GOTY: EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 2

jiji · 09:42 PM

So, who else is playing this masterpiece? I didn't play the first one, because I heard about the slowdown/framerate trouble, and I wasn't sure if people were actually praising it because it was good. But now, now! I bought the sequel, and it's AWESOME. You play either a regular-joe EDF soldier (like the grunts who try to fight off Godzilla in the movies) who carries tons of heavy conventional weaponry - guns, bazookas, grenades, bombs, tanks - or a cute elite female soldier who has a JETPACK and lots of energy weapons. The goal? BLOW SHIT UP. You run around huge urban environments blowing the shit out of huge swarms of alien invaders: giant ants, spiders, UFOs, Martian tripod things (like War of the Worlds), centipedes, a clone of Godzilla, and whatever the fuck else might show up. There's a fuckload of weapons to find, and there's tons of variety and diversity, and they all have tactical use. I've played 17 missions so far and I've found 20 or so of the girl's weapons, and the game's claiming I've only done 5% of what I can do with her. Apparently there's 71 missions to play. I can't wait to see what kinds of weapons and monsters show up. I can't believe this is a 2000 yen game. There's just so much here to do and see, and it's all very well-done. The framerate can get pretty hairy at times, but given the amount of detail and the size of the levels, and the number of monsters you can have coming at you at any given time, it's forgivable. The locations are mostly based on real cities. London is particularly cool, and it's fun blowing up Big Ben.

This is a no-brainer for a budget US release, aside from the amount of voice it has. Somebody needs to pick it up, stat.

I wrote more coherent, more detailed impressions here: http://namakoteam.com/news.php?id=83
Official site: http://www.d3p.co.jp/top/special/s20_special.html
Video: http://www.d3p.co.jp/top/movie/bouei2.wmv
BUY IT: http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-r-70-mbw.html

GitarooMan · 11:49 PM

When I saw this topic I thought of this

On topic, yeah, the game could be interesting as a budget release (although I rather see a sequel to Super E.D.F.)

jarrod · (08-21-2005, 10:00 PM)

It's getting a 360 sequel btw. :)

neopokekun · (08-21-2005, 11:48 PM)

The first game was released in Europe as Monster Attack so I hope the second makes its way here as well.

WhiteAce · (08-21-2005, 11:59 PM)

Quote:

"|So, who else is playing this masterpiece?"

i'm playing too - i played the first one and loved that too.
The frame rate does get all sucky at times, but man, the graphics aren't actually that bad. EDF X should be interesting :)

there are apparently over 200 weapons (!!!)

I'd love to give 2 player coop a try, but i fear my PS2 would meltdown.

Out and out blasting fun, almost like Robotron in 3d, whilst taking out buildings and flying around in gunships, tanks, etc.... awesome.

blindrocket · (08-22-2005, 12:04 AM)

No, not playing it but those screenshots look really nice.

aerodynamik · (08-22-2005, 12:35 AM)

How I don't speak a word of japanese-friendly is it? Thanks.

brandonnn · (08-22-2005, 12:40 AM)

I've been meaning to make this thread for a couple weeks now -- this has serious potential to be my game of the year as well. Both volumes are essential.

I saw your NT comments too, jiji, and you're right -- the helicopter controls are one of the biggest flaws of both games, and so unnecessarily so, especially after playing something like City Crisis and realizing how easy it can be. Oddly, the jetpack completely nails it.

Seriously, this is required playing.

aero: You won't understand the names or categories of weapons, but you'll figure it out after an hour's experimentation, and surely there's a faq somewhere out there by now. Other than that it's basic good ol' fashioned run'n'gun -- all self explanatory.

Kyouji · (08-22-2005, 12:40 AM)

Originally Posted by aerodynamik:

How I don't speak a word of japanese-friendly is it? Thanks.

