbox 360 side, we get to fight off giant monsters invading in Earth Defense Force 2050, and then throw fists with Tekken Tag Tournament 2, the second tag-based game in the popular fighting series. Earth Defense Force 2050 will be available from September 1st-15th, while Tekken Tag Tournament 2 will be available September 16th-30th. Both will be also be playable on all Xbox One devices, as well as Xbox 360.

This may sound schlocky, but Them! is actually a great movie that focuses on suspense and horror rather than creature effects. The film, which was released in 1954, was the first of the “big bug” movies, and is often cited by critics as one of the best science-fiction films of the era. Somehow, it managed to make the concept of giant insects work without feeling silly or ridiculous, and its intelligent script, direction, and acting elevated it above its subject matter.

"The game is pretty simple: you’ll be dropped into a combat area and tasked with clearing all of the red dots from your minimap, which usually represent giant insects. Once you do, the game will usually spawn more giant insects for you to kill, and you’ll repeat this same basic formula until the game has decided that you’ve killed enough giant insects and rewards you with the mission complete screen."

Needless to say, Earth Defense Force 2025 is nothing like that film. This is a B-movie game that revels in how absurd it is, and follows the titular Earth Defense Force as they battle giant insects, aliens, giant robots, and other ridiculous things in their quest to save the Earth from total destruction. The game is pretty simple: you’ll be dropped into a combat area and tasked with clearing all of the red dots from your minimap, which usually represent giant insects. Once you do, the game will usually spawn more giant insects for you to kill, and you’ll repeat this same basic formula until the game has decided that you’ve killed enough giant insects and rewards you with the mission complete screen.

EDF 2025 is a long game, featuring more than 80 missions. Killing foes will reward you with armor upgrades, which increase your character’s maximum health, and new weapons. There are seven hundred of these spread out over the game’s four classes, and each level can be played on one of five difficulty settings ranging from Easy to Inferno. Completing the game on every difficulty with every class will take you twenty playthroughs, and that’s just if you don’t bother to try and collect all of the available weapons. If you’re a completionist, Earth Defense Force 2025 will keep you busy for a very long time without ever feeling repetitive thanks to the diversity of the game’s classes.

The Ranger, for example, is a basic foot soldier. He can be equipped with two weapons, usually an assault rifle and a rocket launcher, and is the best class for simply wading into the giant insects and destroying them. It is the easiest class to use, and the sheer size and scope of his arsenal means that he’ll always be equipped for a given situation, but the Ranger also the least unique class available to you, and most players will probably grow tired of him pretty quickly.

The Air Raider is the polar opposite of the Ranger. He’s a support class that can call down vehicles, air strikes, and focuses mostly on weapons that fire grenades detonated manually by the player. The Fencer is easily the toughest of the bunch: he’s a soldier in power armor that can carry up to four weapons at a time, including shields, which will absorb the brunt of nearly any attack. They’ve got the advantage in defense and firepower, but they pay for it with an incredibly slow movement speed and long reload times on their weapons.

"Each class plays very differently from the others, and all are viable in most of the game’s missions. For example, the Wing Diver is great for players that like to swoop in and out of combat, nimbly avoiding the giant insects while raining death from above, or for those who want to get up close and personal with the devastating energy shotgun."

My favorite, however, is the Wing Diver. Wing Divers are an all-female outfits equipped with jetpacks and energy weapons, and both draw from the same energy pool. Managing the two is key to victory with the class, because Wing Divers don’t have much armor, and rely almost completely on their unmatched mobility to stay alive.

Each class plays very differently from the others, and all are viable in most of the game’s missions. For example, the Wing Diver is great for players that like to swoop in and out of combat, nimbly avoiding the giant insects while raining death from above, or for those who want to get up close and personal with the devastating energy shotgun.

