Raining on your parade

Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain had me utterly fooled. I came into this game with the impression that it was going to be a fun and carefree experience, shooting down giant bugs and robots with big guns. In the end, it proved to be a game with more layers than players might have expected. Or even wanted.

The developer, Yuke’s, has attempted to introduce new mechanics to the EDF series, pumping it full of challenge and strategy it had previously lacked. They’ve succeeded for the most part, but at the expense of fun.

Iron Rain has a rather simple premise. The Earth Defense Force is an