If you know how to blow shit up, then you're set for this game. The only thing you'd be missing out on is weapon descriptions, but shit, you'll probably have more fun figuring those out on your own.

shuri · (08-22-2005, 12:56 AM)

That game looks great

jiji · (08-22-2005, 01:12 AM)

How different is 2 from 1 in terms of levels and enemies? I've been suspicious that they just recycled as much as possible from the first, in the typical D3 fashion, but apparently there's more new than I thought...?

drohne · (08-22-2005, 01:18 AM)

i intended to pick up the first one, but never got around to it. there are now three or four imports i'm trying to convince myself i don't need but which i'll end up buying -- sonic gems, ouendan, both taito memories packs -- i guess i'll add this to the list. :/

brandonnn · (08-22-2005, 01:23 AM)

1's just like the EDF guy's half of 2, and yeah, has most all of the same enemies -- the smaller UFO's, gojiras, walkers, ants -- same vehicles, etc.. The flying ants and spiders are new, as are almost all of the locations. Most of 1's levels take place in the same ultra generic urban environment, with a few smaller hillsides.

It's a hard sell recommending you go backward, though, because you'll feel like you've played most everything before. It might help you appreciate what a step up 2 is, though.

The Take Out Bandit · (08-22-2005, 02:38 AM)

Somebody just needs to localize more Sandlot games for Western audiences, period.

I want my fucking Remote Control Dandy SF Konami! Stop with the Metal Gear rehashes and gimme something that's the real deal! >:|

jett · (08-22-2005, 02:53 AM)

Super E.D.F. > this poser.

jiji · (08-22-2005, 06:55 PM)

OK, this gets better all the time. So in the missions I played yesterday, these UFOs with reflective plating started showing up. If you hit them with any weapon, it'll reflect back at you and HURT/KILL you. But they have this spot on the bottom that's vulnerable, so you can DESTROY THE CORE and get rid of them. The first level with them was fun/scary enough, but the next had them thrown in with the Martian tripods. So I had to lob plasma shots or homing lasers at the tripods while trying to keep the UFOs down to a minimum so I didn't end up blowing myself up. The worst part on my account was that I brought along two different homing lasers the first time I played that mission, and when homing lasers hit the reflective UFOs, they start tracking you.

Then I had to take out a giant nest of flying ants - the thing looked like a giant aboveground termite nest. A later mission had me going after the entrances to three different burrows full of ants, flying ants, and spiders. They just swarmed out of there constantly. The first burrow entrance was situated right in the middle of a field of spherical gas storage tanks - and yeah, they explode when you hit them. Awesome stuff.

EDF2 is SNAKES ON A PLANE: THE GAME!

Sho Nuff · (08-25-2005, 07:43 AM)

HOLY CRAP THIS IS AWESOME

Seriously, I just bought this yesterday and I cannot pull myself away from it. The weapons, the freeform killin' gameplay, the COMPLETE AND UTTER DESTRUCTABILITY OF EVERY SINGLE OBJECT IN THE WORLD -- YOU NEED THIS GAME.

Graphics are pretty friggin nice too. I cannot wait to see what these guys do with an X360.

JackFrost2012 · (08-25-2005, 07:48 AM)

This game is the best 2000 yen you can spend on anything and I include H.M.P. UMD porn in that statement!

My nickname for the girl is "Fun Valkyrie"! She zips and zooms and blows things up with super energy weapons!

This is just a game where you blow shit up good, but oh they did such a good job with it.

Sho Nuff · 04:32 PM

HOLY FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AT LEVEL THIRTY YOU START FIGHTING THESE GIGANTIC SEGMENTED COCKROACH BEASTS THAT ARE LIKE A QUARTER-MILE LONG AND CRAWL ALL OVER THE LANDSCAPE. YOU BLOW THEM TO FUCK WITH YOUR MIGHTY GUNS BUT HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!! THE SEGMENTS CAN SURVIVE WITHOUT EACH OTHER AND YOU ARE NOW BATTLING TWICE THE NUMBER OF ENEMIES AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND THEY ARE BUMP MAPPED OR SOME SHIT AND LOOK SO AWESOME AND YOU ARE BLOWING THEM INTO TINY PIECES ALONG WITH 20-STORY OFFICE BUILDINGS (ACCIDENTALLY) AND IT IS JUST SO GOD DAMN AWESOME!!!

