Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair appears on Steam

Late last year, Earth Defense Force 4.1 appeared in a list of games purportedly coming to Steam. And today, it became official: Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair is now on Steam, although you won't be able to actually buy it for a few more days. 

Originally released for the PS4 in North America in December 2015, EDF4.1 is a third-person shooter that pits the soldiers of the Earth Defense Force against the Ravagers, an invading alien race of giant insects, lizards, robots, and more. The original Earth Defense Force 2017 was released in 2006 for the Xbox 360, followed by a sequel, Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon—which we reviewed here—in 2012. The series is mostly known for packing as many enemies onto the screen as possible, framerate be damned.

This latest addition to the series includes more than 80 missions, playable as one of four different classes with access to 800 weapons. It supports both single-player and online co-op multiplayer, full controller support, and Steam achievements, trading cards, and Steam Cloud saves. And this is what you'll need to play: 

Minimum:

  • OS: Windows 7 64bit, Windows 8.1 64bit Windows 10 64bit
  • Processor: 3 GHz 2 Core
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 7870
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection
  • Storage: 8 GB available space
  • Sound Card: DirectX 11 sound device

Recommended:

  • OS: Windows 7 64bit, Windows 8.1 64bit Windows 10 64bit
  • Processor: 3.2GHz 4Core
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 7970
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection
  • Storage: 8 GB available space
  • Sound Card: DirectX 11 sound device

Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair will go live on July 18. 

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.