Zone of the Enders (ZOE) is the first
truly unique game that I've played on my PS2. It's the first game
I've ever played that really seems to capture the feel of a frantic
anime robot battle. Blue and orange special effects fill the screen,
background scenery scales and spins at a break-neck pace, and
super-hyper techno music completes the scene. The control is so
fluid and intuitive that the whole fantastic experience feels
completely under your control.
The ZOE story is also pure anime (in
fact, there is an actual ZOE anime that was released in Japan). It
deals with the inner struggle of the young hero named Leo as he attempts
to save his home colony without causing any damage and without
taking any lives. The quality of the exposition varies considerably
throughout the game. Sometimes things get melodramatic, and at other
times plot advancements are few and far between. There is little background
information on the
larger conflict that has reached Leo's colony, and throughout the
whole game I kept wondering how Leo could be sure he was working for
the good guys.
The bulk of ZOE's gameplay involves
taking on various packs of enemies over several of the colony's
cities. These packs consist of the same few kinds of foes throughout
the whole game, but they get stronger and deadlier as the game
progresses. Often, one of these packs of enemies will carry a
password to a local computer that you can use to access information
or to program your giant robot, Jehuty. Other packs of enemies
often carry power-ups or other items. Once an objective has been
completed, Jehuty can leave the city and soar high above the colony
in search of the next objective.
The parts of the game that occur
between objectives can be fairly annoying. Clues on where to go
or what to look for are often extremely vague, and visiting each of
the cities trying to locate an object can take a lot of time and
risks a lot of damage to the colony as a whole (more on this later).
There was one point in the game where I had visited every city, yet
could not find what I was looking for. Jehuty offered no real help,
and I ended up consulting a FAQ on the web so that I could proceed.
Looking at Konami's own message board, it was clear that I was not
the only one who had trouble at this point in the game. Other than
this one problem, I had no trouble finishing the game on easy
difficulty.
As I mentioned earlier, a big part of
the game's plot is Leo's reluctance to take life or cause damage.
There are several optional rescue missions that occur during the
game, and each mission produces grades based on how many
survivors there are and how much damage has been caused during
battle. Getting good grades is the only bit of re-play value that
ZOE has. Initially it sounds like a good challenge-- and it would be
-- except that once a building is damaged it remains damaged
throughout the whole game. And I mean the whole game. For
example, one of the first rescue missions takes place on the same
ground where an earlier boss battle occurred. One of the tactics
that the boss uses during the battle is to jump up and smash large
portions of the city. This means that it is frustratingly difficult
to get a decent grade because the boss has wiped out 30% of the town
before the rescue mission even begins. Worse yet is that there's no real way
to know exactly how much damage was incurred until the rescue mission has
been unsuccessful. To try again means playing the game from the very
beginning. I have no problem with holding the player responsible for
his/her own careless damage, but holding him/her responsible for the
damage of boss robots three times Jehuty's size is unfair and ridiculous.
According to FAQs on the web, all
that getting good mission grades does is trigger a voice message on
the end-game summary screen and allow access to alternate ending
music. While this is what the FAQs say, I have heard the two
different ending themes, simply by finishing the game a few times
(with the same save file). So in the end, there's no real reason to
fret over the difficulty of these extra challenges.
For the sake of completeness, I must
mention that there is also a 2-player mode that is unlocked by
finishing the game, but it's more of a novelty than a solid 2-player
experience. Each player picks a robot and the last robot
standing wins. It can be fun for a while, but the lack of variety
(or the need for real skill) means that it can wear thin quickly.
As most of you reading this are
probably aware, ZOE comes packaged with the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo. The only
way to play the demo is to shell out $50 for ZOE. I'll review the demo separately, but
you probably want to know if ZOE itself is worth $50. To be honest,
it's not -- but only
because it is so short. I finished the game in less than five hours.
Still, while it lasts, ZOE is extremely unique,
beautiful to look at and a lot of fun to play. Ignoring the whole
MGS2 demo issue, ZOE is a must rent game, but it's not something to
shell out $50 to own. If only it had lasted longer....
| Overall
Rating: Rental Only |
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