The Fencer’s unmatched defense makes it easy to wade into a sea of foes without taking much damage, but the sheer firepower available to the class also means that you can succeed by staying back and pelting enemies with chain gun fire, too. The Ranger is a good all-around choice who is just as comfortable wading into enemies with a rocket launcher as he is picking them off from a distance, and even the Air Raider, who was largely designed for the game’s multiplayer, is capable of clearing entire missions on his own thanks to his vehicles and air strikes.

Solo play is all fine and good, but EDF really shines in multiplayer. There’s a versus mode that pits two players against one another in split-screen combat, but the real meat of the offering comes from the game’s cooperative modes, which support up to four players online and two players locally. You can play through the entire campaign this way, and just as in the single-player, every class has a role to fill. This is by far the best way to play the game, especially if you have a friend on the couch next to you, but EDF still fun if you’re on your own.

"The graphics aren’t particularly great, but the environments are huge and often completely destructible, as are the enemies you’ll fight, and the most exciting missions are the ones that will have you shooting down enormous transport ships (and watching with glee as they crash into the ground in real time), or defending a beach against an army of giant robots."

The problem, if there is one, with EDF’s campaign is that it takes a while to get going. The first few missions are pretty standard, and in all honesty, more than a little boring. The gameplay is pretty simple – every class has unlimited ammo, and there’s little to the game mechanically aside from aiming and shooting – so things feel kind of dull initially, especially when the first few levels task you with shootings giant ants, and little else. Stick with it, though, the game really opens up. What will really sell EDF to most people is the sense of scale on display.

The graphics aren’t particularly great, but the environments are huge and often completely destructible, as are the enemies you’ll fight, and the most exciting missions are the ones that will have you shooting down enormous transport ships (and watching with glee as they crash into the ground in real time), or defending a beach against an army of giant robots. These are the moments that make Earth Defense Force worth playing, and the game is definitely at its best when the sense of scale exceeds your expectations and presents you with something you’ve genuinely never seen before.

Thankfully, the game is still entertaining even when the missions are more standard, largely thanks to the story and voice acting. Characters say GIANT INSECTS at every given opportunity, and put an almost unnatural emphasis on the words. The dialogue is as cheesy as it comes, and characters ham it up at every given opportunity, shouting lines like “What’s going on? Why are there GIANT INSECTS?” and “GIANT INSECTS again after seven years, but soon they’ll be an endangered species!” with reckless abandon. Cheers of “EDF! EDF! EDF!” are just as common, and you’ll even hear from a scientist who does his best to seriously educate you on the GIANT INSECTS. All of the dialogue is delivered with tongue planted firmly in check and a cascade of knowing winks. It’s clear that this is the sort of thing Sandlot was aiming for, and they pull it off well without ever forgetting why it’s successful or pushing the jokes too far.

"It’s not a great game, per se, nor is it a classic, like Them! but it is a good game that’s packed with content. The fact that characters respond to questions like, “Why’d you get married?” with “No choice,” and scream GIANT INSECTS is just icing on the cake."

The rest of the sound design is a bit inconsistent. Voices are often a little too loud and some weapons just don’t pack the auditory punch that they often should. You can tweak all of this in the options menu, which helps quite a bit, but it doesn’t change the fact that certain weapons and effects just don’t sound as good as some of the others do. It’s a minor qualm, but definitely something that you’ll notice when you realize just how puny the Ranger’s assault rifle sounds next to the Wing Diver’s energy weapons.

Despite all of its problems, however, Earth Defense Force 2025 is an enjoyable game with a lot of content, and there’s definitely something to be said for a game that eschews all of the narrative and cinematic tropes of modern shooters so you can get down to the business of shooting big bugs with ridiculous weapons.

It’s not a great game, per se, nor is it a classic, like Them! but it is a good game that’s packed with content. The fact that characters respond to questions like, “Why’d you get married?” with “No choice,” and scream GIANT INSECTS is just icing on the cake.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.

