I've taken down my fair share of stock enemy villains: Nazis, terrorists, zombies, aliens, demons. Whatever the boss villain of the day is able to throw infinitely in my direction, I have no problem mowing down with a few well placed shots. At the end of the day, though, I typically hang up the paddle and forget my foes when the next big game comes around.

When it comes to the eradication of giant ants, I always find myself coming back for more, and nobody does insectoid slaughter better than Japanese budget developer Sandlot.

The team behind the popular Earth Defense Force 2017 is back with an official sequel, Earth Defense Force 2025, taking place, you guessed it, eight years in the future. As the latest gameplay trailer shows, technology has moved beyond simple explosives and projectile based weapons. Humans now have jetpacks, lasers, homing beacons for air strikes and supply drops at their disposal, and no longer must we run into battle against the six-legged foes with what measures up to a club of wood.

Just to be a little negative for once about the game, I understand that Earth Defense Force 2025 is a budget title and some sacrifices to performance must be made, but in this day and age, such constant slowdown is inexcusable. For a 2006 budget game made on new technology, it's fine, but Sandlot is going to have to figure out a way to bring up their frame rate to match some of the standards we've set in the last seven years. It's nearly 2013 now!

That aside, I'm pumped for four player online mode, and the series now looks like it has a class system. Earth Defense Force 2025 will be released in Japan in March of 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and an American release is already confirmed.

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