I really hate to isamu out over a game, but seriously, this is some of the best shit I have ever played in the last few years.

EDIT: Right after you beat that level, you're taken to a boss that is LITERALLY A MILE LONG and is flowing and twisting and looping all over the city like a rollercoaster. JAW DROPPING STUFF that makes you ask "HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE ON A PS2!?"

Tiktaalik · (08-26-2005, 04:38 PM)

Ok I'm interested. What do I need to buy to get this to work on my North American PS2?

drohne · (08-26-2005, 04:39 PM)

alright, ordered. i suppose this will go better than splatter action, my last foray into simple 2000. which was all downhill from the boxart.

joshschw · (08-26-2005, 04:46 PM)

Originally Posted by Zaxxon:

Ok I'm interested. What do I need to buy to get this to work on my North American PS2?

.
PStwo though.

Bluemercury · (08-26-2005, 04:47 PM)

Is there anything tying this game to the original besides the name???

Diseased Yak · (08-26-2005, 04:58 PM)

Ordered. Can't wait, sounds awesome!!

Sho Nuff · (08-26-2005, 05:02 PM)

So far, the only Simple 2000 games I've enjoyed are this and THE JET COASTER (a PS2 rewrite of Jet Coaster Dream 2 for the Dreamcast, only super-duper-enhanced with new coaster types, better graphics, more track pieces, etc etc). I've found everything else to range from mediocre to a daiper full of Indian food.

I only played a few levels' worth of EDF1 a year or two ago, and I relatively enjoyed it, despite the extremely ropey frame rate and the fact that the chopper commands were all busted. This looks heaps and heaps better as there's tons more detail, and the frame rate is only crap in the first few levels (keep playing -- it gets better, I promise). Oh yeah, and play as the girl, cos she can fly and that's like 1000x more fun than the dude.

Cockroach boss <3 <3

edit: Level 5 starts with you standing alone on the bridge in Tralfagar (sp.) with Big Ben on your right. If you look down the river you can see three tripods about a mile away...and they're slowly walking towards YOU. How you deal with them is up to you. SO AWESOME.

jiji · (08-26-2005, 05:10 PM)

Originally Posted by Bluemercury:

Is there anything tying this game to the original besides the name???

Please forget about that mediocre shooter. EDF2 is a sequel to this:

And and and also I found this:

The INFERNO guide: how to beat all 71 missions on Inferno (highest) difficulty!#()%*#()%#*(%)#*

BuddyC · (08-26-2005, 05:11 PM)

I need this.

Sho Nuff · (08-26-2005, 05:14 PM)

Note: Don't forget to change the control to TECHNICAL mode and increase sensitivity to 1.0 for perfect Halo-style controls.

brandonnn · (08-26-2005, 05:14 PM)

Drohne: I promise it'll go better than Splatter Action. Better than Oanechapara even.

Originally Posted by Sho Nuff:

edit: Level 5 starts with you standing alone on the bridge in Tralfagar (sp.) with Big Ben on your right. If you look down the river you can see three tripods about a mile away...and they're slowly walking towards YOU. How you deal with them is up to you. SO AWESOME.

That was the first part where I got goosebumps from the game, and later in the level actually sweated a little bit (or maybe it was the next walker/London level a few later where they were right in the square). The best part of it is that you're like ok there they are whatamigonnadowhatamigonnadothey're getting closer so you start to plan an attack and move out toward them and then all of the sudden from 500 feet away you start to see that blue glow gather around their antennae and you're like FUCK FUCK THEY SEE ME and it's all hell breaking loose from there.

Tiktaalik · (08-26-2005, 07:24 PM)

Originally Posted by Zaxxon:

Ok I'm interested. What do I need to buy to get this to work on my North American PS2?

bump for "I want to play this but I don't know how."

Sho Nuff · (08-28-2005, 08:04 AM)

OH MY FRICKING GOD

UPDATE TIME!

Level 36 and 37 are pure annoyance -- there is just too much going on and the framerate is utter pants and the PS2 is about to melt. (Hint: use the Izuna C Custom lighting gun and aim for the cores of the floating thingys.)

