When I sit down and think about games that I really wanted to like and would have been willing to go out to bat for, Earthfall is near the top of my list. I love science fiction and aliens, so much so that I bought this game when it came out just because of the premise. 

So, it’s 2025 now, and as I was going through my backlog, I came across Earthfall and remembered how much I wanted to love this game. Left 4 Dead is one of my favorite cooperative games ever and I even enjoyed Back 4 Blood for a while. World War Z is simply fantastic, and where I’m going with this is I love to give the Left 4 Dead “clones” a chance. 

I had completely forgotten about Earthfall, even after telling all of my friends to buy it. Upon downloading it, I remembered why we decided to shelve it and never look back. So, in this retrospective, I’m taking a look at Earthfall: I also went back and played as much as possible to get a review for this game. But, Earthfall is a hard game to play, and I don’t mean difficulty-wise. Going through this game felt like pulling teeth. 

Game Information

Earthfall is a four-player cooperative first-person shooter. Earthfall was primarily developed by Holospark and published by Gearbox Publishing. It was released on July 13, 2018, for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Earthfall later came to the Nintendo Switch on October 29m 2019. 

Earthfall can be played in single-player or in multiplayer and offers a campaign to playthrough as well as a horde mode.

What is Earthfall? 

In Earthfall, you play as a guerrilla force that is attempting to fight back against hoards of deadly alien invaders. Looking back on Earthfall the premise of the game is fantastic and I was drawn in immediately. Where the game starts falling apart is everywhere else. 

As I was running through the first level, and I do mean running because the game was quickly becoming a slog, a few things stood out to me. The most glaring is how awful it felt to run (using L3) running feels unresponsive even after changing my controller. 

The Extras 

Earthfall has a couple of different menus that you can explore, and each one is more bland than the last. 

The gameplay menu is bland and uninspired: This bothers me because the clear lack of effort and presentation can be seen throughout the whole game. The customization menus are also bland; there are no backgrounds, and the music is nearly nonexistent. 

Characters 

Earthfall features a cast of four characters. Four extremely forgettable characters. I can’t tell you anything about them because there is no in-game information for any of them or their backstories. But you can select either Maya, Ray, Danny, or Jonas and each one is more forgettable than the last. 

Playing the Game 

Earthfall has unforgettable characters and a bland menu design, but that doesn’t leak into the game, at least not completely. The environments you play in are at least designed well enough to be fun to run through. 

Earthfall has two campaigns plus the Tales of the Resistance, something that I didn’t even bother diving into. Each campaign features five levels and for $19.99 I can’t believe how short this game is. There is also an invasion mode where you either have to survive waves of aliens or complete an objective. 

Speaking of the aliens, this is where Earthfall finally lost me, and is the single biggest reason I dislike this game. The aliens feel exactly like the Left 4 Dead zombies, right down to their animations. They punch and kick you and for whatever reason that pulls me right out of the game. The “special” aliens are largely forgettable but do offer a fun challenge when they appear. 

As you play through Earthfall there will be specific points where you can put down some defenses and hold your ground: This mechanic is refreshing and is easily the best part of the game. During these sections I found myself noticing how bad the animations for all of the weapons are. Everything feels floaty and rushed at the same time. 

Score

Earthfall is a largely forgettable mess of good ideas that were poorly executed. The environment could not save this game from being a boring slog. While I can understand why some might enjoy this game for me, I found the lack of innovation to cripple this game in multiple ways. I found myself wanting to be done with Earthfall, there was no want or need to go back and replay the game. Everything feels so Left 4 Dead, down to the animations and special aliens, that I was left wondering why I’m not playing Left 4 Dead instead. 

Score Breakdown

• The characters are soulless and the dialogue lacks the flavor and character that you need to make an enjoyable four-person experience. 
• The animations feel floaty. 
• Shooting aliens feel like hitting nothing, the weapons and sound effects don’t offer a satisfying sense of power. 
• There is a lack of care that can be felt throughout the game. Menus feel unfinished and character customization feels tacked on.