Earth Defense Force 2025 and Special Ops DLC strikes Feb. 13

Earth Defense Force 2025 and its Special Ops downloadable content will hit the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on Feb. 18, followed shortly by two DLC packs, D3 publisher announced today.

Earth Defense Force 2025, which recently went gold, will retail for $49.95, while the Special Ops DLC consisting of five new missions will be available for $2.99. The Mutant Rampage DLC is expected to be available on Feb. 25 and will feature 20 new missions for $8.99. Also offering 20 missions for $8.99 is the Beyond Despair DLC, which will hit March 11.

The first DLC pack for the Japanese version of the game, titled Earth Defense Force 4, also featured five new missions:  Floating Armada, Fortress More, Silver Thread Squad Giant, Parade of Giants and Search Giant. It is not currently clear if the western DLC pack will contain these same missions.

Weapon-focused pre-order bonuses from various retailers include The Fencer Weapons Pack, The Wing Diver Weapons Pack, The Ranger Weapons Pack and The Air Raider Weapons Pack. To learn more about Sandlot's insect and robot-obliterating co-op title, check out an episode of Today I Played where Polygon gets hands-on with the Japanese version of the game.