However, in level 38 the game is like "Sorry about those last two levels" and you enter the level to find A GIANT 30-STORY SPIDER MECH RAMPAGING AROUND YOKOHAMA. Imagine the striders from Half-life 2, and multiply them by a size factor of 10. I took it down by jumping on top of it and unloading into its head (it threw me off a few times and started stomping me), and I was like "JEOH BITCH, HUOHUOHUOHHUO" and then I looked at the radar to discover there were THREE MORE.

THIS GAME IS 52 FLAVORS OF AWESOME WOOT

jiji · (08-28-2005, 09:11 AM)

STAGE 29 FUCK FUCK

I can do okay until I get to the queens' chamber, and then I get gassed to death. It's like there's no way I can avoid the poison gas, and so I just get hit hit hit and slowed down by it until I die. jfieowjfaew

duckroll · (08-28-2005, 09:56 AM)

I wanted to get this game today. So I was picking up Tales of Legendia at the store and asked about Earth Defense Force 2. Nope, they didn't have it. Apparently the supply of Simple 2000 games outside of Japan is pretty limited. Too bad. :(

Sho Nuff · (08-28-2005, 05:10 PM)

Originally Posted by jiji:

STAGE 29 FUCK FUCK

I can do okay until I get to the queens' chamber, and then I get gassed to death. It's like there's no way I can avoid the poison gas, and so I just get hit hit hit and slowed down by it until I die. jfieowjfaew

Oh, this part sucked freaking bad. I equipped the lightning gun and the E3 grenade launcher. (Playing as the girl.) Fly into the chamber as quickly as possible and just start fucking shit up. Feel free to hit the tinier bugs before the queen. After you polish off that right bitch (easier than I thought, just keep nailing with the lightning gun), blow open the white pods and kill the shit inside. You win!

Phoenix · (08-28-2005, 05:19 PM)

Originally Posted by GitarooMan:

When I saw this topic I thought of this

On topic, yeah, the game could be interesting as a budget release (although I rather see a sequel to Super E.D.F.)

Me too. Guess there is no reason to stay in this thread :)

jiji · (08-30-2005, 06:42 AM)

JESUS FUCK TOTAL AAAAAAAAAAOJFIEO(*)%)(# THE CENTIPEDES THE CENTIPEDES

I have NEVER seen anything like that before. The first mission with them was sort of unremarkable - I mean they looked cool, and it took me a bit to figure out how to get rid of them - but then the NEXT OMFG OMFG TOTALLY INSANE

I swear they look like a dragon fucked a centipede and created something truly unholy...the thing is EVERYWHERE and spewing its poison EVERYWHERE. I tried to be conservative with my weapons at first, but then I realized all bets were off and so I stocked up with the E3 plasma launcher and the laser lance B for short-range surgical cutting nnggggggg. What could be next? this is INSANE

Sho Nuff · 08:19 AM

WOAH DUDE

I just got to level 45 or something, and there are these weird red things that roll around and really blow up good when they pop. If you are the chick, you are pretty much safe if you're on top of a building or something so they can't ram you. What I did was flew to the top of one of the giant fuel tanks in the city, let them congregate around the bottom of it, flew into the air, and BAM!!!!!!!!!!!! Killed about 30 of them with one gas tank explosion. AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME

The End · (08-30-2005, 01:46 PM)

Seriously, Sandlot is such an underrated dev. Between this and R.A.D, they've created two of my favorite games of this gen.

How's this for a boxquote: "EDF2 is pure retarded fun, like smearing ice cream all over your face and then rolling around in an anthill."

Sea Manky · (08-30-2005, 03:15 PM)

I haven't imported this generation like I did last gen, because just about everything I like ends up getting published in the US. There are exceptions though. I've had my eye on EDF for ages, but it never got picked up. Hopefully this improved sequel will. Sandlot rocks. I want to play. :(

Sho Nuff · (09-02-2005, 04:57 AM)

I AM STUCK

Around level 48, there are these purple UFOs and I cannot blow them up for the life of me. The only way I can destroy them is to use the MONSTER sniper rifle, but the recharge time on it is so miserable that there's no feasible way to pull it off :(

WhiteAce · (09-02-2005, 05:26 AM)

i bought the Jet fighter vs Aliens simple game last night.

it's okay... i guess.

