Like its predecessors, Global Defence Force has an extremely simple premise. A massive alien force has invaded Earth and wishes to destroy everything in sight. As part of the Earth Defence Force, the player has to meet the alien menace head on. Players will take on giant ants and spiders, UFOs, walking robots, Godzilla-inspired monsters and eventually, the massive alien mothership. Global Defence Force is not restricted to Japan like its predecessors – players will trek all across the world to fight the extraterrestrial threat. The odds are stacked against you, but it’s a whole lot more fun that way.
Giant space ants aren't deadly, they're just misunderstood
Global Defence Force easily feels like the most complete entry in the Earth Defence Force series, with far more content than either Monster Attack or Earth Defence Force 2017. Players now have the choice of two characters – the standard EDF soldier, or an experimental soldier codenamed Pale Wing. There is quite a bit of difference between the two characters – they have their own weapon sets, the soldier is stronger but Pale Wing is faster, the soldier can drive vehicles, but Pale Wing has a jet pack. Each character is useful in different circumstances – Pale Wing is excellent in the wide open cityscape levels due to her mobility, but the soldier reigns supreme in the underground levels due to his increased level of damage resistance.
The single player campaign boasts over 70 missions, which can be played on one of five difficulty levels ranging from easy, to the ridiculous inferno mode. The idea is to treat your soldier like an RPG character, and run through each difficulty in order to build up to the inferno mode. Weapon and armour drops happen constantly through the levels; armour will build up the amount of health your character will have, which is essential for those later difficulties. The power of the weapon drops is tied to both the stage number and the difficulty level. Players can take two weapons of their choice into a level. There is quite a difference between the weapon types available for each character; the soldier uses more conventional weaponry such as machine guns and rocket launchers, while Pale Wing uses more laser rifles and plasma launchers. The soldier has the advantage in combat as his ammo is limitless for the most part – your flow of bullets is only interrupted by reload times. Pale Wing on the other hand has the distinct disadvantage of her weapons being tied to an energy meter, the same energy meter which powers her jet pack, so players must be very careful not to run head on into battle with low energy. It does recharge, but you don’t want to completely empty the bar, as it will cause Pale Wing to overheat, and she will be extremely vulnerable.
Pale Wing doesn't like being told to get back in the kitchen
It is just as satisfying as ever taking on massive numbers of ants, robots and whatever else the alien forces (named Gigantors in this version) want to throw at you. The destruction in Global Defence Force happens on a scale which by all logic should not be possible on the PlayStation 2 – it is an absolute blast. Essential Games has had the forethought to make the advanced method of control the default – it is a dual analogue setup similar to every other first person shooter on a console, as opposed to the other control method which is some sort of whacko crap. Once again, players are advised to de-activate the event camera, as it can seriously harm a player by taking the focus of the fighting.
Blasting through the game’s 70+ missions is going to take about five to six hours the first time – but Global Defence Force is not one of those games designed to be played once on easy mode with a single character. To beat the game 100%, players will need to beat every level with the soldier and Pale Wing on every difficulty level – that is quite an ask, but fortunately, Global Defence Force’s campaign mode is playable in its entirety in cooperative mode, which makes the proceedings so much more fun. The game also has a competitive multiplayer mode, but it’s not worth looking at.
Fire breathing dinosaurs are a minor inconvenience
As mentioned before Global Defence Force’s action runs at a scale and pace that is unmatched on the PlayStation 2, but it comes at a cost. The game is not exactly a big budget title (it was part of D3’s Simple 2000 collection in Japan), so it has a number of shortcomings, particularly in the visual department. The scale is impressive, sure, but the models, animation and textures are absolute crap, and the frame rate has a tendency to move like it is stuck in molasses when players are involved in a particularly intense fire fight. Regardless, you have to admit it’s pretty impressive when the mothership launches a dozen plasma bombs at London and a massive wall of fire consumes half of the city. Pale Wing has a tendency to wobble around like Officer Plod from Noddy when landing – it is a pretty funny sight. The game has a basic soundtrack and no voice acting – though that is a good thing after Earth Defence Force 2017’s nausea inducing characterisations. Sound effects are loud and frequent – seldom is there a quiet moment in the game.
Global Defence Force is one of those hidden gems; it has received next to no coverage from any mainstream gaming outlet, it was released at a budget price and in limited numbers, but it is just as good as any big budget title this year, and thus well worth tracking down. Players looking for large scale firefights against larger, stronger and more plentiful foes need to pick this game up immediately. The sheer scale and non-stop action of Global Defence Force is something that needs to be experienced to be believed. The game is not perfect – there are a lot of technical shortcomings – but if you can get past that hurdle, then you are in for one of the best action gaming experiences on any format. Tracking down a copy of Global Defence Force is well worth the effort.
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