Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner review

A typical action packed shot

They might be one of the greatest video game developers in the world but when it comes to naming their games Konami suck. Zone of the Enders isn’t quite as bad as Ring of Red (titter), but it’s impossible not to think of Dirty Den the minute the title is mentioned.

Not that Dirty Den ever rode around in a giant metal robot, with a cockpit where its family jewels should be, but its hard to shake the word association nonetheless. In fact rather than being a dour tale of faux cockney life Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner is actually all about a bunch of bloody big robots blowing each other up on Mars, with a story told in a mixture of anime clips and real-time cut scenes.

Fancy a Mars?

Robots like to kill other robots

The background for the game is that humans have now colonised Mars and Jupiter. While new resources and new lands bring light to their future, they also bring along some new troubles. There seems to be a major gap between Earth-born and Space-born people, with those living in outskirt colonies being looked down upon and called “Enders”. Conflict inevitably follows with a Sci-Fi version of the Boston Tea Party.

An anti-Earth organization on Mars has secretly developed gigantic humanoid weapons called 'orbital frames' and the peeps on Earth have gotten scared. The evil BAHRAM army has then gone on to start an armed suppression of Mars and Earth, after obtaining overwhelming technical superiority with its army of leading orbital frames. The surface of Mars is now horribly scorched.

And so you get to jump into a big robot suit and blow the BAHRAM forces up. Oh yes indeedy.

A Stones Throw Away

Warning: sparks cause cancer

For those who didn't get round to playing the first game, there is an option to get an overview of what happened. This is told in a series of anime clips and lasts for about ten minutes. I was actually very impressed with it and I recommend that you watch it before playing the game.

Once into the game, you control your robot (called Jehuty) from a third person view. There is an almost bewildering amount of moves and functions to learn, although it's all logically set out. The triggers allow you to dash, use a shield, cycle between your targets and select different sub-weapons. Both sticks are used to control your Jehuty and the face buttons allow you to fire your weapons and move up and down. This ain’t Tetris, ya know.

When under attack you will lock onto the nearest enemy to you, although you can change which enemy is targeted if you want. You have total 360-degree freedom within your environment and the enemy will be coming at you from all angles. Moving away from your targets will allow you to use your weaponry, whilst moving in close means you will use your sword instead. At this range, you can also grab the enemy and throw them at other targets! This is a most inspired move and the novelty of it never seems to wear off...

More hot robot on robot action.

Konami have certainly managed to create an impressive looking game. Your Jehuty is quite detailed, as are all the enemies. They have managed to do this through some fairly clever design and use of Turok-style fog and most of the areas you are in will be fairly enclosed. Even when you are outside you tend to be inside canyons, though the actual design and layout means you don't really feel trapped or restricted. The colour pallet is also kept to a minimum with most things being a kind of bluey-grey, but again this doesn't actually make the game look bad at all. Hats off to the artists at Konami HQ. The only downer is the fairly frequent slowdown during busy sections, though it doesn't really affect the game.

The story is told through the use of anime cut scenes and real-time, in-game graphics and some sections are very well done. Seeing the close ups of all the droids at various angles shows off the funky depictions of futuristic robots.

Likewise, the sound is also very good. During all the cut scenes, every single bit of dialogue is spoken. The voice acting is of a generally good quality, with even the robotic female voice of your combat suit sounding authentic. The sound effects are rather cracking and most of the music is perfect for setting the atmosphere. I can well imagine that if the game supported Pro Logic it would be spankingly marvellous. Sadly, Konami only blessed us with boring old stereo.

Naughty People? I Usually BAR-HAM

Chaaaaaaaaaaaaarge!

As a game, Zone of Enders 2 is fairly basic. The enemies pour forward, and you blow them up. During the numerous boss fights you may have to develop different strategies to defeat them, though you will get hints from your combat suit AI. When you are being ambushed by (seemingly) hundreds of enemies at once, clever use of your dash and shield techniques are needed to ensure you don't get slammed into a wall. There is a surprisingly deep story to this game considering that it is only a shooter, though I have to confess that I had trouble keeping up with all the different names and groups that you bump into (Jehuty? BAHRAM? Ken? Aumaan? Space Force?). Once you get the hang of the controls, it can be great fun. Firing off a whole batch of homing lasers, dashing in to slash an enemy with your sword and then throwing him against the wall can be superb stuff indeed. You can even destroy some of your surroundings and also pick things up to use as a shield or weapon.

The only trouble is that the game can get a bit repetitive. Whilst certainly fun and entertaining, it's simplicity can mean you get a bit too familiar with how things are done. Anyone who has played (and enjoyed) the original game or even one of the Panzer Dragoon games will know what is going on and will be right at home with it. It isn't a particularly long game, though it is certainly a very challenging one on the harder skill levels. Completists will be happy to know that finishing the game unlocks some other funky new suits for you to use.

The game doesn't look half as good in screenshots as it does when you're playing it.

This sequel has been improved over the original to a fair point, with the game being faster and Jehuty being able to do more. The old 'grab' ability with its new function adds a nice touch to encounters with the enemy, but it is used far too much in some of the boss fights. As such, in many of the numerous boss battles the player has to grab an object and use it to block an incoming attack. So instead of gauging the combat mechanic in a gradual process, we have to endure lengthy boss encounters where we cannot directly attack our foe. Whilst it is a useful move, it is over used.

Konami have clearly worked very hard on this game, as almost every aspect of it is extremely polished. If only they could have perhaps managed to add a bit more variety to the game, this could have been a cracker. However, even as it stands this is an impressive piece of software.