D3Publisher Game Reviews
Review Full Metal Schoolgirl (PS5) - This Offbeat Anime Roguelite Somehow Gets It Right
Learning the hard way
For a game about robotic students raging against a sinister regime, Full Metal Schoolgirl is weirdly relatable. The onset of AI has brought life to a horde of automaton employees known as the Working Dead, tasked by a tyrannical corporation to behave as corporate slaves. With a single organisation controlling Tokyo’s...
Review Earth Defense Force 6 (PS5) - More of the Same Insectoid Mayhem, and We Love It
Kill 'em all... again
Earth Defense Force feels like a relic of a bygone era. An era of arcade shooters with the sole purpose of throwing shapes, colours and sounds in your general direction. Ever since 2003’s Monster Attack, franchise dev Sandlot has gathered a faithful fanbase, who ignore the technical shortcomings and revel in a varied class...
Mini Review Samurai Maiden (PS5) - Rough Combat Cuts Fun Anime Adventure Short
Girls just want to have fun
It’s the 15th century and one of Japan’s leading figures, Oda Nobunaga, tasks a 21st century school girl and a trio of ninjas to slay the Demon Lord. With the power of friendship and kisses, off you go to save the world. Emphasis on kisses, by the way, because if the title didn't give it away, Samurai Maiden is that...
EDF! EDF! EDF!
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...
Review Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain - EDF Is Back to Its Best
EDF! EDF! EDF!
Giving another studio the opportunity to work on a well-documented franchise, especially one whose most notable creations are its WWE 2K titles for the past six years, is always going to come with risks. When developer Yuke’s was given the keys to the Earth Defense Force series, it promised a more western take on things - one that...
Review Earth Defense Force 5 - Buggy in More Ways Than One
A real bugger by yourself
Earth Defense Force 5 is about as close as you can get to the definition of a guilty pleasure. It scoffs at the realism and deeper philosophical themes that are proliferating throughout modern video games as they become a more diverse and ubiquitous entertainment medium. EDF 5 unabashedly keeps both feet planted firmly in...
Review Onechanbara Z2: Chaos (PS4)
Devil don't care
The Onechanbara series has been around for a while in Japan, shamelessly fusing ridiculous combat with girls in skimpy costumes for a good 11 years now. It's safe to say that it's a franchise that knows what its fans want, and as such, it's never tried to move away from its aforementioned core concepts. The same is true of its...
Review Earth Defense Force 2025 (PlayStation 3)
Alien ant harm
The biggest bugs in Earth Defense Force 2025 are not the iconic silver-backed ants that grace its outrageously ostentatious box art. The latest entry in Sandlot’s cult co-operative shooter series is a technical disaster, running a gamut of performance blunders larger than its colossal robotic adversaries. However, franchise fans...
Review Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON'T KNOW! (PlayStation 3)
We can't recommend a reason either
Adventure Time is ridiculously exuberant. Its characters are eccentric and weird, its storylines are convoluted and odd, and its humour is a mix of silly, low brow, and exceptionally well timed. It's a show of complexity and deep lore based on the insane. Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON'T KNOW!...
