Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner

"Beyond the Bounds"

Intro: Let me start off by saying that the original Zone of the Enders (ZOE) by Konami was a repetitive disappointment. Maybe it was the lack of enemies, the un-creative stage design, and the short game length. For anyone that is a fan of mecha, anime and over-the-top action, fear no more! ZOE: The 2nd Runner completely obliverates the original ZOE in every way: graphics, mechanics, sound, and most importantly gameplay. Mecha fans rejoice. ZOE2 is the real deal that you have all been waiting to play. Inspired by the military political conflicts of the Gundam anime with the influential mecha designs from Neon Genesis Evangelion, ZOE2 is the clear cut number 1 mecha action title for the PS2. As a matter of fact, there is currently not much mecha action titles that comes close to the greatness of ZOE2 (except Gundam Seed: OMNI vs ZAFT).

Much thanks to Series Producer Hideo Kojima and mechanical designer Yoji Shinkawa for making ZOE2 a classic!

Story: The plot and character design is much better this time around. Unlike the first game where you played as a whiny adolescent child (Leo Stenbuck) this time around you play as someone who is the total opposite of Leo's character: Dingo Egret. A rebel in almost every way, Dingo is the character that everyone has been waiting for since the first game. However, Leo is still around, and has grown up to be a teenager. He plays a vital role as one of the supporting cast members that support Dingo. Without giving away too much about the story, Dingo basically stumbles upon Jehuty (the Orbital Frame from the first game) during a mining job. From then on, he is chased by the military army BAHRAM which wants Jehuty back. Playing throughout the game will reveal further details on the story.

Sound: Like almost all Konami games, the soundtrack is phenomenal this time around. There is a blend of high-tempo techno, electronica, and j-pop. The opening theme is definitely one of the most catchiest tracks. Thankfully, you get to hear a remixed version of the theme during one of the game's most fun missions which involve Jehuty battling against 5 Battleships on his own. Furthermore, the music in this game is quite fitting for whatever mission they are playing in.

Graphics: Screenshots don't do this game justice. You just have to watch it in motion to appreciate the semi-cell shaded explosion effects, lighting, and textures. The landscapes found here include mountain terrains, the tundras of Callisto, a City space colony, the interior of a military base, a beautiful sky backdrop and much more. Especially in the interior levels, alot of things in the background can be blown up or used somehow. Blowing stuff up hasn't looked this good or satisfying in such a long time!

Gameplay: Simply amazing. ZOE2 improves on the original's fast-paced gameplay with crazy additions to Jehuty's fighting abilities. He can now pick up foreign objects (such as plates and rods) and use them against a wide assortment of enemies. Similar to Konami's very own Metal Gear Solid games, Jehuty can also interact with his enemies in several different ways. He can use them as shields, swing them like weapons and throw them to each other. As if the basic abilities aren't enough, several Sub-Weapons are also at Jehuty's disposal.

Replay Value: The amound of stuff that can be done in the EX Missions and Versus Mode will definitely keep players coming back for more. Personally, one would probably not expect this amount of content from the EX Mission mode. There's Battle Mode, Survival, Boss Battle, and other things. The customization includes picking which version of Jehuty, and what type of combat (close, sub-weapons only, no lock-on, etc.) you'd like to use. It's just an amazing feature that the developmental team at Konami has went out of their way to put in. They could've just took the easy way out and release the game as is, but it's a good thing that they actually cared to throw in the extras for fans of the series. As for the Versus Mode, well...let's just say it's an improvement from the first game and that's it. It's probably not as exciting as the EX Missions in most gamer's minds. The VS Mode allows a total of 7 Orbital Frames to be playable after beating the game for the first time and an extra 3 Frames which must be unlocked seperately. That leaves a grand total of 10 Frames to play around with. While these Frames are merely toned down versions of their Single Player counterparts they do offer some new life into the game.

The Single Player aspect is still a short game though. Roughly the average gamer would finish this in 7-10 hours.

Pros:

- Beautiful graphics
- Great soundtrack
- Character Design
- Very fun gameplay
- More enemies, and good level design
- Good replay value and unlockables

Cons:

- Sometimes the camera angles get annoying due to the Lock-On feature. To bypass this, sometimes you might want to temporarily turn off Lock-On by holding the L2 button.
- Voice acting. Very fake and cheesy sounding. Why didn't Konami include an option to listen to the original Japanese voices?
- Too short. (It takes around 7-10 hours to beat the game during the first time around)
- Framerate slowdown. Only occurs when there are multiple enemies on the screen. The game just (naturally) slows down due to the limits on processing power for the PS2 machine.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/24/06