Global Defence Force

Written by Tom Clare in PS2 Game Reviews, Thursday 20 March, 2008

Released: 2007
Developer: Sandlot
Publisher: Essential Games
Genre: Shoot 'em up
Platform: PS2

How'd Those Ants Build A Space Ship?

Reaching #1 in play.com's PS2 sales chart was the defining point in Global Defence Force's unlikely success story. Released as a £9.99 budget title in 2007, GDF was virtually unheard of outside of Japan, and this was evident by the lack of coverage it received in the media and the general scarcity of information surrounding the project. However, it proved a rare victory for word-of-mouth as, after being championed by Teletext's GameCentral, it went to amass something of a cult-following. Good budget games are few and far between, so when a great one appears, it's something to celebrate.

GDF is a third-person shoot 'em up that essentially drags Robotron into the 21st Century whilst kitting it out with 3D graphics and some fairly ample B-Movie pretensions. Whilst going it alone isn't unusual in shoot 'em ups, here you are the very epitome of the 'One Man Army'; facing up to dozens and sometimes even hundreds of alien beasties at a time.

From the opening level you get a taster of what GDF is about - a generic schlock-horror sci-fi ditty plays over the chilling sight of a hoard of giant ants (part of the Gigantor race of alien invaders) crawling over the face of Big Ben, with comparatively minuscule human citizens running for their lives - as is the case in every mission, your objective is nothing more complex than wiping out the enemy threat, though as you progress through the game, you'll face gradually more devious (and numerous) foes. Among the biggest threats are the giant spiders who can set upon you in groups, snaring you in their web; there's flying ants to contend with; 'Mirror' UFO's that have to be attacked in just the right spot else they reflect your firepower, and there's the occasional appearance from mother ships and 'floating cities', which are nothing short of spectacular - both in terms of their armoury, and their sheer size.

Still, what comes up must come down as they say, and a large part of what makes GDF so satisfying is the destructive power you have at your disposal. There's little on the PS2 that can match the sheer carnage on offer, as you blow up huge buildings and send enormous spacecrafts crumpling to the Earth with an almost indiscriminate ease. The gameplay is simplicity itself; aside from moving and shooting, the only other techniques you'll need to master involve alternating between your two elected weapons, and using a jetpack/roll function depending on the type of soldier you decide to play as.

It's terrific fun, and fans of simple blasting will be in their element with an amazingly comprehensive selection of weapons. You can take pick off UFO's with surgical precision thanks to the sniper rifles; wreak havoc at close range with shotguns or reduce your foes (and surroundings) to rubble with the aid of missile launchers. There are a whopping 140 variants in total, and though many are logical evolutions of earlier models, the diverse characteristics that include reload times, clip capacities, damage and accuracy means that certain weapons will suit certain players. The action is extremely gratifying, chiefly because you get a real sense of the damage you can cause; a well-placed plasma grenade can launch multiple screaming Gigantors hundreds of feet into the air, whilst nearly all of what you see in the sizable city landscapes is destructible - from the largest of structures (including London recreations of the London Eye; Big Ben and Parliament) to small stuff like trees and railings.

A simple radar makes for an effective tool as it not only highlights your proximity to the enemies, but also power-ups, left behind by certain foes. As well as some useful (especially in later levels) health-replenishers, you'll find weapon icons that offer the possibility of new artillery at the end of the level (though as often as not prove to be clones of those already acquired); and 'Armor' - imperative, as at the end of each successful mission, your overall health gauge capacity is increased depending on the number of these tokens you collect.

In stark contrast to most budget titles, GDF clearly pushes the PS2 to its absolute technical limits. And here lies some of its problems - many of the levels are plagued by a noticeable degree of slow-down; it's bearable on the first three difficulty levels, but on 'Hardest' and 'Inferno' things are reduced to little more than a slide-show as it struggles to cope with such levels of on-screen activity. Disappointingly, the frame-rate problem is further exacerbated in the potentially brilliant split-screen 2-player co-op mode, which is enjoyable though only really playable on the easiest difficulty setting.

The graphics are a bit of a mixed bag. The human characters are rather lacklustre, the environment textures are bland and the game suffers from minor fogging in some sections, particularly evident when using a sniper rifle. The aliens, however, look fantastic. Despite the often excessive numbers, they're all very detailed and the developers did a great job of simulating their movements, making for an immensely unnerving effect. The amount of times one of the giant things creeps up behind you will amaze and with the addition of some spooky sound effects, it's frankly a miracle that I haven't had nightmares about those spiders leaping at me�

GDF doesn't receive enough credit for its cityscapes, the scale of which is fairly immense. Taking a helicopter up on the night-time levels allows you to ascend for what feels like miles, until you can make out the playing area as little more than a blur of lights below. The fact that there are only a handful of locations is fairly well-disguised as you'll find the various scenery setups around the levels have their own advantages and pitfalls; buildings can impede, but also make for good cover against certain foes; bridges are useful as sniping spots though leave you open to pincer attacks, whilst ravines can shelter you from the fire power of large machines and so on. It wouldn't be a shoot 'em up without a notable 'Beach Landing' level, and GDF's effort is ace - you begin atop a hill, peering over the distant sea when about a hundred giant red ants come scuttling out of the water. Scary stuff!

It's hardly the most cerebral of concepts but Global Defence Force's quick-blast mantra is soundly built around. Missions tend to last between two and ten minutes - making it a perfect for brief, adrenalin-filled sessions. To attain every medal on offer, the player must beat each level ten times - five difficulty settings to tackle with both the PaleWing and Infantry soldiers. Add this to the fact that there's a whopping 71 missions and you've got a major trek ahead in order to finish the campaign.

Whether you'll want to play through 71 levels is another matter, as the lack of variety inevitably becomes an issue overtime. Admittedly, a decent number of enemy types are introduced throughout the course of the game in an attempt to keep things fresh, though the prospect of 20 hours-plus of blasting is likely to prove a little too much for most gamers. Still, there's no question you're getting great value for your tenner and, provided your up for a challenge and don't freak out at the sight of enormous bugs, it's a must-buy and one of the best budget releases ever.

Leave a Reply