With over fifty missions, four power armor suits (one which includes an incredibly fun jet pack), giant ants, giant spiders, corny dialog, overly-dramatic cut-scenes, giant cockroaches, unlimited ammo, player customization, and the ability to blow up every building in the mission area, Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain may not be the most well-programmed game on the shelves, but it is one of the most fun, and when compared to some of the greedy, unimaginative titles currently for sale, things which are genuinely, unabashedly fun count for a lot.

Iron Rain is a good game on its own merits, but it's simply not as good as EDF5. It is a pretty different experience that's easy to recommend to series fans that are hungry for more, though.

Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is a fresh start for the series, with several improvements in terms of graphics and gameplay but the same focus on linear, repetitive missions you won't fight alone.

Overall, Iron Rain echoes Insect Armageddon as a spin-off that tries to take the well-loved series in a new direction. Unfortunately, it drained out a lot of the charm that made the older titles so fun to begin with. Admittedly, any Earth Defense Force game will have a passable fun factor just from how straightforwardly enjoyable it is to blow up giant enemies and buildings. However, the campaign dragged on far too long and relied too heavily on endless waves of bland enemies. Sadly, Iron Rain is a massive misstep that should probably be avoided by both fans and newcomers alike.