Developer: KCEJ Publisher: Konami Released: March 27, 2001 Genre: Action
As the successor to the PS One the PlayStation 2 hit the market like a rocket. There was literally no scenario in which the system could possibly fail, which led to its massive sales at launch. But once the launch window passed the question of what comes next was raised. What would keep gamers occupied until titles like Gran Turismo 3 and Metal Gear Solid 2 would arrive? Zone of the Enders was among that second wave of titles and is an interesting one. With Hideo Kojima’s backing it has a lot to live up to. While it does not completely succeed at what it attempts it is still a compelling title and showed what the system was capable of.
In the year 2172 man has spread throughout the galaxy and colonized many moons. The Antilla colony on one of Jupiter’s moons falls under attack by a military organization known as Bahram. Bahram plans to steal two advanced Orbital Frames. They successfully capture one but a young boy named Leo by pure happenstance steals the other, named Jehuty. Through sheer luck Leo fights off Bahram and is informed by Earth’s military forces that Jehuty belongs to them and that he is needed to bring it back to Earth as its original pilot has died. While reluctant Leo agrees to deliver Jehuty.
Zone of the Enders comes from the school of Mobile Suit Gundam, where giant robots serves as a means to examine the ramifications of war and the effect it has on mankind. Leo is an unwilling participant in the battle between Bahram and the United Nations Space Force. Considering he is a young child Leo constantly questions the meaning behind the conflict and very clearly wants no part of it. It is pretty terrible that he is brow beaten into piloting Jehuty so that it does not fall into enemy hands. While the story does not reach the level of melodrama of End of Evangelion it is enjoyable for what it is. These days most remember Z.O.E. for including a demo for Metal Gear Solid 2 but the game itself is solid, warts and all.
Jehuty has a lot of attacks and mechanics at its fingertips, enough that it is recommended to go through the game’s extensive tutorial. You have full freedom of movement and controlling the mech feels great due to the great controls. Combat also has a similar feel thanks to the game’s generous lock-on functionality. Jehuty has a wide range of attacks, both melee and long range. From beam saber clashing to the many grapple techniques Konami have done an excellent job capturing what gamers always dreamed controlling a large powerful mech would be like. I would go so far as to say Zone of the Enders still nails that feeling better than most.
Rather than a linear series of levels Zone of the Enders gives free reign to explore the Antilla colony. You fly above on a large overworld map and can descend to specific points in the colony to find programs that grant new abilities and sub-weapons or complete optional objectives. While the game provides guidance you are free to play around as in an open world. Some of the optional side content are available during a limited window, making you choose between the critical path and optionally powering up. It is here in the game’s structure that the cracks begin to show.
While the game’s combat mechanics are amazing it does little to exploit it. Zone of Enders has a leveling system with Jehuty maxing out at level 8. Enemies level with you and their AI changes depending on your level. At low levels they are dumb as bricks and put up no resistance. At level 3-4 they become stronger and more willing to attack in groups. Level 5 and above enemies put up a legitimate fight and highlight the excellent combat mechanics. Where it stumbles is enemy variety. Rather than creating numerous types the game leans on the same four enemies with smarter AI. It grows old fast, no matter how epic the battles may become. The game desperately needed more enemies to relieve the growing boredom of this medium sized title. The only reprieve comes from the boss battles but there are only five of those.
The level design does not fare much better. The game frequently sends you on scavenger hunts and a large mech trying to pick up tiny items is incredibly frustrating. Any time you have to destroy specific targets the game does not allow you to lock on which is stupid. And while the camera is generally great outside indoors it dies a horrible death. To an extent it occasionally varies things up with rescue missions that penalize you for environmental destruction. More mission variety would have done wonders to make things more interesting.
In spite of its flaws I Zone of the Enders still remains compelling enough to play through at least once. The high production values do not hurt either. Zone of the Enders is a title that showed what the PS2 was capable of early on. The art direction is fantastic with unique looking mechs in a very crowded genre. The lighting and particle effects makes even the most generic enemy encounter look ripped straight out of giant robot anime. While the draw distance can be low at times they enable the game to hit 60 fps consistently. While the music is alright the English dub is not. This is a far cry from the work Konami had done with Metal Gear Solid.
In Conclusion
While Zone of the Enders is comes up short in some respects overall it is still a solid action title. The Kojima stamp put lofty expectations behind it. Ignore that and you have one of the better mech titles before Bandai Namco finally got there shit together.