Earth Defense Force 2025, the newest entry in the long running franchise that just released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, just got new DLC- Beyond Despair is the third and final mission pack that will be made available for the game, and it will fittingly enough be pretty hefty, providing 20 new missions for just $8.99 (for a contrast, a Call of Duty map pack costs $15 and often only has three new maps).

Meanwhile, the first two DLC packs are still available in case you missed out on them, representing similarly good value- The Earth Defense Force 2025 Special Ops Mission Pack includes 5 extra missions for $2.99 and the Mutant Rampage Mission Pack features 20 additional missions for $8.99.

These all add even more value to a game that was already a pretty fun and safe investment to begin with- if you haven’t yet had the chance to get it, try checking it out and giving it a shot. It’s fun.

Game Overview:

Earth Defense Force 2025 features several missions along with four player multiplayer. You will be taking the role of a EDF soldier with access to advanced weapons as you push on to exterminate insects to protect the world from alien invasion.

Earth Defense Force 2025 is developed by Sandlot and published by D3 Publisher. The game is now available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Check out the video walkthrough of Earth Defense Force 2025 below and let us know if you have any questions in the comments section below.

For video game guides, tips and wikis, check out our gaming portal here.

• 1. Development
• 2. Gameplay
• 3. Story
• 4. Classes

Development

As with most video games that come from Japan, there is effectively no development details surrounding the game at the moment. These sometimes become available after launch via interviews and/or press release. This Wiki will be updated as and when such details become readily available.

Gameplay

When playing Earth Defense Force 2025, players take control of a EDF (Earth Defense Force) soldier. These soldiers are available to the player in the form of four different classes [Read “Classes” for more information]. Using their soldier and the unique abilities attributed to each of these warriors, the player must engage the enemy in a third person perspective with a myriad of weapons that range from simple shotguns to massive missile launchers and energy weapons.

The player can augment their effectiveness on the battlefield by making use of various vehicles which come in the form of tanks and other armoured vehicles. A staple of the gameplay is making use of destructible environments, sometimes in order to best set up a killzone with a machine gun, it’s best to level a few buildings to clear your line of sight, luckily this wanton destruction of public and private property incurs no penalty for the player. The higher the level of difficulty, the better the player is rewarded, these rewards come in the form of armour enhancements, permanent statistical boosts and seriously powerful weaponry.

Story

The  Earth Defense Force is a multinational military force of unified nations that is funded by virtually every country capable of doing so, it was founded after the discovery was made that Earth was to be visited by an Alien species. In case these visitors proved hostile, the EDF was conceived to act as a line of defence for humanity. Some time in 2017, a hostile enemy did arrive at earth, attacking with the Ravagers, a giant insectoid army supported by monstrous robots and UFO’s.

After 8 years of bitter conflict, the last of the Ravagers is killed somewhere in Arizona, however the foe attacks again, this time using Retiarius. Arachnid type creatures that makes use of gigantic spider webs and their ability to climb, this time supported by what can only be described as giant bees. Now it’s the year 2025 and the EDF must once again step up to the plate and defend Earth from Alien invaders.

Classes

These 4 character classes will also lend some insight into the weapons and equipment made available to the EDF soldiers.

Ranger class: The Ranger is the common foot soldier of the EDF and is versed in the use of vehicles, firearms and mech suits to augment their fighting abilities.

Wing Diver class: This caste of airborne specialists is reserved exclusively for women who make use of high end technology and weapons, they also employ the use of jet packs.

Air Raider class: The Air Raider takes to the field in the role of support, this specialized trooper assists his fellow ground pounders (The Ranger) and airborne allies by deploying various health recovery stations and force shields for added protection. They may also summon vehicles to the battlefield and coordinate air raids over a designated target.

