Earth Defense Force 2017

Gaming Age

Whether or not you dig the Ed Wood production values, it's hard to deny the massive amounts of action, adventure, and mind-boggling fun that can be had in the fulfilling campaign.

Eurogamer

It gives you well over a hundred weapons to try out, masses of difficulty levels, and explosions so big that you'll worry they may crack the front of your television. Earth Defence Force 2017 isn't a complex cocktail. It's a Molotov cocktail.

AtomicGamer

If you can get past the goofy presentation and dig into the massive battles, then you'll definitely consider this to be $40 well-spent.

Digital Entertainment News

Regardless of all of these problems, Earth Defense Force 2017 is still wonderful, stupid fun that manages to surpass its lowly production values and shoddy appearance to become a surprisingly superb game.

NTSC-uk

No game has gumption like EDF. No other game has the balls to make the most basic enemy an ant the size of a bus. No other game lets the player get away with such wanton collateral damage. No other game has the audacity to throw so much at you and fill the screen with such massive explosions that your neighbours will think aliens really have invaded and will hide in their cellars. The sheer spectacle is a sensory supernova.

Gamestyle

Earth Defence Force 2017 then is a rarity that comes along far too infrequently. A cheap game that sacrifices graphical flare for good old fun and destruction. Well worth the asking price.

GameSpy

It's a unique, well-realized action game that's like nothing else on the 360. If "EDF2" didn't exist, we'd like it even more.

Games Radar (in-house)

A corny, geeky dream come true that's destined to be an underground classic.

Game Informer

Earth Defense Force may not have the serious tones of today’s triple-A juggernauts, but its quality gameplay and refreshing premise shows that a B-game can be every bit as entertaining.

1UP

If there's a heaven, I think it's full of giant spiders and rocket launchers. It's a place where skyscrapers collapse if you breathe on them too hard and you never run out of ammunition. When I die, I want to go to Earth Defense Force 2017.

Armchair Empire

Earth Defense Force 2017 overcomes its weaknesses by being brainless and ridiculous fun. It’s as simple as that. Play, have fun.

GameDaily

Even with the frame rate hiccups and the lack of online support, Earth Defense Force 2017 succeeds tremendously, thanks to its devastation and non-stop action. This piece of sci-fi cheesy goodness fits right in with Microsoft's meatier games -- very appetizing.

Pelit (Finland)

An outrageously corny and a massively extravagant shooter that delivers plenty of short-lived fun, but the severe repetition and absurd length of the game eat away at the spirit of the fast-paced shooter. [Jan 2008]

Games Master UK

Unashamedly quirky retro fare that's putting the fun (and ants) back into gaming. [June 2007, p.73]

Game Chronicles

If Earth Defense Force 2017 were a movie, Ed Wood would have directed it. It would star Bruce Campbell. The folly artists would be hard at work with the pots and pans of your average kitchen. The special effects would come courtesy of the cheap toys and props of your garden-variety dollar store. This is a “B” movie from start to finish, it’s about as cheesy, hokey and ridiculous as they come and it’s totally awesome!

Xbox World Australia

There's two ways to interpret Earth Defence Force 2017: you can love it for its campy B-Grade trappings, or dismiss it as a crap quality game and go back to your Gears of War.

Play Magazine

The game aims for a classic War of the Worlds/Them/Godzilla vibe that no game has attempted to capture in years, and it does an excellent job of it. [JPN Import; Feb 2007, p.81]

Firing Squad

It's a surprise that a Japanese import title with a relatively low price is as entertaining as this game turned out to be.

PALGN

Earth Defence Force 2017 might be a little rough around the edges, but it offers non-stop action on a breathtaking scale.

GamePro

As fun as hurling dozens of rockets at a time into a swarm of giant alien ants is, it will get boring after a few hours. If you're up for a shallow yet addictive and gratuitously violent shooter, you can't go wrong with Earth Defense Force. Just take a break every few hours and read a book to rebuild some of the higher brain function you just lost.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

This is what gaming is all about: simple controls, nonstop action, and buckets of fun. [May 2007, p.84]

GamingTrend

Don’t dismiss this game just because it is a budget title, it’s definitely got some hook to it. If these guys had a bigger budget, this would be a hit.

GameTrailers

A bit similar to "Crackdown." The sum of its parts doesn’t really equal anything outstanding. In fact, it’s downright crap in some ways. But when you actually play it, you’ll find yourself coming back for more…even if you’re not totally sure why.

GameSpot

As archaic and clumsy as it can be, Earth Defense Force 2017 succeeds because of what a ridiculous bit of dumb fun it is.

TeamXbox

Part of what is so incredibly endearing about this game is that it’s so technically abhorrent. You’ll feel like you’re playing something from Xbox Live Arcade, but the fun factor is where EDF 2017 makes the leap to a standalone title.

Worth Playing

Objectively, it's not hard to tell that Earth Defense Force 2017 is poorly made compared to the vast majority of 360 titles, although the localization is quality work on D3's part. What makes it so compelling to play, despite its many obvious flaws, is that the gameplay formula is by itself amazingly addictive and satisfying regardless of the graphics.

ZTGameDomain

Recommending this game isn’t hard, in fact I can’t think of a reason not to buy this game. With a nice price, fast-paced action, and tons of giant bugs to demolish this is one of the most satisfying experiences on the Xbox 360 to date.

Yahoo! Games

Go ahead and say that EDF is repetitive, but we had more fun trying out the 150 weapons than in almost any other recent shooter. Every level is packed with pure, nerdy fun, and the five difficulty levels prodded us into taking new weapons back into early levels to see how we'd fare. Weak-kneed animations and silly dialogue made it that much better, just this once.

