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Global Defence Force

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Global Defence Force
European PlayStation 2 box art
Developer(s)Sandlot
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Takehiro Honma
Toshio Noguchi
Producer(s)Nobuyuki Okajima
Programmer(s)Toshio Noguchi
Nobuo Fujii
Artist(s)Masatsugu Igarashi
Composer(s)Masafumi Takada
Jun Fukuda
SeriesEarth Defense Force
Platform(s)PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch
Release
July 28, 2005
  • PlayStation 2
    • JP: July 28, 2005
    • EU: June 29, 2007
    PlayStation Portable
    • JP: April 7, 2011
    PlayStation Vita
    • JP: December 11, 2014[1]
    • NA: December 8, 2015
    • EU: February 12, 2016
    • AU: August 1, 2016
    Nintendo Switch
    • JP: July 15, 2021
Genre(s)Third-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Global Defence Force[a] is a PlayStation 2 third-person shooter video game developed by Sandlot. The game was originally published as The Chikyū Bōeigun 2 in Japan by D3 Publisher, as volume 81 of the Simple 2000 series of budget games.[2] It was later released in Europe by Essential Games, the brand created by D3 Publisher to publish Simple 2000 series games in Europe.[3]

Players assume the role of a member of the Earth Defense Force and fight giant insects and other enemies who have invaded Earth from outer space.[4]

A PlayStation Portable version of the game, titled Earth Defense Forces 2 Portable was released on April 7, 2011 in Japan. A PlayStation Vita version, titled as Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space (known in Japan as Earth Defense Forces 2 Portable V2), was released for the first time in North America by Xseed Games in December 2015.[5][6] A port of Earth Defense Force 2 was released for the Nintendo Switch in Japan in July 2021.[7]

Gameplay

The PaleWing soldier flying with her jetpack while attacking giant ants with an electrical weapon.

The game is a third-person shooter featuring large play areas and waves of mecha and giant insects. Players control either a foot soldier (Storm-1) who uses conventional weaponry such as assault and sniper rifles, shotguns, and rocket-propelled grenades or a jetpack-equipped soldier (Pale Wing) who uses energy-based weaponry.[2] Most of the game's missions are cleared by eliminating all enemies present, starting with giant ants on earlier stages and eventually progressing to giant lizard enemies.[8] A number of vehicles such as a tank, helicopter, and a hoverbike are available in some missions for players to board and attack enemies with. However, only the Storm-1 unit can use the vehicles.[2]

Split screen co-operative mode. The player on the left is controlling the PaleWing soldier. The player on the right, controlling the infantryman, is driving a tank.

A total of 300 different weapons are available between the two characters, but players are limited to carrying two weapons during missions. Weapons are unlocked by picking up containers dropped by enemies. Every weapon picked up during play will add a random weapon of the character's to the selection, duplicate weapons are discarded. Armor chips and medical kits, also dropped by enemies, increase the character's maximum possible health and recover lost health respectively.[9]

There are a total of 71 missions spread over 7 environments to play through,[citation needed] the first mission taking place in London.[10] Five difficulty levels are available for each mission. Half-medals are awarded for completing a mission on a set difficulty with either character. Completing the same stage with the other character results in a complete medal. Once a player has collected all the medals for every mission, "Impossible" mode is unlocked.

Reception

Global Defence Force received little press attention in the West. The few reviews the game received were generally positive; Games Asylum's Matt Gander described it as "one of the PlayStation 2’s best budget buys".[8] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of one eight and three sevens for the PS2 version;[13] and one eight, one seven, and two sixes for the PSP version.[14]

The PlayStation Vita re-release of the game, published by Xseed Games and retitled Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders From Planet Space, received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[17] Destructoid's Jed Whitaker wrote that the game "has enough original content to keep it feeling fresh alongside the other recent releases in the series", and that it was "easy to recommend to Vita owners looking for some campy over-the-top action in spite of its flaws."[11] In Japan, Famitsu gave the Vita version a score of three sevens and one nine for a total of 30 out of 40.[15] During the 19th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Earth Defense Force 2 for "Handheld Game of the Year".[18]

During D3 Publisher's simple series awards 2007, the title received a platinum prize for selling more than 200,000 copies in Japan during the 2006 fiscal year. It was the only title in the range to reach this volume of sales.[19]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Known in Japan as Earth Defense Force 2 (Japanese: THE地球防衛軍2, Hepburn: Za Chikyū Bōeigun Tsū, lit. The Earth Defense Forces 2)

References

  1. ^ Romano, Sal (August 20, 2014). "Earth Defense Force V2 announced for PS Vita". Gematsu. Archived from the original on September 22, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Previews: Earth Defense Force 2". 1UP.com. July 29, 2005. Retrieved October 10, 2007.[dead link]
  3. ^ Sheffield, Brandon (February 1, 2007). "Q&A: D3 - Not Just A Simple Company?". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007. Retrieved October 12, 2007.
  4. ^ a b Sewart, Greg (September 27, 2005). "Earth Defense Force 2 Import Review". X-Play. Archived from the original on November 22, 2005. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  5. ^ Ishaan (May 29, 2015). "Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders From Planet Space Coming To North America". Siliconera. Archived from the original on May 30, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
  6. ^ Dunning, Jason (May 29, 2015). "Earth Defense Force 2 Invaders From Planet Space PS Vita US Release This Fall". PlayStation LifeStyle. Archived from the original on May 30, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
  7. ^ Romano, Sal (April 26, 2021). "Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space and Earth Defense Force 2017 coming to Switch". Gematsu. Archived from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Gander, Matt (August 3, 2007). "Global Defence Force". Games Asylum. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  9. ^ Wilson, Trevor (August 18, 2005). "Earth Defence Force 2, the best D3 game ever". Namako Team. Archived from the original on January 19, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  10. ^ Barder, Ollie (December 5, 2006). "'Roboto-chan!': An ode to Sandlot". GameSetWatch. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved October 9, 2007.
  11. ^ a b Whitaker, Jed (December 8, 2015). "Review: Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space". Destructoid. Archived from the original on January 2, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  12. ^ Edge staff (October 2005). "The Chikyuu Boueigun 2". Edge. No. 154.
  13. ^ a b "Famitsu #868". NeoGAF. July 20, 2005. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  14. ^ a b Brian (April 13, 2011). "Complete Famitsu review scores". Nintendo Everything. Archived from the original on June 7, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  15. ^ a b Brian (December 1, 2014). "Famitsu review scores (12/1/14)". Nintendo Everything. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  16. ^ Schaller, Kevin (January 7, 2016). "Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space Review". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on May 16, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
  17. ^ a b "Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders From Planet Space for PlayStation Vita Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on April 13, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  18. ^ "2016 Awards Category Details Handheld Game of the Year". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  19. ^ Ashcraft, Brian (April 13, 2007). "Simple Awards For THE Simple Series". Kotaku. Archived from the original on May 14, 2007. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
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