Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner
- March 05, 2003 14:33 PM PST
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Being the anime-laced, action-packed sequel to Hideo Kojima?s mecha techno-opera. Now with 50 percent more vendettas!
Nutty anime hyperfights, mechs cooler than absolute zero, and enough pretty laser explosiony things to keep pace with Panzer Dragoon Orta?that?s what Zone of the Enders is made of. While the original ZOE was definitely a PS2 force of megaton cool, most mech fans agree it suffered from a few tragic flaws: an overly preachy story, enemies that became really repetitive really fast, and the fact that you could pretty much beat the game using only one attack.While Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner will keep the same lightning-fast anti-sim gameplay as the original, producer Hideo Kojima and writer/director Shuyo Murata are trying their damnedest to make sure those same complaints don?t show up on the company message boards again. The story in the preview build was much more violent and kinetic, told through cool anime cut-scenes instead of 3D renders?and the main protagonist, a working-class mech operator named Dingo (no relation) who gets fused with Orbital Frame Jehuty, was much less whiny and way more icy. The enemy variety was greater, and the battles often required ripping apart starships for impromptu weapons or using foes as inhuman shields. While the mech action constantly rocked (and seemed, wisely, to comprise 98 percent of the game this time around) and the control scheme was fluid and simple to master, the worst part of the preview build was when there wasn?t any action?the usually simple acts of turning around and getting a fix on your surroundings often took momentous effort.
The 2nd Runner already looks like one of the sleekest games to yet grace the PS2?the early version was insanely fast and loaded with ludicrous special effects with mech designs (by original ZOE artist Shuyo Murata) that were a touch Zelda-fied to make sure they stand out in the metallic crowd. It was definitely a rush to play, at least for the first few hours?hopefully this time there will be enough momentum to carry it through.