X360 Magazine UK

So steeped in wacky old-school charm that any flaws are promptly washed away in a sea of explosions and giant ants. [Issue 18, p.97]

VideoGamer

Speaking of destruction, every building in the game can be destroyed - something which was quite a surprise at first, after a stray missile missed its target and downed a building a few hundred metres in the distance. This combined with the complete bombardment of enemies makes for a game that constantly brings a smile to the face of players.

Boomtown

This is a slice of simple fun, and a better one you’ll be hard-pressed to find, but it’s simplicity is just a little too basic to hold your attention for long.

netjak

You are going to want to hate it, but the simplicity and mindless fun behind it will probably have you coming back.

GameZone

Players will be able to tell that this game had a low budget, because almost every area of the game needs improvement. Even though this is the case, this is an extremely fun game to play with your friends just because you want to kill everything in sight and protect humanity from extenuation.

IGN

It doesn't hold a candle to some of the more technically savvy games on Xbox 360 and that may be more than ample reason to give this one a pass depending upon your tastes. For good mindless shooting, this game delivers.

GamingExcellence

When I played the game in front of a few friends, they were constantly screaming at me that I was getting surrounded by ants and yelling "constructive" advice in my direction. Any game that can elicit that sort of reaction from an inactive audience must be doing something right.

Game Revolution

It’s not particularly innovative, it doesn’t have ground breaking graphics, but it does what it’s meant to do and is a fun way to spend a little time.

GameShark

Having hopes of a grandiose, multifaceted sci-fi adventure will leave you extremely disappointed in Earth Defense Force 2017. If you embrace its narrowly-focused action gameplay you’ll have a blast saving the planet one dead alien at a time.

Gamer's Hell

Earth Defense Force 2107 isn't a great game, but it's a really fun one and unlike the grease bomb you score from the local burger emporium, it won't have any long-term deleterious impact on your health.

MS Xbox World

It is a very simple game with little depth in terms of story and characterisation and when it works can produce some genuine wow moments. However the poor controls for vehicles and the repetitive nature of the game coupled with some irritating moments of slowdown present a game that lacks a final polish.

GameBrink

I guess the biggest surprise of EDF3 is that the graphics are actually amazing. The character models, enemy models, the sprawling city, and all the textures look great. The effects are crap and the physics are laughable but the city as a static object looks amazing. [JPN Import]

Computer and Video Games

Nowhere near as good as the full-priced alternatives - but you're still guaranteed a pretty good time.

360 Gamer Magazine UK

It's dumb, it's derivative and it's cheap. Yet neither of those are the reason you should consider spending a bit of cash here. Instead, it's the vintage gameplay, the mindless arcade blasting entertainment and an ability to rise above a bedrock of flaws to emerge victorious. [Issue 25, p.56]

Edge Magazine

The illusion of epic-scale warfare remains a powerful and entertaining one, broken most significantly by the player’s need to avoid overexposing themselves to its fundamentally tedious nature. [Feb 2007, p.85]

Game Almighty

If you’re the type who can get behind some solid-yet-repetitive gameplay with plenty of fast paced action, EDF 2017 might be the game for you.

Official Xbox Magazine UK

Ultimately, the repetition and rough edges do hurt the expeience, but Earth Defense Force's wacky charm will certaily keep you entertained for a while. [May 2007, p.90]

Official Xbox Magazine

Sadly, while mowing through thousands of baddies and flattening entire skylines does hold a certain appeal, your $40 is better put toward other 360 action games. [May 2007, p.78]

XboxAddict

The setting and the scale of EDF set it apart from anything else on the market. Enemies in this game have to be seen to be believed as they tower above everything else in videogames, save for a couple of the colossi from "Shadow of the Colossus."

My Gamer

Spend about 30 minutes to an hour of time with this game and you will realize that the makers of EDF just didn’t put their all into the title.

Planet Xbox 360

The excitement of shooting oversized insects grows old rather quickly, and the scarcely earned Achievement Points will most assuredly leave this game on the outside of your counsel more than in it. The lack of Live play is a major deterrent to picking up this simple-minded title.

Gaming Nexus

The bottom line with this game is that you get what you pay for, and even at $39.99, Earth Defense Force 2017 is simply overpriced. The physics and audio are so last gen, that even after blowing stuff up for some limited enjoyment, you just want to put the game away and play an Xbox Live Arcade title instead.

games(TM)

As a 3D take on the old-school run-and-gun genre, the mixture of giant enemy hordes and fully destructible environments is often both exhilarating and deeply satisfying, albeit in a very tongue-in-cheek way. [May 2007, p.114]

Xboxic

While almost every facet of this game is atrocious, there is a sort of charm that EDF carries that has so far been unseen on the platform.

Cheat Code Central

For balls to the wall, mindless shooting this game will satisfy, if you can focus on the destruction you cause and not the technical short comings.

Hardcore Gamer Magazine

Earth Defense Force 2017 is the action game equivalent of potato chips: no nutritional value, but tasty nonetheless. [May 2007, p.61]

GameCritics

The worst 360 game I think I've ever played with nothing to redeem it. Earth Defense Force 2017 can't even stack up against the recent Burger King games, and those were little better than minigames on a disc coming in at four dollars each. The only possible future I see for Earth Defense Force 2017 is gaining the notoriety as one of those "so bad it's good" games, but don't be fool yourself - it's just bad.