Earth Defense Force 6

Personally I really enjoy Earth Defense Force 6 and think it is definitely one of the better entries in the series. See you on the battlefield soldier! EDF! EDF! EDF!

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"EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 6" is the sequel to "EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5," where players assume the role of an EDF soldier fighting against alien life forms threatening humanity. The game is a third-person shooter with a primary focus on destroying numerous giant enemies. The story takes place in 2024 AD, where mankind has recently won a long battle against unknown invaders, and peace has been restored .

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

72%

Audience ScoreBased on 3,321 reviews

story226 positive mentions

optimization24 negative mentions

EDF 6 is a fun continuation of the series with improved gameplay mechanics and a larger variety of enemies.
The story is surprisingly engaging and adds depth to the EDF universe, making it more than just a mindless shooter.
The addition of a backpack slot for most classes enhances gameplay, allowing for more strategic loadouts.

The game suffers from frequent crashes, especially on AMD hardware, making it frustrating to play.
Many missions are recycled from EDF 5, leading to a sense of repetition and lack of originality.
The requirement to link an Epic Games account for online play was poorly communicated and has upset many players.

story
1,521 mentions
15 % positive mentions
79 % neutral mentions
6 % negative mentions
The story of EDF 6 is a direct continuation from EDF 5, featuring a time travel theme that allows for the reuse of many missions, which some players find repetitive and frustrating. While the narrative is more ambitious and engaging than in previous entries, it can feel disjointed due to the frequent recycling of content and unskippable cutscenes, particularly in the early missions. Overall, the game offers a mix of campy humor and chaotic action, appealing to fans of the series, but newcomers may struggle to fully appreciate the plot without prior knowledge of EDF 5.
- “If you only play for the story, this story is very good.”
- “The story is surprisingly decent (never in my wildest dreams did I think I would say that about an EDF game, but I am genuinely interested in what comes next.)”
- “The story is a direct continuation from 5 and amazingly it's one of the best parts of the game and not in the ha ha it's so bad and silly that it's good fashion.”
- “The story is a confusing mess that repeats tutorial-like missions for plot reasons.”
- “The story is all over the place and if you happen to pick air raider good luck playing 20% of the missions which are underground or in a bad timeline, even though the bulked up the amount of options air raider has it actually did not do much as most of it is unusable the moment you pick it up or mechanically unusable which is insane to me.”
- “The game managing to crash twice in the span of about 30 minutes of gameplay (once in the first mission after the tutorial in the base and another while editing what gear i was gonna bring to the mission)”
gameplay
343 mentions
34 % positive mentions
64 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The gameplay in EDF 6 is largely an evolution of its predecessor, EDF 5, featuring familiar mechanics with several quality-of-life improvements, such as additional equipment slots and new enemy types that enhance the chaotic fun. While the core gameplay loop remains intact—focused on shooting hordes of enemies with a variety of weapons—some players have noted issues with crashes and online connectivity due to the Epic Games Store requirement. Overall, fans of the series will likely appreciate the refined mechanics and expanded content, though newcomers may find the gameplay somewhat repetitive.
- “Just good old gameplay-first fun and B-movie charm.”
- “Gameplay is great, and exactly what you expect from EDF.”
- “With new weapons and equipment, more level variety, and way more new enemies, EDF 6 builds upon the foundation that previous games found successful, making the gameplay an absolute jewel that we have come to expect from EDF.”
- “The game keeps crashing and disconnects before or during gameplay.”
- “Wish I could comment on the gameplay, but the game is just broken.”
- “The gameplay is largely tedious at best.”
graphics
266 mentions
9 % positive mentions
82 % neutral mentions
9 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players noting that they feel dated, often likening them to PS2 or early PS3 levels of quality. While some appreciate the nostalgic charm and the focus on gameplay over visuals, others express frustration over the lack of significant improvements and limited graphical options, particularly for those using AMD graphics cards, which reportedly face performance issues. Overall, the consensus is that while the graphics may not be cutting-edge, they serve the chaotic gameplay well, though many players wish for better optimization and more customization options.
- “Graphics are way better, maps are much more detailed (some are copy and paste with graphics improvements), destructible environments are much improved, and... not much else haven't played too much so far but for anyone that enjoyed the airstrike/bomber style of play that air raider had.”
- “The graphics are great for a ported console game that was released about 2 years ago in Japan.”
- “Graphically, it is a marked improvement with better lighting, better shaders, new/better ambient occlusion, and better textures.”
- “Impossibly, the graphics and gameplay feel worse than 5 in many ways.”
- “While I get the tie-in for the story, the graphics and color palettes are almost offensive in their ugliness.”
- “The graphics are very dated.”
optimization
88 mentions
15 % positive mentions
