Sandlot

Way back in 2007 I played a game about humanity fighting a last, desperate battle against an overwhelming alien threat. It was a crushing bore, and a review of it that reflected that opinion proved slightly controversial. Just weeks later I played a second game about humanity fighting a last, desperate battle against an overwhelming alien threat, and was far more impressed. Since no one cares about Halo 3 any more, and a new Earth Defense Force is coming out, I thought this would finally be an appropriate time to publish an article comparing the two games.

Game Description: Earth Defense Force 2017 makes you Earth's last line of defense! Planet Earth is under attack from alien invaders, and the EDF is our only chance for survival. Grab your gun, join your squad and repel the attacking forces. Already a smash hit in Japan, the Earth Defense Force series comes to the US for the first time in this action-shooter exclusive to the Xbox 360. Join a friend in co-op mode and work together to battle your way through the alien swarms Fully destructible environment—Battle alien invaders but watch out—your stray shots will bring down skyscrapers, bridges and other structures.

I burst out laughing when a skyscraper came tumbling down after being hit by a single rocket, but not in a good way. Meanwhile, nearly infinite swarms of bugs and thick mobs of robots clustered together so tightly that they clipped over and into each other, blocking off all view of anything except more bugs and robots.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Violence, Animated Blood and Mild Language

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood, Violence

There have been "Big Robot" games available as long as there have been consoles, but we've had a real bumper crop this year. I'm certainly not complaining, but the games in this genre typically share a number of traits, and with so many released in such a short time, it only magnifies their similarities. Don't get me wrong; I'm definitely a fan, but a greater amount of variety and divergence is needed.