Earth Defense Force 2017 (EDF) Is quite shamelessly a budget title. But being a budget title does not make EDF a bad game, far from it, infact it almost helps it in that it keeps the game so simplistic. One of the problems with so many new games is that we're being overloaded with tons of new features, modes and just general distractions, alot of the time simply there for the purpose of of being able to justify another bullet point on the back of the box. Whether on purpose or not, EDF doesn't try to be full of features and complications, infact I'm not sure it tries to be anything but a crazy alien killing shooter.
And a crazy alien killing shooter it is, the tiny bit of a plot given to you throughout the game can be summarized in "Aliens come to earth, aliens attack earth, EDF must stop them". This leads into a huge battle of over 50 levels. The great thing about EDF is the sheer amount of weapons you can collect, so every level you can change which ones you are using depending on what your mission is.
Earth Defense Force 2017 is just so pure, so simple, so... Fun, that you just begin overlooking the imperfections, like how the buildings disappear mid-collapse, how a UFO can explode on top of you with no effect, or how terrible the voice acting is. Instead of letting these imperfections take away from your experience, they almost add to it, they make you laugh, because you realize that these things don't matter, it's just about playing the game, about shooting down UFO's with 3 shots from a Sniper Rifle, about accidentally destroying the building your friend is on top, about having fun. Buy this game. Because if you can clear your mind of all the stupidly high standards brought on to games that you've accumulated over the years, and go into this game with no expectations whatsoever, you will love this game.