Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)In previews, Zone of the Enders seemed like it was going to be one of the Greatest Games of All Time. Unfortunately it ended up being a bit of a dud. Not a horrible game, but nowhere near meeting expectations. The combat itself was OK at first, but it quickly became repetetive. Aside from the bosses, there were only three enemy types. The game was filled with boring seek-and-fetch quests, an unappealing simpering lead character (that kid made Shinji from EVA look like Clint Eastwood,) uninteresting environments, useless sub-weapons, it was too easy, the story wasn't very exciting, the voice acting was abysmal, and so on and so forth. All it really had going for it was state of the art graphics, satisfying boss battles (well, except for the last one) and a VERY cool mech to fly around in. Oh, and a great soundtrack. But the bad more or less outweighed the good, and so the announcement of a sequel didn't really increase my heart rate. However, the current issue of OPM came with a ZOE2 demo, so I gave it a spin. I can't begin to tell you how much of an improvement it seemed to be over the original. I was so impressed that I immediately ran out and picked up the import even though the domestic version is less than a month away. Everything, EVERYTHING about ZOE1 has been improved upon, even the things it did well. Some notable changes are:

* More enemies and targets appearing onscreen, a LOT more. This game is much more hectic and chaotic than the original, which seemed laid back a lot of the time. Enemies are more agressive, and some of the boss battles are more difficult than anything from ZOE1.

* The lead character actually has some charisma going for him. The story (what I've been able to make out with my non-existent Japanese fluency) is gripping, or at least interesting. Characters actually have relationships with each other. Things actually happen to them. The story itself is told via very high quality anime, rather than ZOE1's 3D CG.

* There's more variety in the gameplay itself. Rather than just contiunually roaming through area after area and beating up enemies and looking for programs, you'll chase down huge armored battle-trains, solve puzzles, and follow precise verbal cues or DIE. You can also now grab enemies and use them as melee weapons, and grab pieces of the environment to use as weapons or shields.

The only real flaw I can think of is that the game's voice acting isn't up to the standard of other Konami productions, such as the Metal Gear Solid series or the Silent Hill series. It may be a notch or two above the truly atrocious acting in ZOE1, but that's not saying much.

Trust me, if you liked ZOE1 at all, you'll be amazed at how great ZOE2 is.

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Product Description:
From Metal Gear Solid 2 producer Hideo Kojima, comes the sequel to the anime inspired mech combat game Zone of the Enders. In Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, take control of a lightning fast mechanized robot and fight an evil militaristic force with new weapons, maneuvers, and tactics. Conflicts and settings of ZOE2 take place in cityscapes, enemy fortresses, and even in the depths of space!

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