Earth Defense Force 2017

aka: Chikyū Bōeigun 3, Chikyū Bōeigun 3: Portable, Earth Defence Force 2017, Earth Defense Force 2017: Portable, Force de Défense Terrestre 2017, Forza Di Difesa Terrestre 2017, Fuerza de defensa terrestre 2017
Moby ID: 27388
Xbox 360 Specs
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Description official description

Earth Defense Force 2017 is the third game in the Chikyuu Boueigun series well know in Japan, and the first one released in North America (the previous two Chikyuu Boueigun were released in Europe under the names Monster Attack and Global Defence Force respectively). The game is a third-person 3D shooter featuring fights with floods of large enemies on gigantic, sprawling maps.

The game's story, which seems to be a re-telling of Monster Attack as it is set in 2017 (Global Defence Force takes place in 2019 and indicates that Monster Attack occurred two years earlier), places the player in the role of an EDF infantry man tasked with defending the Earth from hordes of alien invaders. The game features 53 missions where you fight against aliens on city streets, in underground caves and on coastal zones. You have access to 170 weapons divided into 7 categories including assault rifles, rocket launchers, flamethrowers, grenades and more.

You unlock new weapons throughout the game by picking up Weapon objects, dropped by killed enemies. Weapon objects provide you random weapons including those the character already has. On some maps there are also helicopters, battlemechs, tanks and bikes that can be controlled.

The Xbox 360 version features 2-player split-screen multiplayer where you can play cooperative or versus battle. The PS Vita version has an online cooperative multiplayer mode for up to four players.

Earth Defense Force 2017 is the first game in the series that features AI controlled EDF forces on its maps; in both previous games, the player fought completely by themselves, despite supposedly being in an army. Unlike Global Defence Force, the radio chatter from the Japanese version was retained for the English release.

Spellings

  • 地球防衛軍3 - Japanese spelling
  • 地球防衛軍3 PORTABLE - Japanese PS Vita spelling

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Credits (Xbox 360 version)

115 People (77 developers, 38 thanks) · View all

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Character / Mechanical Designer
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Special Thanks
  • Half H.P. Studio
  • Grasshopper Manufacture
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 75% (based on 38 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.3 out of 5 (based on 13 ratings with 1 reviews)

Spectacular-looking, simple playing giant-bug and robot shooting festival

The Good
Earth Defense Force 2017 is just simply an awful lot of fun to play. It's easy to get involved with, there's a pretty short learning curve, and the basics are similar to lots of other games that we've all played. Within minutes of firing up the game, you will be blasting away at giant alien bugs with gleeful abandon.

At first, I was a bit confused by the decision to equip the player with only two weapons, and not have the left trigger be a "grenade" weapon by default as most shooters do (the left trigger, confusingly, is a "jump" button). But after some time with the game, I realized that it has its weird little charms to the control and firearms setup. One amusing factor is that when you do equip grenades as your current weapon, your other weapon (guns, flamethrowers, whatever you have equipped) disappears from sight and your character is basically hustling around with grenades in his hands, wild-eyed look on face ready to blow stuff up. It's also entertaining to bring things back down to the gameplay of shooting bugs and blowing things up - there's no process of finding new weapons and switching to them. You equip two weapons (I usually pick two guns, one with small rockets and one that's a machine-gun type), start the level and that's what you're stuck with, so you spend more time running, following the radar, finding the bugs / robots / enemies to kill, and having at them. It's a very visceral game that really gets to the root of the fun with no hurdles or mental blocks to prevent you from enjoying it.

I enjoy also that your counterparts in the game have a lot of well-acted (if you like 50's sci-fi schlock films) chatter as you're all fighting giant robots to save the earth. It adds a level of excitement to the proceedings, that's for sure.

Most impressive, I would say, would be the graphics. Now it is true that as you get to sections where hundreds of bugs / robots attack at once, there is some upsetting "slowdown", and this is disappointing, but you do get over it. Especially given how detailed, well-textured, well-drawn and massive everything in the game is. It's really at some points quite breathtaking, the sheer scope and size of the enemies you face. Looking up the leg of a giant robot, it really feels like you're facing a 50-foot tall enemy, and not many games succeed in painting a picture so brilliantly.

I also am glad that the game is a budget title ($40 USD new at release, %33 less than the going rate for new releases), which helps to forgive such things as the occasional graphics slowdown.

The Bad
As mentioned, the slowdown, if infrequent, is disturbing and a flaw. Also, it could be said that the game is perhaps too simple (not enough mission types, they're all kind of "go shoot these aliens", not enough weapons, not enough landscapes maybe, I don' t know), and I wouldn't argue it too heavily, but I kind of like the games bare-faced simplicity.

The Bottom Line
I would highly recommend at least giving Earth Defense Force 2017 a try, there's a free download on the Xbox live Marketplace, so there's not a lot to lose in testing it out. I for one fell in love with the game quickly and enjoy it as one of my favorite games for the 360. It's not trying to be the next Halo, or the next RPG - it's just a really fast, really great looking shooting game, and it makes no bones about it. For this, I salute it, and play it repeatedly with a huge grin on my face.

Xbox 360 · by Greg Mitchell (37) · 2007

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The Xbox 360 version of Earth Defence Force 2017 appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Stratege.

PS Vita added by Sciere. Nintendo Switch added by Ms. Tea.

Additional contributors: Jeanne, Sciere, Hervé Piton, Kabushi, erbaltan, Charly2.0, Starbuck the Third, Rik Hideto, FatherJack.

Game added April 4, 2007. Last modified February 22, 2023.