58 % neutral mentions
27 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received widespread criticism, with many players experiencing significant performance issues, including frequent frame rate drops, stuttering, and crashes, particularly on lower-end systems. While some users report smooth gameplay, these instances appear to be exceptions rather than the norm, and the lack of acknowledgment from developers regarding these issues has left many frustrated. Overall, the game's performance is deemed subpar compared to previous entries in the series, leading to a general consensus that it requires substantial improvements to be considered acceptable.
- “Performance seems great (5700 XT GPU) with only one or two missions causing frame drops down to the 40s or lower, like ones with a lot of webs.”
- “I have also had no performance issues and enjoy the small graphic increases.”
- “So far for me I have had 0 of the performance issues everyone is talking about. I have what would be deemed a mid-build PC these days (RTX 3070, Ryzen 3700X, 32GB RAM) and the game runs perfectly.”
- “No graphics card is safe, and it doesn't seem to matter on the power of your PC (besides the obvious performance bugs).”
- “For $60, you get a mediocre PC port with frequent crashing, poor performance, reused assets and content, expensive DLC packs, no uncapped framerates, no ultrawide support, and no self-awareness of the fact that they are making a game that needs to be sold to people in 2024.”
- “The optimization is truly worse than ever in this title, but I can't help but admire that they are willing to go down with the sinking ship that is whatever engine these games have run in all these years.”
humor
60 mentions
97 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a mix of campy, B-movie style dialogue and absurd situations, which many players find entertaining despite its repetitive nature. While some criticize the forced slow-walking and unskippable cutscenes, others appreciate the quirky voice lines and funny glitches that add to the overall charm. Overall, the humor is seen as a defining feature of the franchise, providing a lighthearted backdrop to the chaotic gameplay.
- “It is hilarious that time travel was the chosen storyline because basically the entire EDF franchise is doing exactly the same over and over, and now you get to do it over and over in the same game while doing things over and over already.”
- “If you enjoy humorous NPCs and a hilariously questionable storyline, EDF is the game for you.”
- “The EDF franchise is best described as every old B-movie blended together into a video game; it's cheesy, it's over the top, and it's downright hilarious at times.”
- “Think Groundhog Day, but not funny or fun.”
- “Was it supposed to be funny or meta or something?”
music
58 mentions
19 % positive mentions
69 % neutral mentions
12 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players expressing disappointment over the new soldier songs, which are considered inferior to those in previous titles like EDF 4.1 and EDF 5. While some tracks are praised for being atmospheric and fitting the chaotic gameplay, the overall sentiment leans towards dissatisfaction, particularly regarding the recycled content and lack of originality in the soundtrack. Players have noted that the music can enhance the experience, but the poor quality of certain songs detracts from the enjoyment.
- “The music and sound design are amazing, except for the drone ear rape.”
- “Music is there, some of it is solid; it is a fitting accompaniment to the mayhem on screen.”
- “The soundtrack is the best in the series so far, in my opinion.”
- “The only negative I can report is that the song the soldiers sing for this game is... really bad.”
- “I would have been happier if they just reused songs from 4.1 and 5 instead of wasting their time giving us these abominations we currently have in the game.”
- “Even the music and menus are the same as EDF 5 as soon as you're finished with the 'prologue'... this is extremely lazy.”
stability
38 mentions
18 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
82 % negative mentions
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting frequent crashes, freezes, and various glitches, particularly in multiplayer modes and on certain systems. While some users experienced minimal issues and found the game to run smoothly, others faced significant frustration due to persistent bugs and the need for constant troubleshooting. Overall, the game's stability appears to be inconsistent, with a notable number of players encountering severe performance problems.
- “It runs great.”
- “The game is great, runs great and believe me when I tell you that it keeps things fresh for the entire duration, a hell of a feat for a game with about 160 missions.”
- “Runs great on PC, lack of graphics options is a bit sad as usual but it works fine, which is all I'm asking for.”
- “If you try closing this message with the mouse or doing anything besides pressing enter when this happens, the game freezes on this screen and can only be closed via task manager.”
- “Frequent crashes to desktops and freezes.”
- “After playing this game for 40+ hours, I came upon quite a few freezes that led to crashes, sometimes during the middle of missions I'm in.”
grinding
36 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight a mixed sentiment towards the grinding aspect of the game, with many players finding it excessively tedious and repetitive, particularly in the early and end-game stages. While some enjoy the challenge and the opportunity to farm for powerful weapons, others criticize the lengthy missions and the necessity of grinding to progress, which detracts from overall enjoyment. Overall, the grinding experience is seen as a significant flaw that could benefit from improvements to make it less burdensome.
