Parents' Guide to Earthfall

While the action of this shooter is engaging, the limitations on its creativity makes it a shadow of what this sci-fi game could've been. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Even so, it's usually best when that imitation at least tries to be a bit subtle. In the case of Earthfall, though (which is in Steam's Early Access program), there's nothing remotely subtle about its imitation of Valve's shooter, Left 4 Dead. The game feels like a reskinned version of the zombie classic, with Earthfall's alien hordes taking the place of L4D's legions of the undead. There's a bloated enemy that explodes into a toxic mess when killed. There's a superfast, agile enemy that tackles players with vicious attacks. And there's even a tentacled enemy that snatches up players and drags them off for the kill unless a teammate rescues them. Both games' stories are broken up over various chapters, with bits and pieces of plot trickling out over time. And yet, even when you get past the sense of déjà vu, Earthfall still feels like it's missing something.

One good example of Earthfall's missed opportunities is its use of a 3D printed arsenal. Players regularly come across printers that, once powered, can instantly create weapons and items for players to use. The problem is that many of these weapons are usually already sitting around for the taking. There's nothing particularly powerful about the printed weapons, and there's no real motivation to activate the printers. It's a decent idea on paper, but in practice, it just falls flat. Despite its shortcomings and blatant "inspirations", Earthfall is still a gorgeous looking shooter with some decent gameplay behind it. It's just a shame that it fails to live up to its potential, settling instead to rely on another game's "Left"overs.