Every EARTH DEFENSE FORCE game, ranked
All 2 EARTH DEFENSE FORCE games we hold, spanning 2016 to 2019: 2 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 22,049 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair (GamingPickz Score 7.9), the highest-rated entry we can score.
The EARTH DEFENSE FORCE games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 2 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
2 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 2 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
2 best EARTH DEFENSE FORCE games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
- 1
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair
Best for: Players who trust other players over critics
7.9GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceEARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair at a glance Released 2016 Studio SANDLOT Player sentiment 95% positive of 10,527 Critics 79/100 Price $19.99 Steam Deck playable Install size 8 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 95% shrinks to 94.6 on 10,527 reviews, then blends with the 79 critic aggregate, giving 7.9.
What the data supports- Small install at 8 GB.
Worth checking first- Players rate it well above critics, 95 against 79. Usually a sign it improved after launch, or that it delivers something reviewers undervalued.
- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- 2
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5
Best for: Players who trust other players over critics
7.8GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceEARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 at a glance Released 2019 Studio SANDLOT Player sentiment 94% positive of 11,522 Critics 76/100 Price $59.99 Steam Deck playable Install size 30 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 94% shrinks to 93.7 on 11,522 reviews, then blends with the 76 critic aggregate, giving 7.8.
Worth checking first- Players rate it well above critics, 94 against 76. Usually a sign it improved after launch, or that it delivers something reviewers undervalued.
- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
Best and worst entry
The best-received EARTH DEFENSE FORCE game we can score is EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair at 7.9. The lowest is EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5 at 7.8, a 0.1-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair at $19.99. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair, the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the EARTH DEFENSE FORCE entries on Steam:
- Playable: EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair, EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 5
Platforms across the series
Where the 2 EARTH DEFENSE FORCE games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 2 of 2 |
The EARTH DEFENSE FORCE series, game by game
Every EARTH DEFENSE FORCE game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 2016
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.Play as four different classes in over 80 missions with a range of 800 weapons at your disposal.Co-op play supported. (Steam)
- 2019
Stand and fight for humanity. This arcade shooter takes place in the year 2022, as the Earth Defense Force fends off an all-out attack by unknown life forms. Become an EDF soldier, battle against endless hordes of immense enemies, and restore peace to the earth. (Steam)
EARTH DEFENSE FORCE, head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
Common questions
How many EARTH DEFENSE FORCE games are there?
We hold 2 EARTH DEFENSE FORCE games in the catalogue, released between 2016 and 2019. 2 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which EARTH DEFENSE FORCE game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair rates highest at 7.9. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the EARTH DEFENSE FORCE games in?
Release order is listed below, from 2016 to 2019. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
More franchises
Browse every game franchise ranked the same way, or head to the full grid.