Global Defence Force (PS2) by Essential Games

This has been hyped heavily on Digitiser, Channel 4's teletext computing magazine, and to be honest I can see why. It's criminal that this has taken two years to get a UK release. Criminal too, to think that a budget games company can produce something like this on a shoestring compared to some of the dross turned out by larger developers (THQ, EA, UBISOFT to name but three who could do with a good kicking :o) )Basically this is Robotron in 3D: Spiders, ants, flying things, (Godzilla!) descend from their spaceship in wave upon wave and it's your job to blast them all to kingdom come. The scenery changes and occasionally you'll come up against an immense `Shadow Of The Collossus' type boss. But it's not subtle, there's no tactics to it whatsoever and no one's going to be dishing out laurels for innovation, graphics or design.So, you want stealth? Buy a Hitman game. You want adventure & a story? Try Okami.Want to blast giant bugs that are running amok all across the planet? Welcome to Global Defence Force!It's a fabulous 3rd person shooter, one of the very best on the PS2, and for pure, visceral arcade thrills it just doesn't get any better. The size of the bugs, the scale of the landscape and the palpable tension when you're caught in the middle of a buzzing throng of poison spitting flying ants waiting for your super weapon to reload is brilliant. And the overwhelming rush of adrenaline when you finally shoot your way out brings back fond memories of escaping the ghosts in Pacman, swerving past enemies in Bomb Jack or clearing that final wave in Tempest.They really don't make games like this anymore. It's a gem and you need it.Word of warning, this is becoming ridiculously hard to find but at the time of writing, both eBay and playasia.com had them at a reasonable price. Also GDF's sequel appeared earlier in the year on the 360. It's called Earth Defence Force 2017 and is a 3 or 4 star game at best. The similarly titled Global Defence Force: Tactics on the PS2 is an RPG and worth only 2 or 3 stars. Don't get them confused.

I think everything's been said about this already, but just to confirm, this is one of the best PS2 games out there. Far better than EDF 2017 which didn't impress me, this one gets it right. F.U.N.What's not to love about flying a jetpack over London raining hot plasma lead upon armies of giant ants and spiders accompanied by perfect B-movie music? Cue big grin. 140 weapons (though I doubt I'll ever unlock them all). Exploding buildings, helicopters, bikes, tanks, co-op, deathmatch... It's the dog's Bs.

Good game but the slow down is a bit annoying.

Excellent, Many Thanks.

Good game but perhaps slightly overrated as a cult classic. Graphics were decent for their time but not outstanding. It just felt slightly cheap to be honest. Not a premium gaming experience (for the time!!)