60fps, graphics are pretty decent for a simple game.
Lots of fog though.

it uses the word "Pooh!" for when you are doing badly , which is kind of quirky.

It's all a bit too generic so far - obviously, the massive caterpillar style bosses being a bit of an exception so far.

BreakyBoy · (09-02-2005, 05:35 AM)

Ok thanks to you assholes I added this to the cart of play-asia fun I'm ordering with my next paycheck.

Ouendan, Namco x Capcom, and now this. I don't know whether to thank you, or curse the lot of you.

WhiteAce · (09-02-2005, 05:50 AM)

Aside : Ouendan is a GOTY contender - infact, IMO it only has to hold out 4 months of releases to take that title. I love RE4 and all that, but Ouendan is crack.

This game is just insane fun. I introduced the Missus to this last night

"But... what the??... Ants... running over Big Ben...? Whaaaaaa!"

Awesomeness beyond awesomeness.
There is no reason to not own

Tiktaalik · (09-02-2005, 07:07 AM)

Originally Posted by DCharlie:

There is no reason to not own

unless you don't know what you have to buy to get it to run on a North American PS2, like me... What do I buy?

Tain · (09-02-2005, 08:18 AM)

Zaxxon: A Japanese PS2, a flip top mod, a modchip, or a harddrive, network adapter, and HD Loader.

$25 sounds mighty nice, and the game definitely sounds awesome. A good Japanese-developed "first" person shooter with that much chaos? I just might pick this up.

ddk · (09-02-2005, 09:55 AM)

Originally Posted by BreakyBoy:

Ok thanks to you assholes I added this to the cart of play-asia fun I'm ordering with my next paycheck.

Ouendan, Namco x Capcom, and now this. I don't know whether to thank you, or curse the lot of you.

If you're not pretty good at Japanese (at least 3kyu level and hopefully 2kyu) I'd hold off on Namco xCapcom. I'm not progressing as fast as I'd like in the game, and it's mostly becuase the whole reason to play is the story..and reading it slowly sucks....

Sho Nuff · (09-04-2005, 05:47 PM)

HOLY PENIS

One of the final levels has you fighting two godzillas at once. Now, having acquired all sorts of useful weapons and shit, godzilla is pretty much a pushover and you will fuck him up in .5 seconds. However, after defeating the two zillas, when you look off into the distance...you see...

...OH MY GOD IT'S A GODZILLA THAT'S AT LEAST 20 TIMES THE SIZE OF THE PREVIOUS GODZILLA!!! HE'S TWICE AS TALL AS THE SKYSCRAPERS THAT SURROUND YOU!!! AND HE WIPES OUT THREE CITY BLOCKS WHEN HE PERFORMS HIS DASH ATTACK! IT'S THE SINGLE BIGGEST PIECE OF MOVING GEOMETRY I HAVE EVER SEEN IN A GAME (haven't seen Wanda though). MegaGodzilla fucked me up like a heart attack a few times, especially with his MIGHTY FLAME BREATH that can cover about 5 city blocks at once. Eventually he met his downfall, I ran betwixt his legs and started pounding him in his ass with the RAPIER MARK 2. UNH!!!

Now I'm stuck in the burnt-out city level against something like 5 motherships, all dropping stuff on me :(

StuKen · (09-04-2005, 09:32 PM)

Awesome, and this is only level 7

WhiteAce · (09-04-2005, 11:46 PM)

me and the Missus starting playing this last night, we made it upto level 25 or so.

Even in two player mode, once you are beyond the initial couple of levels, the frame rate is pretty decent!

Some of the shit Sandbox pulls out of the PS2 is unreal. There are too many things to mention, but god damn - what a fine fine game.

Next gen version of this just shot to the top of my most wanted listed (X360 version already announced).

U K Narayan · (09-04-2005, 11:53 PM)

Originally Posted by StuKen:

Awesome, and this is only level 7

OH. MY. FUCKING. GOD.