Earth Protection Power 6 is among the many strangest video games I’ve ever performed. I don’t imply unusual in an Earth Protection Power form of means; I’m no stranger to EDF. To clarify how fascinating this sport is, I’m going to get deep into spoiler territory. There’s no means round it.

For these of you who would reasonably not have the sport spoiled, right here’s a spoiler-free abstract of my ideas: It’s Earth Protection Power 5 if one among its builders awakened from a fever dream with deranged inspiration for learn how to lengthen it by almost 150 missions. Even when you completed EDF 5 a number of months in the past, you may go into EDF 6 and never see a lot has modified apart from extra filth, a brand new narrative, and a few different small additions. It isn’t a lot of an improve, however you couldn’t ask for a greater continuation.

However calling EDF 6 a continuation is drastically underselling it. It does, for higher and worse, construct straight on prime of the earlier sport, but it surely does so in such a novel and weird means that you may’t assist however forgive it.

Earth Protection Power 6 (PS4, PS5, PC [Reviewed])
Developer: Sandlot Video games
Writer: D3Publisher
Launched: July 25, 2024
MSRP: $59.99

When it comes to non-spoilers that I can let you know, I would as nicely cowl among the issues within the trailers. Earth Protection Power 6 begins off a number of years after the final sport. Humanity drove the invading Primers off. Nevertheless, the struggle took an enormous toll and left the world in ruins. With solely 10% of the inhabitants remaining, humanity is struggling and failing to get society working once more. There was no rebirth of civilization.

You begin off making an attempt to guard these ruins from monsters who had been left behind after the invasion. It’s established that you just’re enjoying as the identical protagonist from the final sport. Despite the fact that you “saved” the Earth, just one scientist dude remembers you, and he attire like one of many executives from American Psycho for some cause.

It’s bleak. Your commanding officer retains commending you and your teammates for avoiding civilian casualties, regardless that town you defend is simply burnt-out ruins with no particular person in sight. Like in most EDF video games, they make a giant deal when the most recent, hottest tech is being rolled out on the battlefield, however when it truly does, it’s simply recycled mech torsos mounted on the again of vans. It’s an amusing little bit of self-awareness that manages to hammer house how a lot humanity’s victory actually sucks.

At this level, the sport is simply EDF in grey-brown ruins. It nonetheless options gameplay centered round defeating hordes of monsters and selecting up the weapons and armor that fall out of their pockets. There are 4 lessons – Ranger, Wing Diver, Air Raider, and Fencer – the identical as there was within the final two video games. The brand new terrain isn’t nice to have a look at, but it surely does really feel distinctive in comparison with the cities of earlier video games.

That’s it. EDF in wrecked cities is all you get for a little bit over a dozen missions at first.

Okay, so now we’re going into spoiler territory, and that is the place issues get actually bizarre. 

The Primers present up for a second invasion since humanity is already on its final legs. The storytelling will get a bit sketchy at this level, however the necessary element is that humanity is fucked. There aren’t sufficient individuals left to mount a protection towards the Primers’ renewed assault.

As a final ditch, you and your fellow troopers try and carry down a giant, ring-like ship. Nevertheless, if you destroy its flashing weak spot, you’re abruptly transported again in time. Again in time to Earth Protection Power 5.

That isn’t hyperbole. You fairly actually, with no stretching of the reality, get taken again to the EDF 5 mission, “Turning Level”. A number of the dialogue is tweaked barely in a really sly means that truly ties into the brand new narrative, however note-for-note, the mission is actual. I might present you side-by-side screenshots of the EDF 5 and EDF 6 variations, and solely the marginally completely different HUD would tip you off as to which was which. Even the position of the vehicles in parking tons is identical. It’s the identical map, it’s the identical mission.

At this level, it’s exhausting to inform if that is extraordinarily silly or remarkably genius, which is mostly how I’d outline the Earth Protection Power sequence as a complete.

When you discover recycling of property from earlier video games vexing (I don’t know why it might), then Earth Protection Power 6 will break you.

I need to be clear: Sandlot isn’t going to make you play by way of EDF 5 once more. Issues shortly diverge. It’s possible you’ll suppose that the very first thing you do after arriving from the long run is warn individuals and impart your information of the enemy’s glowing weak spots, however there’s fats probability of that. You’re a silent protagonist, in any case. What are you going to do? Talk by way of emotes?

As a substitute, it’s the aliens who’re making an attempt to vary the long run. They ship again their newest human-killing tech to verify they win this time, and so they do, so you finally wind up proper again at first of the EDF 6 however in a good bleaker state of affairs the place humanity simply misplaced. 