Fencer class: The Fencer is the heavy weapons expert in the EDF, this specialist is capable of holding the line alone with great fire-power. Making use of a man portable energy shield to help against incoming attacks, a Blast-hole Spear that injects high pressure plasma inside anything unlucky enough to be pierced by it. A handheld Gatling gun that (when spun up) will unleash a torrent of fire-power all over the general vicinity in which you point it, accuracy isn’t important when you’re putting this many rounds down range. The Vibro Drive Hammer, a slamming weapon that clears the area of those unlucky enough to be caught in your swing. The AP Hand Cannon, this armour piercing monster slaying weapon will punch a hole through even the toughest armour, but the vicious recoil means you’re going to be left vulnerable for a moment after firing.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

Sandlot’s third person shooter Earth Defense Force 2025 is on the move, especially since it’s been given a definitive release date for North America and Europe. Check out the latest multiplayer screenshots for the game below.

Tasked with defending the earth from the invading alien Ravagers, players will be able to choose from four different classes in Earth Defense Force 2025: Ranger, Wing Diver, Air Raider and Fencer. The Ranger is your typical infantry who relies on mechs and vehicles; the Wing Diver uses jetpacks and high tech weapons; the Air Raider acts more as support, calling in air strikes and deploying useful tools such as force fields and vehicles; and the Fencer acts as the Heavy class which uses a gatling gun and can soak up damage.

Published by D3 Publisher, Earth Defense Force 2025 is set to release on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on February 18th in North America and February 21st in Europe.

D3Publisher announced that Earth Defense Force 2025, the next entry in the long running series, has now gone gold and will be available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on February 21, 2014 in Europe, Middle East, and Asia.

In addition to this, they also announced that a mission pack titled Special Ops will be available starting the day of launch, with two more scheduled as of now:

Special Ops – Will feature 5 new missions for 2.99€/£2.39 on Xbox Live and  PlayStation Network and be available on February 21^st.
Mutant Rampage – Will feature 20 new missions for 8.99€/£7.19 on Xbox Live / £7.29 on PlayStation Network and be available on February 26^th.
Beyond Despair – Will feature 20 new missions for 8.99€/£7.19 on Xbox Live / £7.29 on PlayStation Network and be available on March 12^th.

The newest entry in the long running series promises to be a particularly interesting one, given all the updates we have had on the game so far. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.

D3 Publisher have released a trailer for their upcoming Earth Defense Force 2025, which will be releasing on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in February 2014.

The new trailer shows us the new Fencer unit, a heavily armored, dual wielding Samurai styled unit that can absorb major damage and deal it out in hefty doses too.

Earth Defense Force 2025 has you join the fight against the returning invading force of the bugs, who are now attacking the earth again, and it calls upon you to join the fight. Other soldier classes in the game, in addition to Fencer, include Ranger (your basic foot infantry), Wing Diver (an all women airborne class), and Air Raider (a specialist class that can also act as the medic class).

Between Earth Defense Force 2025, TitanFall, and X, mech lovers will have a whole lot of great games to choose from next year.

Earth Defense Force 2025 launches February 2014 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Which is all well and good if you go for that kind of thing. Earth Defense Force 2025 once again has you playing as an EDF soldier and you can select four new classes, tons of weapons and even take part in four-player multiplayer. You’ll be facing off against bugs of all shapes and sizes, and the only thing that can really be done is shooting. Simple yet fun? We’ll find out when it releases in North america and Europe.

Interestingly, Earth Defense Force 2025 was originally to release later this year. Now it will be heading to Xbox 360 and PlayStation in February 2014. Stay tuned for more details and information on what to expect as the game approaches releases.

Two classes – the vanilla Soldier and aerial Wing Diver – have already been seen before. However, the new additions include the Air Raider and the armoured Fencer. The former can summon vehicle drops while the other has a giant shield. We assume he’s not an actual fencer and may just be good for setting up fences. But we could be wrong (on both counts)

Earth Defence Forces 4 will be releasing July 4th for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Japan (as Earth Defense Force 2025), but it will also make its way to Europe and North America at a later date. Stay tuned for more details as D3Publisher decides on a release date.