Last week, I had the chance to check out a hands-off preview for Earth Defense Force: World Brothers, the newest and most wild Earth Defense Force title. I’ve only played a couple of the games myself, so I didn’t entirely know what to expect from World Brothers. Even with that in mind, I was quite impressed with what I saw, as it looked both enjoyable to play and wonderfully goofy.
In World Brothers, the world has already been demolished by alien invaders. The cube-shaped voxel planet is now scattered into different floating parts, leaving the Earth in a state of disrepair. It’s up to various Earth Defense Force members from around the world to fix things by, well by killing giant bugs and aliens, naturally. I like the idea of being in such a desperate situation from the beginning, accompanied by colorful and cheerful visuals to contrast the tone.
There’s a lot of fun humor in the different units you can play as in World Brothers. From a Dutch character who creates windmills to a British character who is dressed as a royal guard, the theme of international cooperation combined with straight-up silliness is very pleasant. I’m personally hoping there’s a Canadian character who rides sleigh-dogs and throws All-Dressed Chips, but I suppose I won’t hold my breath for such a thing.
“ I think my favorite thing about the voxel visuals is the effects that come from destroying the environment as you fire off weapons.“
The gameplay of World Brothers looks quite dynamic, as you can see for yourself below. The different classes all have their own weapons and mobility options to make them worth using in different scenarios. You can freely swap between members of your team, meaning you can change to whoever best suits each scenario. The different classes and weapons come from all across the Earth Defense Force series, so there’s plenty of fanservice available for longtime followers of the series. It doesn’t feel exclusive towards relative newcomers like myself though, as the diverse variety of different abilities and skills make me want to try out a whole swathe of characters.
The voxel visuals really work for Earth Defense Force, as the bombastic and explosive action mixes well with the colorful and blocky visuals. The giant bugs look great in this style, as does the immense amount of guts that go flying when you fire away at one. I think my favorite thing about the voxel visuals is the effects that come from destroying the environment as you fire off weapons. Buildings would come apart as pixelated fragments fly around the screen, making bug-smashing even more visually satisfying.
Overall, I’m pretty excited for Earth Defense Force: World Brothers. It looks incredibly fun and over-the-top, with unique visuals and lots of variety in how you choose to play. Blowing up city blocks while obliterating insects seems like a real blast, and doing it all with friends makes it even better. I’m fairly new to the series, but I can’t wait to blast some voxel bugs on May 27th.
