Developer: YUKE'S
Publisher: D3 PUBLISHER
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch
Tested on: PS5
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE: WORLD BROTHERS 2 – Review
For a franchise with nearly twenty years of experience, we were amazed that the EDF series does not have that many spin-off titles. We were quite surprised when back in 2021 a voxel-based spin-off title was announced that would amp up the overall silliness factor of the alien invasion experience of the mainline games. We quite enjoyed EARTH DEFENSE FORCE: WORLD BROTHERS, but it also felt a bit bland for solo play, and not everything was as streamlined as we wanted it to be. Now, the sequel, EARTH DEFENSE FORCE: WORLD BROTHERS 2 has been released, and we were curious to see if the second game could right the wrongs of the first installment.
Story
After the events of the first WORLD BROTHERS game, it seemed that the planet was saved and that the alien threat was annihilated. Sadly, a new threat has appeared, but not from space. This time, the villainous entity comes from the Earth itself. The illustrious Gaiarch comes from the planet’s core, and has now finally emerged. When he did, Earth was shattered once again, leaving it up to the EDF to restore the planet.
All in all, the story is somewhat reminiscent of that of the first one. You get treated to fourth-wall-breaking dialogues and cheesy conversations, while you pick up new fighters along the way. The story gradually introduces some new key characters, but the narrative itself remains fairly superficial. It’s clear that the gameplay is the main component of this experience, but the story does add a bit of charm.
Graphics
The voxel-based graphics make a return in WORLD BROTHERS 2, and they look as delightful as ever. We loved the expanded character roster, and it’s clear that the design team let their creative juices flow. However, we did notice that many of the maps of the first installment have been reused here, which felt a bit like a shame. We expected to see more areas thrown into the mix. That being said, everything still looks good, and it does make sense that some maps were reused.
When playing split-screen, we did encounter one minor annoyance. If you and a friend decide to tackle the campaign together, you’ll have to pay attention during dialogues, as they will no longer be displayed on the screen. This means that if you’re blasting away to destroy the oncoming horde of aliens, you might simply not hear anything that’s being said. We do hope this gets patched in the future, or that you at least have the option to turn this on. We realize the screen is smaller when playing in co-op mode, but ample room remains to show the dialogues.
Sound
All in all, the sound design isn’t too bad. The cheesy voice acting makes its return, and there are quite a few voiced dialogues in the game. All the characters also have a few voiced lines, but some do get repeated a bit too often. The sound effects are decent and provide proper audio feedback for the onscreen onslaught. All weapons have distinct sounds, and so do the special moves and melee attacks.
Gameplay
Just like its predecessor, EARTH DEFENSE FORCE: WORLD BROTHERS 2 is a third-person shooter in which you shoot massive alien invaders to bits. In the game, you’ll command a party of four EDF soldiers who come from all across the world. The offset is extremely simple, as you simply run around, shoot aliens and massive bugs, save fallen soldiers, and collect some additional armor along the way. You can play the game solo or with up to three other players. As we tried the game on PS5, we could also enjoy local co-op with up to two players. Playing the game online or locally with friends is still the way to go here, as solo play tends to become quite monotonous. Truth be told, not much has changed compared to the first game, except for minor QoL improvements and quite a bit more polish.
As mentioned above, in WORLD BROTHERS 2, you can save fallen soldiers during each mission. These soldiers are spawned at random, and they always have a certain class or type. For example, you may find the newly added Waffle Sister representing Belgium, or you may find a classic Fencer. When you rescue a soldier, they are unlocked for future missions. At level 1, these characters can equip weapons from one weapon class, and if you find the same fallen soldier type in future missions, that soldier will gain more experience, unlocking more weapon class options in the process. This way of leveling characters still felt a bit slow, and if you’re unlucky, you may not even find upgrades for your favorite character(s) in a single playthrough. What was improved upon was the actual weapon system, however. When you play with specific weapon load-outs, they level up by simply using them. This increases the firepower of your chosen weapons, making your characters ‘stronger’ in the process.
Conclusion
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE: WORLD BROTHERS 2 is an enjoyable EDF spin-off title, and it improves upon the foundation of the first game. The team-based combat is a lot of fun when playing online, and the PlayStation-exclusive couch co-op feature is a great addition. We enjoyed the improved weapon leveling system and there’s ample content to keep you entertained for quite some time. We still found the lackluster system of finding random fallen soldiers in order to level your favorite team members a missed opportunity to make leveling more fun, however. Even so, if you enjoyed the first game, you’ll have a blast with this one.
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