- “After playing through the game, there are two complaints: unskippable and meaningless base 251 missions, horrendously tedious and pointless.”
- “There's literally no other way to play the end-game material without tens if not hundreds of hours of repetitive lower-level farming just to get your health up so you can somehow survive the hordes later on to get the final gear.”
- “This issue completely takes away from the game; it's not enjoyable anymore because of how ridiculously grindy the end of the game is, which is really unfortunate.”
monetization
15 mentions
7 % positive mentions
13 % neutral mentions
80 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has drawn significant criticism, with players labeling it a "cash grab" due to the presence of microtransactions, locked content that was already in the game files, and a lack of meaningful updates. Many users feel misled by vague advertising regarding cross-play capabilities and the requirement for a third-party account, which was not clearly communicated prior to purchase. Overall, the monetization approach has left players feeling frustrated and disappointed, as they expected more value for the game's price point.
- “Enjoy this series, and reward quality video games that aren't rife with monetization.”
- “And then on top of that, they have microtransactions and DLC drops ready to go by launch and still have no fixed crashing issues.”
- “It could've been so much more, and it should've been so much more at such a price point, and this is ignoring the Epic Games account mess; this game is a clown fiesta and a cash grab.”
- “Instead we get this EDF 5.5 for $60 plus whatever they will charge for the mission packs, which aren't even out yet, plus tons of microtransactions.”
emotional
9 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is mixed; while it features subtle humor and detailed environments that contribute to a wholesome experience, the voice acting lacks emotional depth, particularly in the first three-quarters of the game. Players have expressed strong emotional reactions, such as crying over character deaths, but external controversies surrounding the game have dampened enthusiasm among potential players. Overall, the emotional engagement varies significantly based on personal experiences and the game's context.
- “This game has amazing detail with the cities, landscape, etc. and... if you know a little Japanese... there is subtle wholesome humor everywhere, along with the translated... semi-serious vibes of the game.”
- “I cried at Sergeant's death.”
- “Feels like a refined EDF 5.”
atmosphere
9 mentions
33 % positive mentions
33 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
The atmosphere in the game has received high praise for its significant improvements in art style, sound, and music, creating an engaging and immersive experience. Players appreciate the blend of wacky physics and a morbid undertone, particularly as the game transitions from a post-apocalyptic setting to a more refreshing environment. Overall, the atmosphere enhances the enjoyment of gameplay, making it a standout feature of the title.
- “The sound, music, and voice lines seem to have had a general upgrade; the music especially feels great and atmospheric.”
- “EDF has always been a fun series with wacky physics and a goofy atmosphere, and the changes in EDF6 to the inventory system allow you to bring even more fun gadgets to the battle.”
- “A game with better atmosphere than expected, featuring massive battlegrounds with sometimes thousands of enemies at once, and 147 levels (the DLC missions haven't even released in this version yet!).”
- “Personally, I didn't mind; it created a sort of morbid atmosphere because you, the player, know what will eventually happen.”
- “And after trying to rebeat EDF5 in just the 4 days before launch, this game feels like a great sequel. I'm loving the changes to the classes, I'm loving the missions so far, and I'm loving the atmosphere.”
- “Graphics - to be honest, I don't care about graphics in this game; the atmosphere it brings is more important, and I think the models of insects and robots are still of good quality and definitely watchable.”
replayability
7 mentions
43 % positive mentions
29 % neutral mentions
29 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is a mixed bag; while it offers a vast array of missions, difficulties, and weapon combinations that can lead to hundreds of hours of fun, some players feel that the experience can become repetitive over time. The chaotic gameplay and ability to play with friends enhance its replay value, but the lack of new modes, like survival or endless challenges, is noted as a missed opportunity to further extend enjoyment. Overall, fans of the series appreciate the depth and variety, but acknowledge the potential for monotony in certain aspects.
- “Pure arcade-y fun that packs a surprising amount of depth and replayability.”
- “I love the EDF series; it's a lot of fun to play with friends and has a lot of replayability, as evidenced by my hundreds of hours in previous titles on Steam alone.”
- “This game has over 130 missions, 5 difficulties, and thousands of weapons to add to your arsenal. Its replayability is unmatched; you can enjoy it on your own or with friends. It's a game that doesn't take itself seriously and has stuck to its roots from the day it started.”
- “Has the same flaw as all the other EDF games, where the only replay value is just increasingly more ridiculously powerful combinations of enemies, until at some point you simply give up in utter disgust.”
- “Hence less replayability.”
character development
1 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The character development in the game is enhanced by the introduction of new enemies, character designs, and weapons, alongside expanded roles for existing classes like the ranger, wing diver, and air raider, contributing to a richer gameplay experience.