Earth Defense Force 5 Windows game

Vanguard Strike is the new PVP campaign for Earth Defense Force 5, featuring over 110 missions for up to 4 Players both local and online. Challenge your friends in team deathmatch, or meet them with a stampede of monsters in the hybrid PVP-PVE mode!



This total conversion replaces all missions in the Local and Online Campaigns.
Play splitscreen and local deathmatch with the main 2 Players version of the mod.
Or play team deathmatch online with the all-new 4 Players expansion!

Note: Vanguard Strike does not require creating a new savegame.



Missions are set in ~20 environments and split into chapters:

• Recon missions are classic deathmatch arenas, both in open environments and within small confines.
• Vanguard missions come with vehicles drivable by any class, ranging from bikes to Barga mechs.
• In Strike missions, the hybrid PVP-PVE elements are introduced: Player 1 guides the EDF to attack, while Player 2 defends with the aliens.
• In Elite missions, Player 1 attacks with the Cosmonauts, while Player 2 defends with the Insects. Vice-versa in Swarm.
• In Hunter missions, Player 1 attacks with the Colonists, while Player 2 defends with the Insects. Vice-versa in Prey.
• In Templar missions, Player 1 attacks with the Cosmonauts, while Player 2 defends with the Colonists. Vice-versa in Renegade.
• In Hivemind missions, Player 1 attacks with the Crimson Hive, while Player 2 defends with the Gold Hive. Vice-versa in Broodlord.
• In Legend missions, Player 1 attacks with the EDF, while Player 2 defends with the Primers.
• Finally in Armageddon missions, Player 1 defends with the EDF, while Player 2 attacks alongside the Primers... and the Nameless!

Faction wars! The main point of the hybrid PVP-PVE gamemode is to summon and fight alongside the game's repertoire of beasties. Attacking alongside the EDF and their Metal Gear-esque mechs is surely something, but guiding a posse of giant frogs is on another level! And in typical EDF fashion, triggering the first skirmish will start a chain reaction that will soon spread to the whole map.

• Insects

The zerging faction, sporting the highest number of weak and aggressive units. While their forte is numbers, they also have tough bosses to lead the charge. They don't react to friendly fire and instantly get alerted to nearby enemies. And among all factions, they're the ones who get most dangerous as difficulty increases. When they're on the defensive team, they spawn a huge Insect Nest with more hitpoints than the average base.

• Cosmonauts

The elite faction, having few but powerful units. Their shieldbearers split the battlefield with forcefields, negating ranged attackers like the Colonists or the EDF. However, giant humanoids have slower reaction speed... and will not hesitate to punish you for careless friendly fire! When the Cosmonauts defend, they spawn a base which has less than average hitpoints, but is protected by a shield.

• Colonists

The jack-of-all-trades, most straightforward faction. Frogs trade the quality equipment of the Cosmonauts, for higher quantity of troops. However, their Deroys are devastating against other AIs and will dominate the fight. Like all giant humanoids, Colonists have duller senses and react negatively to friendly fire. When they play on the defensive team, their base hides a pretty big ace-in-the-hole!

• Crimson Hive and Gold Hive

These are a split within the main Insect faction: as the name implies, it's red and yellow subtypes of Insects. One is specialized in crawlers, the other in fliers: but what matters most is that together, they spawn the highest count of units that can be in the game... it really is a huge storm of bugs! As with the original faction, their defensive team gets a tough Insect Nest.

• The EDF

A defensive faction: each troop is individually weak, but gets strong in numbers and can be recruited to bolster their effectiveness. Their powerful mechs and vehicles suppress the area, with giant Barga and Proteus mechs at the center of everyone's attention. Uniquely, the EDF is equipped with healing stations that are either placed in the level or carried around. The faction's base is fully average, with no tricks.

• Primers

The combination of all enemy factions, encompassing most unit types from the previous ones. It has the numbers of the Insects, the strength of the Cosmonauts and the speed of the Colonists. It's the ultimate challenge for the EDF to overcome. During Legend missions, Primers are on the defensive team and their base is similar to the Colonists'. In Armageddon missions, they're on the attacking team... and the Nameless is with them!



Additional features include single pilot versions of the Proteus, Brute and Titan vehicles.
And exclusively for the 4 Players version, a rework of homing weapons.

Should you have 4 joypads, Nucleus Co-Op can also be used to achieve 4 Players local splitscreen!



Other than just having a good time, another goal of this mod is to provide an alternative to the single player grind.
Which is a very time consuming process, if you need to farm armor to prepare for Inferno or are looking for upgrading a specific weapon.

Since the missions of this versus campaign drop loot, and progress is shared with vanilla, you will find that playing a versus game or two with your friends is just as lucrative (and far less boring!) as grinding for hours by yourself.



To install this mod, download and extract its archive in the EDF5 folder.
Located in: Steam\SteamApps\Common\EarthDefenceForce5\