In Japan, the Chikyuu Boueigun series has been garnering fans since 2003. The first title to be released in America was the third in the series, titled Earth Defense Force 2017 in English. EDF 2017 borrowed familiar sci-fi vices (an alien invasion made up of giant bugs and giant robots) and welded them to addictive, arcade-style gameplay. With over 150 weapons and 53 levels, the game also offered a lot of replay value despite concerns over graphics and voice acting.A preview of the new iteration in the series, Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, shows that publisher D3 is aware of the last game’s limitations, and is doing its best to fix them. The game has a new American developer, Vicious Cycle, who created the devilishly satirical Matt Hazard series of games. Vicious Cycle is adding online play for the first time, with 4-player co-op and 6-player competitive. The best news is that if this all sounds interesting to you, you can track the last game down for cheap and imagine it even better, then be there for the new game’s launch early next year.