Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner

"Another Masterpiece By Hiedo Kojima"

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner

I went to a friend's house one day and we decided play PS2. After playing through the usual games my friend and another friend of mine decided to play the Zone of the Enders. When they decided to play it I was wonder "what's that?" The moment I saw them playing it I grew an interest in the series. The next time I went game shopping I picked up a copy of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner. When I started to play it I was completely thrown off by how good this game was. I, being a fan of Gundam thought this game was great because I like mechs.

Story: 8.5/10

As I was playing the story seemed pretty good for a game like this. It's hard to find games these days with good stories IMO. The character you play as is Dingo Egret. There are a lot of twists and that keeps you playing. If you did not play the first ZOE there is a FMV in this game that gives you a brief outline of what the story is in the first game. ZOE2 answers many of the unanswered questions in the first game leaving you satisfied. You start off the game with no big task such as saving the world and you probably start to wonder when the action starts. The game eventually picks up though. It's kinda like 1 of those basic save the world stories. Don't let this discourage you from buying the game cuz it's worth every penny.

Gameplay 10/10

The gameplay pretty much makes up for most flaws in the game but there aren't much flaws to begin with. The gameplay is fast paced. You might encounter dozens of enemies at one given time. That's a lot!!! The bosses are really fun to fight cuz some of them take a little bit of figuring out and can take lots of damage. The game is great because you can either stay back and use ranged attacks or go in close for blade slashing kills. There are also weapons that you acquire as you progress in the game so you don't get stuck with the same stuff throughout the entire game. You also get changes done to your orbital frame. Ahhh Options are a beautiful thing :D. There is a part of two which I find aren't really fun to play ie. the mine field. That part seems like a waste of time, but overall the gameplay is solid.

Controls: 10/10

The controls are easy to learn and they are logical. Nothing is too hard to use. The controls are also very responsive. There is also a training mode, which will teach you the basics if you need it. Nothing bad in this category.

Graphics: 10/10

If you thought the graphics for MGS2 were good then u haven't played ZOE2. The graphics in this game will blow you away. Also if you are a fan of mechs you will see how good the graphics really are. There's not much more I can say about this. The cinematics in this game will captivate you. They are masterpieces. The effects and actions scenes will leave you drooling.

Sound: 8.5/10

Nothing too out of the ordinary here. The sounds and music are pretty good for getting through the game. Nothing irritating or anything like that. I still prefer the opening theme from the original ZOE over the one in this game. The voice acting in this game is good. It makes me want to play the game. Some game have poor voice acting and it makes you just want to mute you tv or something.

Replay Value: 10/10

You are most likely going to play this game more than once to unlock everything. There are quite a few unlock ables to get in the game. After beating it a couple of times you'll probably have unlocked everything. There are a few small changes after you beat it once and start a new game. There are a few areas in which you can access that weren't accessible the first time you played it.After you beat the story mode a couple of times there is still the multi-player option which extends the play life of this game.

Rent or Buy?

I suggest you rent this game if you don't have the cash to buy games often. If you do then this is a great buy. I suggest you shop around for the cheapest price but this game isn't really expensive anymore.

Overall: 9/10

This is a great game. It is highly underrated. It's a one of a kind game because there aren't too many games out there like this. The game isn't too difficult to beat and it's not too long. It would be nice if it was longer. It took me a few hours to beat it through the frist time. It would get a 10/10 if there weren't a couple of those tedious parts in the game but other than that it's pretty much perfect. This is one of my best buys ever. I have beaten this game a few times already.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/20/04