Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain (PS4 [reviewed on a PS4 Pro])

We've officially reached the point where EDF games are not only consistently released in the west, but get a simultaneous worldwide release, starting with Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain.

As it turns out blasting giant bugs isn't just something one region enjoys: it's a universal truth.

Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain (PS4 [reviewed on a PS4 Pro])
Developer: Yukes
Publisher: D3 Publisher
Released: April 11, 2019
MSRP: $59.99

Iron Rain opts for a slightly more dire narrative and wholly benefits from it.

As the last survivor of a complete and total annihilation of most of the Earth's elite anti-alien forces, it's your job to rise from the ashes of defeat and use your energy core-fed superpowers to take down the extraterrestrial threat. Or something like that...you're still blasting giant acid ants at the end of the day. There's a good amount of B-level cheese involving a seven-year coma and you waking up as "the hero," a ton of kaiju to topple, and even alien bug robots.

The day-to-day of this arcade-action romp is listening to that satisfying crunch of blowing up bugs. The third-person scheme still works, especially with more freedom of movement and a mostly stable engine...mostly. Using a PS4 Pro, I found the framerate to be consistent, but it has the tendency to crawl when there's a ton of stuff on-screen. No, EDF is not completely jank-free (still), but it nearly always nails that simplistic arcade-like feel.

Yet, there's some nuance to Iron Rain to propel it past the point of mindless shooting. Enemies get a little tougher around mission 15 or so, and can either overwhelm you or chunk massive portions of your health. Equipment options like "a rifle that gets more accurate the more you empty its clip" are fun enough to create some decent tense moments where you need to actually somewhat think; same thing for the weapons that feature Gears of War-esque active reload options.