"High Speed Robot Action - what else can you ask for?"

There really isn`t a lot to say about Hideo Kojima that has not already been talked through over and over again in several reviews for his critically acclaimed Metal Gear series. Without a doubt, he is one of the most influential video game designers today, and one of the most creative ones as well. However, it is rather unfortunate that sometimes, he is merely being connected to the Metal Gear saga, despite the fact that he also was the mastermind behind several other classic games such as "Snatcher" or "Policenauts" - and of course, "Zone of the Enders" as well. Even though ZOE has received quite some attention after its announcement due to Kojima`s involvement as well its stunning graphics for the time, this little gem is sometimes merely being regarded as "the game with a free Metal Gear Solid 2 Demo" (or the other way round?), or as some sort of an "appetizer" for the brilliant "Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner". In all fairness, "Zone of the Enders", too, is a excellent game in its own right and worth to write home about, so let`s see why there is more behind ZOE than just the infinitely hyped MGS2 trial version.

The setting of "Zone of the Enders" might seem rather familiar to avid fans of other mech-based stories like "Neon Genesis Evangelion" or "Mobile Suit Gundam". Naturally, the game takes us into the future, the 22nd century to be precise. Mankind has begun to colonize Mars and to build gigantic artificial colonies in the orbit of Jupiter. Antilia is one of these colonies, and this is where we meet the hero of ZOE: a young boy named Leo Stenbuck. Having just witnessed the deaths of several other kids of his age during an attack of the BAHRAM organization on the colony, Leo tries to hide in a seemingly abandoned warehouse from the terrifying Orbital Frames (=mechs) of BAHRAM. This is where he stumbles upon an Orbital Frame named Jehuty, and by mere coincidence, he finds himself within the cockpit of Jehuty only seconds later, where he is being greeted by the female voice of ADA, the A.I. of Jehuty. Thanks to Jehuty`s most impressive capabilities and weaponry, Leo manages to get rid of several pursuing Orbital Frames, until he is being contacted by Elena Weinberg of the freighter "Atlantis". Having overseen Leo`s early efforts, she begs Leo to transport Jehuty to "Atlantis", its original destination, from where Jehuty is supposed to be brought to Mars. From there on, it is the gamer`s task to pilot Jehuty over Antilia and to deliver the Orbital Frame to "Atlantis", all while being pursued by BAHRAM`s forces, who want Jehuty in their possession as well.

For an action game, the storyline told in ZOE is surprisingly deep and well thought to say the least, thanks to the involvement of Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima. Just as in his Metal Gear series, Kojima put a lot of emphasis on the characters and their feelings about the events unfolding, with some dialogue sequences between the action segments going pretty deep into Leo`s feelings and his growing relationship to ADA, which works pretty well due to the stark contrast between Leo`s emotional personality and ADA`s rationalism as a mere program. However, Leo`s constant whining and complaining about not wanting to get involved can get quite bothersome from time to time, and I did not really enjoy to take the role of a weak-minded teen like him. Still, the plot gets extremely interesting especially near the end of the game, and the conclusion in ZOE2 makes it all the more satisfying.

The actual game is divided into several areas on the colony of Antilia, with each of these areas being rather small in size and squirming with enemies, of course. You can select the area you want to enter from a map of Antilia, on which Jehuty is flying on his own and you simply have to direct him toward your destination. Once you have entered an area, you mostly have to engage the enemies in this area in an one-on-one confrontation in order to make your progress through the game. For example, some enemy squads possess a passcode or a new program you need for Jehuty, and defeating them is the only way to succeed. And of course, these battles represent the key aspect of ZOE`s gameplay - after all, it`s what you are going to do for about 90% of the entire game.

There are basically two kinds of attack modes Jehuty can enter - long range and short range combat. If you decide to attack an enemy from a safe distance, you can shoot at them by activating the "burst" function of Jehuty (which makes your mech faster and more agile), and if you want to get close to an enemy, you will use Jehuty`s swordfighting techniques. Blindly attacking your enemies is not exactly the best way to get through the game, of course, which is why you also have to use the burst function several times in order to evade an enemy`s attack - especially during the boss fights. Speaking of which, the boss battles definitely are the highlight of "Zone of the Enders". Not only are the Orbital Frames you are going to encounter huge and intimidating, you will also have to come up with good tactics and piloting skills in order to defeat them.

While all this sounds great per se, ZOE unfortunately is not without its flaws. First of all, ZOE suffers immensely from a serious lack of variety in terms of enemy designs. Throughout the entire game, you are going to encounter three different types of standard enemies, two of which look extremely similar. Sure, there are cool-looking bosses, but it seems like some kind of a bad joke to fight against three different enemies over and over again. But what really drags the enjoyment down from time to time is the horrible camera of the game. Seriously, during the more fast paced moments of the game, when you really have to react quickly while having locked-on to your enemy, the camera can rotate around in a way that makes it impossible to properly see your surroundings, resulting in confusion and inevitable damage through your opponents. This flaw, though, is somewhat redeemed through - ironically - another flaw of the game. Even though you have lots of cool moves and a considerable weaponry at your disposal, you rarely need them. Really, all you need for battle are the two basic attacks, and even mere button-mashing can help you to accomplish any mission in the game (except for maybe the last one). Nevertheless, the controls are still excellent and allow you to pilot Jehuty with relative ease, despite the many commands, and overall, "Zone of the Enders" is a lot of fun to play to say the least, especially for mech fans.

What makes the battles in this game even cooler are the visuals. Needless to say, "Zone of the Enders" probably was the first game for the PlayStation 2 to showcase the graphical power of the then-new console, and even today they still manage to please the eyes with excellent animations, tons of dazzling special effects and explosions as well as great art design by Yoji Shinkawa, whose mech designs really add a lot of flair to the atmosphere of the game and easily reach the high level of his work on "Metal Gear Solid". All in all, "Zone of the Enders" provides you with eye candy at its best, and there is no doubt that at the time of its release, ZOE was one of the first games to showcase the power of the PlayStation 2 in an impressive manner.

The same can be said about the audio, specifically the sound effects during the cutscenes and battle sequences, with each event receiving the appropriate sound effects - mainly the explosions, of course. The music, on the other hand, is wonderfully fitting each situation in the game: fast paced during the action scenes, aesthetic and beautiful during the cutscenes. This is where you are going to hear quite some references to the main theme of the game, a beautiful song by Maiko Horisawa that marvelously displays the mixed emotions of Leo as well as his relationship to ADA and his friend Celvice. As for the voice acting, most of the actors do an extremely solid job and manage to pull off the dialogue lines given to them. Only Leo`s voice actor can be rather annoying due to his whiny personality, but it gets better the longer the game lasts.

Overall, "Zone of the Enders" is a well crafted first venture of Hideo Kojima into the giant mech genre, and fans of animes based on this premise will surely enjoy ZOE, too. It`s just a little unfortunate to see that ZOE could have been so much more than the good game we have here now. With a better camera and most importantly a longer play-time (sorry, but 7 hours just aren`t enough), ZOE could have become a 9/10 or even a 10/10 title, but looking at "Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner", it seems like Hideo Kojima has learned from the mistakes made in this one. Still, fans of stylish and intelligent action should definitely take a look at this one.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/11/07