Earth’s Dawn Review (PS4)
In the year 2020, lifeforms known as the E.B.E’s invaded Earth from a distant star and wiped out half of the planet’s population within only a few days. With no way to combat them with normal weaponry, Earth turned to human experiments in an attempt to create something stronger than the E.B.E and they did – a breed of new soldiers.
As the A.N.T.I. Troops who have been enfused with anti-E.B.E bioarmour, you’re the only people left who are able to fight off the E.B.E’s. The story focuses around that and is quite thin, but it does a good enough join to keep you coming back and tackling mission after mission – the E.B.E’s are menacing and their threat is made obvious, especially when you come across bosses or unique enemies who can take you down within a few hits. There’s not much here to talk about when it comes to the story and characters but the gameplay is very addictive, and it’s nice to have something string mission after mission together!
At its budget price, it’s hard to not get more than you paid for!
If you’re a fan of the likes of Odin Sphere and 2D hack and slash titles in general, then Earth’s Dawn will be right up your alley – at its budget price, it’s hard to not get more than you paid for! You’ll be spending a lot of time mashing face buttons but you’ll have a lot of fun doing it, and stringing along the most effective combos with the use of my weapons and the direction of the analog stick, weapons of which you can enhance or replace with newly created weaponry, is great fun that’ll have you itching to find quicker ways to fell your foes. Mixing blade and guns means you have plenty of options to work with, and improving your ground and air play is exciting.
There’s a strong emphasis on customisation on Earth’s Dawn, especially as you have to be picky with what’s most important to you. You can’t equip an infinite amount of new skills and stat bonuses so you’ll have to decide what you feel will benefit you most – I personally like going for enhanced strength, health and defence – and you have to collect materials for new weapons and armour. There are countless side-missions to collect materials so it isn’t too rough, but there is a timer where once it hits 0, you’re forced into an intense boss fight where new equipment makes all of the difference.
It’s engaging, exciting and works hard to keep pulling you back in.
Earth’s Dawn has a very unique art style in the way that the characters look and move as if they’re marionette-inspired papercraft. This might turn some people off and it certainly takes some getting used to, but it’s hard to dislike and it grew on me the more time I spent with it – if anything, it stands out. It’s fully 2D and if it’s the art style that’s really driving you away then give it some time to warm to you – it’s odd, but it’s far from horrible. There’s no English voice-over but there isn’t a whole lot of spoken dialogue other than a few cutscenes for the most vital missions, and the soundtrack fits the tone of the game and action on-screen even if it doesn’t stand out quite so much as its art does.
Earth’s Dawn is a game that’ll fly under many people’s radars due to a lack of advertising and in that it’s an incredibly niche new IP. If you’re into 2D hack and slash games with a few platforming elements and exploring though, then Earth’s Dawn is something you should look into picking up, especially at it’s fair price. It’s engaging, exciting and works hard to keep pulling you back in, and I found myself happily returning time and time again.
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