Elias Blondeau
CGMagazineEarth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair (PC) Review
Published 8/8/2016
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Scoring alignment
—
Score
90
+23 vs critic avg
Review
Read originalCritic Atlas
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PS4 / PC - 12/8/2015
Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair
This updated version of Earth Defense Force 2025 marks the series first current-gen appearance. It sports improved performance, new content amounting to more than 50 percent of the original, two-player local co-op, and four player online co-op. The game is also being ported to PC "It's a fight for the future of the planet between the Ravagers, a merciless swarm of alien invaders, and the Earth Defense Force (EDF) in this third-person shooter. As an EDF soldier you will go head to head in fierce combat against the hordes of giant alien insects and their slaughtering machines. Play as four different classes in over 80 missions with a range of 800 weapons at your disposal. The most overwhelmingly numerous forces of Ravagers the series has ever seen will take the EDF fighters to the depths of despair and back! Online co-op play supported."
- Developer
- Sandlot
- Publisher
- XSEED Games, PQube, D3 Publisher
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Critic average
67
Average of 28 scored external reviews.
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Highly replayableDefining · Curated baseline
Reflex / execution-heavyDefining · Curated baseline
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Side-content richDefining · Curated baseline
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Strategic / planning-heavyModerately · Curated baseline
Serious / dark / groundedSlightly · Curated baseline
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Exploration-drivenSlightly · Curated baseline
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Review coverage
Critic signal strength
Numeric critic scoring uses full scored reviews once available. Review-in-progress scores act as temporary early signal only until full review scores exist. Unscored reviews still count as coverage, but they are not included in the critic average.
High confidencePolarized
Critic avg
67
28 scored reviews
Total coverage
28
All coverage currently scored
Score range
30–100
Lowest to highest scored review
Signal shape
Polarized
Score range is 31+ points
Critic landscape
The critic average is 67 across 28 scored reviews, with a 70-point spread. Critics are far apart on this one.
How to read this
Treat the average carefully. A polarized landscape is where reviewer match, review text, and score deltas matter more than the headline number.
Most scored reviews currently sit in the Below 70 band.
Score distribution
Shows how included scored reviews are clustered across the normalized 100-point scale.
28 included scored reviews
90–1003 reviews · 11%
80–896 reviews · 21%
70–797 reviews · 25%
Below 7012 reviews · 43%
Showing 1-10 of 28 matching critic reviews. 28 total critic reviews. Page 1 of 3.
Ben Latimore
Niche GamerEarth Defense Force 4.1 Review – Big Guns, Giant Bugs, and Fun!
Published 8/7/2016
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Scoring alignment
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Score
85
+18 vs critic avg
Review
Read originalPhil Savage
PC GamerPC Gamer Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair Review
Published 7/27/2016
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Scoring alignment
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Score
80
+13 vs critic avg
Review
Read originalEARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 REVIEW "Buy, Wait for Sale, Rent, Never Touch?"
Published 7/19/2016
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Scoring alignment
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Score
100
+33 vs critic avg
Review
Read originalOllie Barder
Forbes'Earth Defense Force 4.1' Review: Unfettered Alien Carnage
Published 7/10/2016
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Scoring alignment
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Score
80
+13 vs critic avg
Review
Read originalGareth Fidler
Cubed3Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair (PlayStation 4) Review
Published 3/31/2016
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Scoring alignment
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Score
50
-17 vs critic avg
Review
Read originalDave Aubrey
WccftechEarth Defense Force 4.1 Review - The Best B-Movie Game
Published 3/7/2016
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Scoring alignment
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Score
78
+11 vs critic avg
Review
Read originalReece Armstrong
GameGrinEarth Defense Force 4.1 - The Shadow of New Despair
Published 3/1/2016
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Scoring alignment
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Score
75
+8 vs critic avg
Review
Read originalGareth Chadwick
TheSixthAxisEarth Defense Force 4.1 Review
Published 2/19/2016
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Scoring alignment
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Score
60
-7 vs critic avg
Review
Read originalUnknown reviewer
Metro GameCentralEarth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow Of New Despair review – bugging out
Published 2/17/2016
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Scoring alignment
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Score
40
-27 vs critic avg
Review
Read originalPlayer reviews
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