Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair

Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair for PC and PS4 is the re-edition of Earth Defense Force 2025, known as Earth Defense Force 4 in Japan. It is a dynamic action game where we face hordes of alien creatures that attack our planet.

The Plot

We play as the member of the Earth Defense Force organization, just like in the previous games from the series. It is an international military unit that was created to protect the Earth if the planet should be invaded by aliens. The dramatic events of the year 2017, when gigantic insectoid creatures invaded our planet, proved that it was the right call. Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair takes place in 2025, when Earth is once again invaded those creatures. United nations of the world has nothing else to do than sending in the elite group of soldiers to protect our world.

Mechanics

The core of gameplay in Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair for PC and PS4 is mostly based on the mechanics created for the previous games of the series. Players, taking the role of the soldier from the titular Earth Defense Force organization, have a couple of classes they can choose from. Each of them is different in terms of its specialization and what it can do on the battlefield. We can play as the universal infantry soldier, air strike specialist (equipped with a jet-pack), or the heavy arms expert that can use two rifles at the same time. No matter what class we will choose, we will have a wide array of weapons at our disposal. We can use machine and sniper rifles, laser guns, or grenades and rocket launchers. Each of the available classes has a limit of how many weapons it can equip for a mission. During battle we are also aided by tanks, helicopters, or mechs, though we cannot control them.

Just like in the previous games, we will face alien invaders in Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair for PC and PS4. We will fight not only with monsters that look like giant ants, hornets, or spiders, but also with dragons and armored vehicles. We will get points for killing our enemies, which we can spend on various bonuses. For example, if we choose an appropriate specialization before the battle, we guarantee ourselves the possibility to summon one of the previously mentioned vehicles to aid us in battle.

Game Modes

Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair offers eighty-nine single player story missions and ninety-eight coop missions that can be played online.

Technical Aspects

Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair for PC and PS4 is the remastered version of Earth Defense Force 2025 that was released on the seventh generation consoles. Along with the game’s visuals, developers introduced a series of improvements to the game, including new types of weapons, hero abilities, and the increased number of NPCs that accompany us in battle. Game controls were also improved. Now, we choose weapons from a wheel menu. Depending on which difficulty we are playing, we may be facing more enemies. In coop, we can mark enemies to draw attention of other players to them.

Last updated on 22 December 2022