Because it seems, the man dressed like the manager vice chairman of the corporate joined you in your quest backward by way of time. So, he convinces you to assault the ring-ship on the identical second you probably did final time, which sends you again in time once more to the identical second. You as soon as once more get remixes of EDF 5.

This time, everybody thinks you’re so damned superb as a result of you recognize the weak point to all of the monsters. You’re principally Doomguy at this level; killing aliens and large ants has been all you’ve carried out for years, so that you’re simply superb at it. The scientist dressed like an accountant additionally makes use of his future information to introduce new weapons into the EDF’s arsenal in an try to vary destiny.

And that’s what Earth Protection Power 6 is. It’s Groundhog’s Day with large ants and greater firepower. However what’s stranger is that it really works.

My largest drawback with the Earth Protection Power video games has all the time been the repetition of the titles. They’re invariably one million missions lengthy, and the method begins to put on skinny. The addition of latest lessons, dynamic enemies that may run away or attempt to flank you, and many huge glowing weak factors have carried out quite a bit to stretch the method, however by the point you hit the fiftieth mission, a lot of the grass has been worn right down to a brown, dusty path. EDF 6 is roughly 2 million missions lengthy (147, to be actual), and that is nonetheless an issue.

The place the fixed transferring again in time helps issues is that you just’re repeatedly pushing by way of EDF microcosms. Every loop remains to be lengthy, but it surely leaves you ready in anticipation to see how issues will probably be completely different. Humanity retains getting its ass kicked, however will this lastly be the loop the place issues change? How are they going to get out of this pickle? It’s simpler to be affected person when it’s solely, like, 30 or 40 missions to search out out.

The truth that the narrative additionally has you break from the sequence’ common super-competent however in any other case widespread soldier strategy additionally helps you’re feeling highly effective. Every time you get despatched again to EDF 5, your commanding officers and fellow troopers grow to be an increasing number of bewildered and impressed that you know the way to shoot at apparent weak factors. It’s straightforward for a protagonist to get misplaced within the story of a world getting burnt to cinders beneath the heel of an unstoppable risk, however Earth Protection Power 6 slowly builds you up till you might be clearly a worthy adversary towards a world-ending invasion.

That’s to not say that the storytelling is any higher in EDF 6. Just about each improvement is advised by way of conversations on the radio that you just’re not any a part of. A lot of the dialogue is solely daft to the purpose the place you may’t inform when it’s being intentionally ridiculous and when it’s making an attempt to be considerably critical. On different events, it’s troublesome to know if a personality is making an attempt to speak necessary info or in the event that they’re making an in-character, off-base remark that isn’t based mostly within the actuality of the plot.

You possibly can, not less than, catch sufficient of the gist to know what’s going on. Tannoy is only a very distracting means of telling a narrative.

It’s extraordinarily disjointed. Issues by no means actually circulate from one mission to the following, and NPCs hardly ever point out earlier occasions. It additionally does that factor that occurs in each EDF the place you may’t kill one thing till it’s the designated time to take action. It’s spectacular that Earth Protection Power 6 (and all video games within the core sequence) inform grand tales with out using cutscenes, setpieces, or relatable characters, but it surely doesn’t imply it does it notably nicely.

Going into Earth Protection Power 6, I didn’t count on I’d spend this a lot time speaking concerning the narrative. If I listed what I really like concerning the sequence, its story could be extraordinarily low on that record. Nevertheless, it’s superb how a lot a unique narrative framework improved the method. The gameplay remains to be extraordinarily repetitive, and the fixed feed of latest monster sorts solely does a lot to maintain it contemporary. However the fixed unpredictable twists and turns give cause sufficient to dig by way of its virtually 150 ranges. Simply if you suppose you’ve seen every little thing, it pulls out one thing utterly weird.

That stated, I nonetheless want Sandlot would shake issues up. A metagame framework, like one thing from an XCOM sport, would do quite a bit to elevate up the destruction and violence. Failing that, we’re lengthy overdue for a brand new Robotic Alchemic Drive.

Earth Protection Power 6 is definitely the most effective sport the sequence has seen up to now, and it attains that title in an surprising means. Whereas its gameplay might be charitably described as a continuation of EDF 5 (or a whole rehash, if you wish to be imply for some cause), the way in which it makes use of its narrative to repeatedly spin issues in shocking methods drastically modifications the texture and circulate of the mission-to-mission gameplay. It’s nonetheless the identical loveable mixture of probably deliberate tokusatsu campiness and jank, however one thing’s completely different this time. When you’ve by no means been capable of determine if the EDF sequence is totally silly or remarkably sensible, this can preserve you questioning, but in addition fascinated.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}