Earthfall is a 2018 Co-Op Multiplayer First-Person Shooter developed and published by startup indie studio Holospark. The game is openly and transparently a Homage to Valve and Turtle Rock Studio's 2008 Left 4 Dead and its 2009 sequel Left 4 Dead 2, with extremely similar gameplay. The most notable gameplay addition compared to Left 4 Dead is the ability to set up defensive emplacements such as barricades, auto-turrets, and stationary mounted turrets.
Years after a meteor strike results in a swarm of insect-like aliens overrunning the planet, a group of 4 survivors searching for supplies end up stumbling upon a resistance group and being recruited into an effort to fight back against the invasive alien species.
Not to be confused with the 4th book in the ''Homecoming'' saga by Orson Scott Card.
Tropes:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The game takes place in the early 2030's, with the most notable near-future technology being the widespread adoption of 3D printers, which were converted to churn out guns for survivors after the aliens started taking over. The medkits are also explained as working via nanomachines.
- Alien Blood: Most of the alien enemies bleeds green upon being shot to bits.
- Artificial Stupidity: A team of survivor bots will completely fall to pieces as soon as one of them goes down during a swarm or Beast boss event, as the remaining bots are unable to properly prioritize between fighting off enemies and picking up the downed teammate, and will usually end up getting killed themselves. Setting the bot A.I. level to max skill ("Masterful" skill) does at least help make them die somewhat less and gives your group a better chance of surviving swarms or bosses.
- Boss Battle: The game has 2 "boss" aliens, with typically 2 or 3 encounters throughout each level. The Beast is a huge alien bruiser akin to Left 4 Dead's Tank, while the Blackout is a floating squid-like alien with a rotating energy shield and the ability to fire energy blasts.
- BFG: Heavy "Apex" weapons such as the minigun and flamethrower can be found at special supply points. They're very powerful, but slow your movement significantly and are dropped as soon as you try to switch to your primary or secondary weapon.
- Creator Provincialism: The game takes place in the American Pacific Northwest, while the developers are based out of Washington state.
- Dual Wielding: Your secondary weapon (either a .22 pistol or a Desert Eagle) can be dual-wielded if you pick up a second one, though finding 2 Desert Eagles on the same map isn't always possible.
- Elite Mooks: Similar to Left 4 Dead, the game has special aliens akin to the special infected from Left 4 Dead.
- The Sapper is a large, bloated green alien that runs at you and explodes into a toxic cloud, akin to the L4D Bloater.
- The Thresher is a leaping, quadruped alien hound that tackles a survivor and immobilizes them while mauling them to death, akin to the L4D Hunter.
- The Whiplash is a galloping giraffe-like alien with a long flexible neck and Flower Mouth, which it uses to pick up a survivor and drag them away to their doom, akin to the L4D Smoker.
- The Enrager is a floating brain-sac that buffs all nearby regular aliens.
- Additionally, there are also somewhat tougher regular alien drones; taller ones with a large headcrest that can survive somewhat more damage, and green ones with a ranged spit attack.
- Horde of Alien Locusts: The aliens are a swarm of mindless drones generated from raw biomass at their nest sites, whose sole purpose is to hunt and consume animal biomass. Some of the survivor notes speculate they're some form of organic terraforming tool.
- Luck-Based Mission: Of the two bosses, the Blackout can be annoying and time-consuming to bring down but is rarely deadly, while the Beast can wipe out your entire squad in less than a minute if you make one mistake. Whether you get one or the other in a boss encounter is completely random and massively affects you odds of finishing the level. The frequency of boss encounters in a level is also somewhat random.
- Ranged Emergency Weapon: Your default secondary weapon is a .22 pistol with infinite ammo (though you still need to reload your magazine). It can be dual-wielded if you find a second one. It can also be upgraded to a Desert Eagle Hand Cannon (also with infinite ammo), which also can be dual-wielded.
- Shout-Out:
- A red balloon and tricycle can be found in the sewers of the trailer park level, referencing the film It (2017).
