Earthfall Copies Left 4 Dead’s Formula — and Never Quite Escapes Its Shadow

Earthfall asks players to fight back against an invasion. That idea is simple and direct. The game from Holospark, out on PC, Xbox One and Switch, wants teams of up to four players to work together to hold ground, gather supplies and push forward against waves of alien attackers. The premise is familiar ground for a shooter, and the game leans on it without building much beyond it.

Trailer, via Nimble.

Holdouts and Episodes

Players move through episodes in Earthfall, each one pushing the team closer to a safe house. Between those points, the game asks players to build defenses, watch enemy movements and keep moving before the aliens break through. This design borrows heavily from Left 4 Dead, which built its own episodes around human camps and waves of zombies. Earthfall copies that shape nearly note for note, and the result shows it.

The pacing holds up well early on. Waves arrive with purpose, enemies show different abilities and the game stays tense during the early hours. But the repetition starts to show once the formula repeats across several episodes, and the game rarely offers new ideas to replace the familiar setup.

“Players must work together to survive.”

That line sums up the whole experience. There is no deep exploration, no branching paths, no systems that reward individual play. Earthfall is about working as a team, holding ground, and surviving the next wave. Nothing more.

The Alien Threat

The aliens themselves are varied enough to keep things interesting for a while. Some enemies hit harder, some move faster, and some can call other aliens to join the fight. This variety helps the early episodes feel fresh. By the later stages, though, the differences between enemy types grow thin. The same few patterns repeat across the board, and the game rarely adds new threats to shake things up.

The safe houses also serve a mechanical purpose. They offer a chance to rest, gather supplies and plan the next move. These breaks help keep the pace steady, since the constant pressure of combat can wear down even a small team. But the game does not let players stay comfortable for long. Waves arrive soon after, and the tension builds again almost immediately.

Where the Game Falls Short

Earthfall’s biggest problem is the overall lack of polish. The shooting feels solid at times, but the controls can drift between episodes, and the game rarely finds a consistent rhythm. Some encounters feel tight and satisfying, while others feel loose and frustrating, and there is no clear way to know which is coming next.

The graphics are serviceable. They do not push the hardware on any platform, and they rarely stand out against other shooters of the period. The sound design works well enough, with enemy calls and player chatter adding to the sense of urgency, but it does not elevate the experience either.

Playing Together

Co-op is the heart of Earthfall, and it mostly works. Playing with friends brings out the best in the game’s systems, since teamwork is built into every episode. Players who know the flow of the game can coordinate attacks, cover each other and push through waves more easily than playing alone. The game rewards communication and trust between players, and that is where it finds its strength.

Playing alone, though, is a different story. The AI teammates are competent but not clever, and they tend to follow the player’s lead rather than taking initiative. This means the solo experience is less engaging, since the game relies heavily on coordination that the AI simply cannot provide. Playing with friends remains the recommended way to approach Earthfall, and the game is built around that assumption from start to finish.

What Remains Worth Playing

Despite its flaws, Earthfall has moments that still hold up. The best episodes, the ones that balance waves of enemies with meaningful choices about how to defend a holdout, show what the game could have been with more care. The tension between holding ground and advancing is a strong foundation, and the game occasionally delivers on it.

The game also benefits from its episodic structure. Each episode moves players forward, giving them a clear goal and a sense of progress that keeps the campaign moving. This structure helps Earthfall avoid the tedium that plagues shooters that rely too heavily on repetition.

Our Verdict on Earthfall

Earthfall is a game with a good idea that never quite becomes a great game. The co-op shooter formula works when the game commits to it fully, and the best episodes deliver on that promise. But the lack of polish, the thin enemy variety and the weak solo mode hold the game back from greatness.

Earthfall earns a 5 out of 10. It is a game worth playing with friends, especially for fans of the genre, but it is not a game that stands out on its own. The game’s strengths are real, but they are surrounded by rough edges that keep the experience from being truly satisfying.

Earthfall is a game that borrows heavily from Left 4 Dead and never quite escapes its shadow. The best parts are worth returning to, but the weaker parts are too frequent to ignore. Playing with friends remains the best way to enjoy it, and anyone looking for a solo shooter will find the experience thin. Earthfall is a shooter with a solid core, but it never quite reaches its full potential.

co-op shooter · Earthfall · game review · Holospark · Left 4 Dead