We’ve seen several Earth Defense Force games on PS4, but World Brothers isn’t your normal fare. Offering a family friendly spinoff with voxel graphics, this third-person shooter takes us to Square Earth, where we find this world shattered by Dark Tyrant’s forces as several motherships appear, and it’s down to us to restore it. With troops isolated across the world, you must rescue our EDF Brothers and Sisters during missions to recruit them.

World Brothers retains EDF’s core premise: defending Earth from giant insects. Working with teams of four, each unit has special skills plus an ultimate ability, and across 60 missions, your goal is to kill every enemy. While you can play solo, online co-op (sadly, no cross-play) is where EDF truly shines, and taking on hordes is a lot more entertaining with three other players, and two-player local split screen is also available.

Between blasting through destructible environments with various unlockable weapons — going from assault rifles to laser rays — destroying spawn nests, insect hordes, and the odd boss is absurdly satisfying. Every soldier class from previous main entries is present, totalling 100 characters. And while repeated voice lines became slightly irritating, there’s something for everyone.

Now, World Brothers is designed as an accessible experience for younger players, and with that, combat feels slightly basic. Difficulty is lowered too, but challenge seekers can choose tougher options. There’s a light-hearted adventure within and plenty of self-referential humour, such as characters judging whether bosses are beatable based on the music currently playing.

Ultimately, World Brothers is a good introduction for newcomers that’ll appeal to long-time fans too. It’s not especially deep and solo play can feel slightly repetitive in longer stints, but if you gather a few friends, you’ll have a lot of fun with this colourful spinoff.