Possibly the best worst game ever made.
Earth Defense Force 2025 is not, by the sorts of "objective" standards that professional game reviews are hamstrung by, a great game. The graphics are pretty okay, the sound effects, which are pretty much explosions, gunfire, and shrieking enemies are exactly what you'd expect them to be, the writing is hackneyed to the point of self-parody, and the voice acting is worthy of the cheesiest MST3K creature feature.
None of those things matter. In EDF 2025, the star attractions are the classes, weapons and enemies. And boy oh boy does this game deliver. Literally. One of the four classes, the Air Raider can drop smoke flares to call down vehicle deliveries. A helpful loading screen tip reminds you not to call down tanks on top of houses.
EDF 2025 has lots of weapons. So very, very many weapons. Hundreds of weapons. Each of the four classes has around 175 items, and while many are simply upgrades in a series, there is still an astounding variety. So far I've unlocked sniper rifles, offshore bombardments, personal artillery, homing plasma cannons, rocket launchers, missile launchers, grenade launchers, gatling guns, lightning cannons, antipersonnel mines, antiaircraft mines, hand grenades, sticky grenades, limpet mines, an acid gun, shotguns, armored personnel carriers, motorcycles, tanks, a power sword, a self-propelled guided missile launcher, and last but by no means least, the Laser Chainsaw.
You read that right. Laser Chainsaw. I'm not sure there's anything better than flying through the air in an anime-style personal combat suit while chopping house-sized ants, spiders and flying alien killer robot drones to pieces. With a laser chainsaw. Mmmmmmm. So good. Sooooo good.
Uh, yeah... where was I...? Okay, uh, video game review. Right. Two-player split-screen coop is a blast. However, the screen is divided into left and right halves, so you have to take extra care to swing your camera around during combat so you are aware of what's around you. The minimap is very useful for avoiding ambushes.
The bad parts of this game are in many cases the same as the good parts, depending on what you enjoy. Do you like random item drops? Then you are in luck. Do you hate random item drops? Then prepare for disappointment. There are a lot of item drops, all of which are randomly chosen based on the current character class(es), the level and the difficulty setting. Because there are so many items, and it is possible to find duplicates, getting a specific item may require a lot of grinding. The upside is that shooting up giant insects and alien robots is so very much fun, so it hasn't really felt like grinding to me. There is no leveling mechanic as such, but collecting armor pickups (giant red boxes) will increase the character's HP. Armor and weapon pickups (giant green boxes) are only saved when a mission is successfully completed, so dying near the end of a long mission can be frustrating.
The same enemy types do show up over and over. There are a few varieties each of ants, spiders, alien aircraft, alien walkers, and huge bosses. I personally don't mind much because killing them has yet to stop being fun. The real gameplay variety lies in trying different combinations of weapons on the different combinations of enemies in each mission. Sometimes a good combination means the difference between success and failure, other times I pick weapons based on how much joy I derive from using them.
There are AI-controlled EDF soldiers in many of the missions, and friendly fire is a concern. AI soldiers have many of the same ridiculously overpowered weapons that the player does, and they draw enemy attention, so I've found it important to try to keep them alive when practical. Their ham-tastic voice acting adds greatly to the entertainment value of the game. AI troops frequently chant motivational phrases, complain about their jobs, chatter about the mission, yell goofy threats at their enemies, and occasionally break into song.
Other things: The Game options cover the important stuff. I can rebind my controls, (Except, for some reason, the Back button to enter vehicles), invert X and/or Y axes, adjust voice, music and SFX volumes separately, and adjust camera turn speed. All the options every game of this type should have, but not all do. I also like the fact that I can adjust all game options during a mission. Character customization consists of primary and secondary armor colors. This is not a roleplaying game. I don't have Xbox Gold, so no comment on online features.
In conclusion, LASER CHAINSAW.
At time of writing, EDF 2025 had recently been reduced from $50 to $20 at retail in the US. If you like making things explode, get it. Would buy again, A+++++++