Zone of the Enders

"The game that almost was, but isn't."

Well, let me start off by saying that I'm a big fan of action games. Sure, RPG's and strategy games take much more thought, and I enjoy those too, but there's nothing like sitting down for an hour or two and ripping things apart. That said, I enjoyed many aspects of this game. The fighting was solid, the story was actually deeper than a kiddie pool, and the combat leveling system was a nice touch. Probably the sole reason that I gave this game a 6, however, was from one very agonizing flaw in the story line and overall gameplay.

Just to warn you, there are several spoilers in this review, which are needed to explain why I rated this game so low. You have been warned....

Anyway, this game is set in the future in a space colony above the planet Jupiter. In the game, battles are fought between machines called Orbital Frames, which (in pure Japanese style) are machines capable of human-like movements and reflexes, as well as heavy weaponry. A war has been going on between the current government and a rogue military faction for some time now, and the government has been struggling to produce something that would give them an edge. They finally came up with the Jehuty, an Orbital Frame of superior firepower and mobility. The rogue faction finds out about this new weapon that was developed on the Jupiter colony, and so attacks the colony in full force, ready to destroy the entire colony to prevent the frame from going into action. During the attack on the colony, a boy named Leo is caught in the middle of the fire fight, and he runs away from the battle, sacrificing his friends in the process. He runs to an underground facility where the Jehuty happens to be stored. Frightened and confused, he enters the Jehuty and is from then on the pilot of the machine and your character.

The graphics in this game are very impressive. The entire game moves at a smooth 60 frames per second, with little slowdown even during the more intense fire fights. In my opinion, the in-game graphics are actually better rendered then the FMV's. Everything from energy attacks to giant swords are handled exceptionally well by the game engine. Buildings are also well rendered and detailed, and the areas you fight in are full of things to destroy.

Gameplay takes a bit of getting used to, but it quickly becomes natural to duck and dash like a madman. Every button has a purpose, from locking on to multiple enemies to firing your secondary weapons. The Jehuty is equipped with both a long-range gun and a close-combat sword. There is only one attack button for both, and it switches attacks when you are within melee range of your opponent. There are also a long and short-ranged charge up attack, one being a huge homing energy ball attack and the other being a spin-slash. You can also throw your opponent, and can hurl your unlucky foe into nearby buildings and other foes. Finally, there is a dash attack for both long and short ranges which will help out greatly.

The object of the game is to save Jehuty from invading forces, but Leo finds himself time and again saving the inhabitants of the colony. That said, you'll find yourself on unique missions several times throughout the game, where you must accomplish something or get a new item to proceed. When fighting, it is not a good idea to blow up parts of the colony (so much for slamming every guy you see into a building...), so wild shooting and killing is not advised. There are actually separate SOS missions where you must save the inhabitants of a particular section of town before the invading forces can destroy it. Regular fighting can be challenging later on, but in the early game you'll find yourself all too often taking out entire forces with only a single move. This unfortunately tends to get a bit boring after a while, seeing as there's only 3 enemy types. This is spiced up a bit with the leveling system, where both you and your opponents grow stronger with level. Opponents also gain devastating new attacks as they go up in level, so you'll really have to watch yourself later on.

The in-game story is pretty decent, although a little heavy on the sentimental stuff for my taste sometimes (good thing you can skip movies by pressing the start button). The game was created by Metal Gear Solid 2 creator Hideo Hojima, and anyone who's beaten that game knows what I mean when I say that he can go a bit heavy on the story. Still, it works, and can be a nice shift from knee-deep stories like Devil May Cry.

So, with all this game has going for it so far, you're probably asking why I didn't rate this game higher, or why many people did not. The answer lies in the end of the game (spoilers ahead), and that is that the game is WAY too short for how it was made. When I played it near the end, I had the idea that the game was still going to give me much more than what I got. You get near the end, defeat a difficult foe, and find (SPOILERS) a second Jehuty model with even more power than your own model. You're told that you can't defeat it yet, and so you run away. You can feel that a climatic battle between the two super Orbital Frames is coming, and that it's going to be something to remember. But then the game ends. WHAT?!? IT'S OVER?!? WHAT THE **** IS THIS! WHAT A ******* JIPP!!!

This game MUST have been cut short of what it was supposed to be. The ending doesn't settle anything at all, and all of the building story is messily and painfully amputated. The only reason I can think of for this horribly sloppy anti-climax is that they were working on Metal Gear Solid 2, and the team was forced to wrap up this game and focus all of it's attention on MGS2 instead.

All said and done, I was going to give this game an 8, possibly even a 9, before I ''finished'' it and found out that the ending killed it. Still, it's a fun romp, and if you have nothing better to do, it's worth at least a rental. You'll have a blast with it, but don't be surprised if you're left hanging and empty at the end of the day.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/01/02, Updated 04/01/02