Zone of the Enders : The Second Runner

Written by James Stevenson on 3/31/2003 for PS2  

Zone of the Enders was considered to be a major disappointment when it was released. Sure, you got a cool demo of Metal Gear Solid 2, but the game itself had a lot of issues. Hideo Kojima isn’t a man who likes to fail, so he’s taking a second crack at it with Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner.

The game once again follows someone who has found the Jehuty orbital frame and their fight against BAHRAM. The story is definitely of major motion picture caliber and is filled with plenty of fun plot twists that will keep you guessing.

ZOE has a control scheme that is fairly difficult to master. You have to use different buttons to ascend and descend, while flying around, locking on, fighting, watching for enemy attacks and attempting to block them. Ultimately the game is fairly difficult at times and takes some getting used to in order to get the best moves out of your suit.

ZOE2 is much more intense than the first game. Within 20 minutes or so you’ll learn to lock-on to multiple enemies and will be facing 30-40 bad guys swarming at you all at once. It’s intense, it’s furious, and you’ll probably break a bit of a sweat on your controller. There are now sub-weapons that are powered off of an energy meter and another new addition to the game allows you swat enemies at the end of your combos in different directions, which is pretty damn cool and allows you to inflict some extra damage.

The game’s difficulty is also way up there; bosses will require many retries in order to beat them. These bastards have some nasty attacks, and they will kick your ass… repeatedly. This isn’t helped at all by the controls and the camera, which can be extremely aggravating at points and really detract from the gameplay experience.

Speaking of detractions, the immense amount of story will undoubtedly turn some gamers off. Many times you’re sitting in a cutscene saying “I want to play dammit!”. If you have the patience to sit through them, then you won’t mind. But for gamers who were irritated by Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, beware.

The graphics in the game are gorgeous. The designers have brought in some cel-shading elements to strengthen the anime feel of the game and it does the job marvelously. From the effects to the designs of the mechs and enemies, the game looks awesome. It’s a very pretty package that only runs into slowdown occasionally and is pretty damn spectacular looking.

The music is wonderful and adds worlds of emotion to the game. For the plot that the game has, the powerful score adds a lot to it. The sound effects are all top-notch. Surprisingly, the voice acting is also extremely well done, very believable, very well acted. The sound package is top-notch.

If the first Zone of the Enders didn’t quite do it for you, you might be wise to check out The Second Runner. It’s a lot of fun, and at least worth a try.