This review, as well as all of my reviews on this forum, are seriously condensed thanks to the forums text limit as well as the inability for most members to actually fully read all the garbage I type out carelessly anyways. If you want intricacies on battle systems or the backstory, feel free to look up a decent PREVIEW on the net and then come back here and read about the good and bad sides of the game. Anyways, on with the "review"...
Zone of the Enders
Presentation:
The menus and in-game HUD just scream class. I know Yoji Shinkawa of Metal Gear fame had a hand in it\'s presentation and mech design and it shows his artistic talent in spades. The 3D animators need a pat on the back as well for fully realizing his creations in 3D and giving those flat 2D images of Mr Shinkawa some real depth and attitude. I especially enjoy the added effects of the frame from the original sketch such as the streaming power details and the many particle effects created from dashing and skating on the ground.
However, and this is a big however, the translation is terrible and the voice acting is equally absurd. Leo\'s voice is like an ice pick through the temples and the whining of Celvice when you fail to save all the people in the area and earning an E ranking is one of the most annoying speeches I\'ve ever heard. I don\'t care if Hideo Kojima produced this title, he obviously didn\'t listen to the english voices. Either that, or he was too busy slashing the ZOE budget for MGS2. In any case, someone needs to slap Konami for two things:
1. Not getting competent actors to portray the characters.
2. Not including a Japanese subtitled track for the games voices. That is inexcusable especially since Capcom and Squaresoft managed to squeeze it in for their respected titles The Bouncer and Onimusha Warlords.
It\'s fun to watch Jehuty strut his stuff in some of the FMV cutscenes and even the characters behind the Orbital Frames and on the radio are pretty neatly fleshed out, that is to say, until they open their mouths. 7.5/10
Graphics:
The only game that can top ZOE graphics wise is the game that is included with it as a demo. I don\'t care if you\'re a cynical bastard bent on the destruction of Japanese anime mechas or if you despise any ideas spread out by Japanese anime, or even if you hate anything that is remotely based on fantasy, ZOE will knock you flat on your ass. You can always go to a friends house, see ZOE, then ask if it gets better than this and be fooled as soon as your friend pops in the MGS2 demo, but in any case, ZOE stands on it\'s own two, uhh... stumps. The particle effects, the explosions, the sabre swinging, the Orbital frames movement, the beautiful backdrops to the levels... EVERYTHING is BEAUTIFUL. My only gripe, which is so small I shouldn\'t even mention it, is the draw distance. It\'s honestly a bit short, but all-in-all, they\'re gorgeous. 9.8/10
Sound:
The music itself is excellent and fits the atmosphere and non-stop action quite well. The sound effects are also quite beautiful making the atmosphere of the colony quite vivid as you hear people scream as you smash buildings with them inside, destroy walkways with glass casings, skate up and down the lower levels of the street or even make that killer blow on the last remaining enemy of a squad. As was said above in the presentation, the voices need some serious work however. it\'s enough to seriously detract from the game and I\'m honestly extremely sorry I have to put down the rating for that fact. For an emotional story such as this one, they could have at least picked some actors that could appropriately convey that emotion. ADA, your in-game guide as well as the Jehuty\'s AI, is probably, with the exception of Viola, the most fleshed out character in the title and she\'s a robot. I think that says enough right there. 8.0/10
Gameplay:
You know, I hear a lot of gripes about length in the forums and in letter sections of gaming sites and in so many other ways, but if this game was any longer, I\'d have to take off points for it being too long. It was just the right length for this kind of title and maybe even in some ways, a bit too long. I\'m glad Konami stopped it when they did and realized that people would be unwilling to go on for a good 15 hours with this type of playing style. Now, don\'t misconstrued my statements as meaning that the gameplay sucked, quite the opposite in fact. The controls are pretty damn nice to say the least with many different styles of play that can make each and every person seem unique when they play the title. Just the special weapons alone add hordes of depth to the title and the different attacks performed by the Jehuty alone are enough to make the game really satisfying. The camera also adds a lot to the title creating this almost surreal anime\\cinematic effect with each attack thanks to the use of a lock on button and lots of speed boosting.
However, I must knock the title a bit for being a tad bit repetitive. Once you get a feel for the enemies and their different levels of difficulty, you\'re almost guaranteed to go into the dash-dash-dash-slash pattern as I did so many times to kill off their endless supply of mindless robots. Only in the boss battles, which are really limited I might add, do you actually use all your techniques weapons, and dodging abilities to halt their advance. The strafing in all directions and the eerily free movement your frame has is so great that it\'s almost sad to see that the movement using all your techniques is limited to roughly only 4-5 tough boss battles and a plethora of mindless repetitive automatons. 8.0/10
Lasting Appeal:
I could stand the first 6 and a half hours it took me to beat this title, while watching all cut scenes and whatnot, for the supposed "poor-ending" I got based on my performance, but I\'m not sure if I could really pick up the controller again and just start all over to try for the better of the two endings. Maybe that\'s what the MGS2 demo is for, but in any case, it\'ll be awhile before I go through the title again from start to finish. Even if I did start tonight, I guarantee it will garner no more than 30 minute increments of playtime over the next 4 or 5 days. Even the multiplayer is pretty bland and it\'s only worthwhile if you didn\'t get tired of the single player mechanics in the first place. Maybe the better ending, for some, is something to really strive for, but in my books, it\'s just an added bonus. 5.0/10
Final score: 8.0/10
Not an average
