When Left 4 Dead was released, it was something new that no one had really seen before and was met with critical and commercial acclaim. Much like the recent explosion that is the Battle Royale genre, many games have taken cues from the title, which was an inspiration for the hoard mode that almost any major series has implemented at one point or another, but few have outright taken the overall experience and carbon copied it. Earthfall has essentially done just that, but lacks a number of the key points that made Left 4 Dead truly special.

There is a thin story to the title if you play the levels in order, which take place over the course of two chapters. You’ll take on the guise of one of four playable characters, who is seeking out the resistance currently combating the impending alien invasion. There are some pre and post mission scenes that provide insight as to the objective of the mission through voice overs, but they are all essentially the same, showing some meandering aliens in the area at various angles. These do little to hype up the player for the adventure they are going to embark on, or the means to their escape, much like the helicopters or whatnot from L4D. The playable characters are nothing more than avatars that provide some character specific banter, lacking the personality that made some of the characters stand out from the series this title drew inspiration from. Adding to this, the cast often sounded flat, lacking any emotion in their responses.

Our heroes will combat aliens in place of hordes of zombies in this game, although they act in a similar fashion to the undead you’ve likely came to know and love. I found their overall design to be enjoyable, with the standard enemies looking similar to the Demogorgon from Stranger Things, with the special forms being peppered in for variety, although most are ripped straight from the other series. You’ll find a bloater-like alien that swells and pulsates with acidic properties that will explode when shot; a creature that resembles a skinned giraffe that grabs the player and runs away, akin to the jockey; a small gremlin-ish being that pounces on the player like the hunter; and the beast, which is visually interesting, but is nothing more than a reskinned version of the tank, albeit with a laser attack that replaces the option to throw rocks as a ranged attack. There are a few unique enemy types, which include the blackout, which is an octopus appearing creature with rotating shields that teleports about, as well as a floating blob that enrages the standard enemies in its range. Even if the enemies were cookie cutter designs taken from other series, it would have been passable had they featured the same level of detail and gore as they were blown piece by bloody piece that the trailer alludes too. While it is possible the trailer was comprised of PC or Xbox One X gameplay, it runs and looks like a 360 game on the standard X1. Sadly, clipping is prevalent, fixtures popping in and out is normal, and a limb mysteriously vanishing is regular, often breaking immersion. The bugs don’t stop there: guns or turrets will often sink or fall within the ground, server issues are plentiful, and crashes occur regularly, especially when too many enemies swarm the group.

The one area that stands out is the arsenal at the player’s disposal. Sure, none of the guns are anything that we haven’t seen before, but there’s a decent amount of them. You’ll find some melee options that will take the place of your pistol, which can be used akimbo, an SMG, shotguns, and a plasma rifle, which is only used towards the end of one of the campaigns. With the exception of the akimbo pistols and melee weapons, all of your options allow for ADS aiming, which was something I always felt L4D was missing; unfortunately, the aiming is rather jerky, which makes hip fire a much more accessible way to play. One cool feature that was included was the option to print weapons at select locations using a 3D printer, which will typically allow for a few options to suit your play style. These will be points of interest the player will have to make a mental note of, as weapons and ammo are not exactly plentiful in numbers – you’ll find one or two guns tucked away off the beaten path, but your AI comrades are pretty terrible when it comes to stealing them from you.

The title can be played solo with AI companions or in multiplayer with up to four player online co-op, with no split screen option included, and both options having their own downfalls. I found the AI to be fairly adept at dispatching the alien threats and when it came to reviving me when I would be downed playing solo – outside of them being jerks when it comes to pick-ups, there are little complaints there. The game offers the option to select their intelligence, with four options in addition to the difficulty of the overall game to pick from. Playing with another human being is obviously preferential; however, everyone but the host will suffer from a 30 second to one minute delay when entering the game, leaving the host to pick over the best goodies that might be found early on, with rubber banding and lag being a constant issue for anyone connected as an additional player.

One of the biggest selling points of Left 4 Dead was the replayability it offered due to the Director, which randomized a number of events, making each game a new experience. Earthfall doesn’t have this, and outside of some minor enemy placements, which is likely due to them meandering away, each and every time you play a level it is almost 100% the same.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed much of my time with Earthfall, but it is highly lacking in the content vs. cost, with the full game being completed in around three hours on the regular difficulty. Aside from trophy or achievement hunting, there really is no reason to return to any of the levels once you’ve beaten them. Had this been released on the past generation of consoles at $29.99, it would have been a hit, even without the PvP option being included. That said, I would highly recommend waiting for a price reduction or sale.

6 out of 10

Pros

• Co-op Gameplay
• Decent Sized Arsenal

Cons

• Unoriginal Concept and Creatures
• Visually Underwhelming
• Bugs Aplenty
• Item Hungry AI

Earthfall was developed and published by Holospark. It launched on PC, PS4, and X1 July 13th, 2018 for $29.99. The game was not provided to us for review. If you’d like to see more of Earthfall, check out the official site.

 

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