You know you’ve got a mindless budget game on your hands when it can’t even be bothered to include a manual (or folded piece of paper, in F.E.A.R. 3’s case) with the packaged product. With Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, there’s no false pretense here: it’s a raucous, balls-out alien ant-killing sim. Wail on the right trigger until you’re told to pack it up and move to another location. Occasionally revive a teammate or wait — fruitlessly — for one to revive you. Cut-and-paste. We’re done here. It makes no attempt to innovate or stand out as the “blockbuster adventure of the year” or even to titillate with polygonal bodies. It’s just mindless fun. And you know what? I like it.
I always wanted more of Earth Defense Force 2017, the curious budget title I stumbled upon a few years ago upon my Xbox 360 purchase. I wasn’t too impressed with its limited objectives and extremely dated gameplay, but darn it, it felt good exterminating as many giant insects as possible, pretending they were each a tiny bit of stress in my life. So with Insect Armageddon I’m happy to relive those first few moments of “what is this?!” and turning off my mind for just a few moments while navigating New Detroit, blowing up everything I possibly can.
And there’s not even any real reason you’re engaging in this mass extermination other than being told to by an authoritarian female voice through your headset. Oh, other than the city (probably the world) being destroyed by the gargantuan pests. From beginning to end and as one of four types of soldiers you’re deployed without so much as an explanation or goal to shoot stuff, then shoot some more. It’s certainly no cerebral exercise in fine game design, and quite often I found myself asking why in the world I was even bothering to participate — what would the final result be?
There are no checkpoints to act as your safety net if you happen to fall during battle (and you will, thanks to endless swarms, giant robots, and larger enemies). Instead, you need to wait for a teammate to revive you, which may or may not always happen. This means you’ll see plenty of the same level over and over before it’s all said and done, which was my only main gripe. I may be coming to shoot giant insects without a care in the world, but I’m not so keen on repeating the same old tired segments again and again because some AI couldn’t be bothered to come to my aid. Of course, you can avoid this through local or online co-op, but if you’re stuck friendless on a Friday night you can count on a little frustration. And that didn’t particularly jibe well with me.
Traipsing through the city with your wisecracking companions, blasting anthills, hopping in turrets, and conquering invaders is still heaps of fun, though if you go into it expecting anything other than a completely pointless and mindless exercise in suburban destruction, you’ll be terribly disappointed. I wouldn’t recommend paying more than $20 for it, however, seeing as it’s devoid of every main gaming convention (even a real ending) but if you’re jonesing for some decent co-op and a few new achievements or two, you could do worse than Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon.
