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Videogame
Source : PlayStation 2 |
Zone
of the Enders |
| Graphics |
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9.5 |
| Sounds |
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7.5 |
| Replay |
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5.0 |
| Gameplay |
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5.7 |
| Overall |
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6.0 |
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Review
by JR Clone |
Zone of the Enders,
the much-hyped game from the legendary Hideo Kojima, has gotten
some very mixed reviews. Although this game will probably induce
fits of elation at first sight, but there isn't much substance
to accompany the sleek style of this game.
Leo Stenbuck, a 14-year old boy living on a space colony
orbiting Jupiter, finds an abandoned Orbital Frame (a giant,
mechanized robot) named Jehuty inside a hangar, and must pilot
it to victory over a rogue military faction bent on controlling
the solar system.
Zone of the Enders is putrid as far as plotlines go; the fact
that this filth attempts to actually move the heart is
disgusting. A painful translation and especially lame voice
acting are only the tip of the iceberg. The characters are all
annoying and clichéd, have no motivations for their actions, and
it doesn’t help that the voice of the main character is enough
to make you gag. The story itself plods along with its boring
characters, and ends in a climax that leaves tons of loose ends
and brings no closure for anyone. Even in the land of video game
stories this is not good at all.
Beyond ZOE’s somewhat…er…lacking…plot, Hideo Kojima and his
chums at Konami have developed a fantastic looking game. The
Orbital Frames (mechs) are beautifully designed and ultra
realistic, and the frenetic, freewheeling, gee-whiz effects have
to be seen to believed. This has to be first PlayStation 2 game
that has truly wowed me with its fast glossy look and
unflinchingly fast pacing.
The battles are as much graphical experiences as they are
gameplay experiences with the fully destructible environments
exploding and shattering all around you, all while rhythmic
techno music pounds in the background. The only complaint that
could be raised against the game is that although the
environments are extremely detailed, they all look very much the
same, and areas become almost indistinguishable.
In the end, playing Zone of the Enders turns out to be a mixed
bag. The controls are fluid, the camera is responsive, and
Jehuty handles like a dream. Unlike Armored Core 2 or
Mechwarrior, this makes you feel like you're in the cockpit
moving at hundreds of miles an hour dodging, parrying, and
performing attacks every second. The controls are nearly
perfect, but although piloting Jehuty itself is fantastic, this
is only the skeleton of a great game. What could have been an
unbelievable experience is soured by the fact that Jehuty’s
awesome engine has practically nothing to do.
Jehuty has a rather limited arsenal of moves, and you'll
probably find yourself using the same dash and slash technique
the entire game to dispatch the few kinds of enemies you will
encounter. Having only three types of enemies to destroy
becomes horribly repetitive, and since most of the missions are
unoriginal, involving the “kill enemies, get item, move on to
next area”, the boss battles are about the only memorable thing.
Oh, the boss battles deserve credit for their frenetic pace;
Jehuty dodging dozens of missiles, homing lasers and fireballs
all while trying to save the city from being reduced to rubble
brings a nice change of pace to the average missions.
The potential of Zone of the Enders is only made more painful by
the versus mode, gained after completion of the game (it should
only take about four hours…). These one on one battles against
an equal opponent (as opposed to worthless drones) kick ass, and
after the single player mode becomes old hat, the shallow but
still fun versus still has the ability can keep a gamer on the
edge of their seat.
You'll definitely want to play through ZOE more than once, but
considering how short the game is, and how the game does become
tedious fairly quickly, ZOE will probably last you about 12
hours, maybe more if you like the Versus Mode you obtain after
beating the game. This game really should have been longer, or
have more options, or something...
The Bottom Line
For those of you buying Zone of the Enders for the Metal Gear
Solid 2 demo, you'll find an entertaining, stylish diversion
that just happened to be packaged in with a demo of the most
anticipated game of the new millennium. Buy Zone of the Enders
for Zone of the Enders, and you'll probably be disappointed.
.:. JR Clone |
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