Justin Belin

12 of 14 found the following review helpful:


The game with the Metal Gear Solid 2 Demo!  Apr 05, 2001 By Olaf the Bear
That is what Zone of Enders will always be referred to. I find this incredibly sad, because Zone of Enders is truly a solid game. It's fun, visually stunning, and nothing like we've ever played before (except in the arcades). But I know tons of people buying this game solely to play the MGS2 Demo.

But Konami already knew that.

Anyway, Zone of Enders is a very easy game with what is supposed to be an indepth storyline. Unfortunately, the storyline is about as indepth as say "The Bouncer," and it leaves you hanging. The motivations for some of the actions to the characters were quite pathetic and even annoying at times. The only voice-acting I thought was solid was ADA, who was monotonous anyway. Everyone else was just annoying. Regardless, the game is fun to play and look at.

Now, the Metal Gear Solid 2 Demo- it's pretty incredible. You only play one level, which can actually be finished in under 10 minutes, but there's a lot more to do in the level than just finish it. If you've never played Metal Gear Solid before, the controls take some getting used to, but once you do, it's incredibly fun.

Some of the effects you run into during the game are incredible. You can see the individual hairs on the characters' faces. When people shoot you, and you're against a wall, blood splatters on the wall. When there's a pool of blood, and you step in it, you leave blood footprints for a while, and the enemy can see it and sound an alarm. You can take an enemy hostage and drag him around and not get shot at. You can surprise an enemy and point a gun at his head or at his groin and he'll give you stuff (like health). You can have your back up against a wall, and you can tap the wall to call attention to the guard. You can search people and shove them in rooms and even lockers once you've knocked them out. You can shoot pipes and fire extinguishers to temporarily blind enemies... if you smoke, your health slowly goes down. i was walking in the rain... and i stepped inside, and the guard saw my wet fotoprints. and the way it shows you is through a little popup PIP window, that shows you what the guard sees... it's cool... just some incredible stuff.

They're not even done with the game yet. You should be excited by now.

6 of 7 found the following review helpful:


A Game for the Anime Fan  Apr 06, 2001 By Anime Master
At last a game with mech combat that doesn't make you want to throw your system out of window, ala Armored Core 2. Zone of the Enders is a game that brings in a control configuration much like Metal Gear, thank god. The action is incredible fast paced and furious. Yet the challenge comes in trying to prevent damage to building where civilians are currently located as well as stay alive.

The Story is quite interesting, although very reminisant of "Gundum 0080: War in the Pocket", "Neon Genisis Evangelion" and "Gundum Wing". This is partly due to the fact that the story is writen by the same man whom wrote "Gundum". You play as a emotional damaged young man whom has just seen his friends killed and could not save them. While running from the carnage of war he finds a proto-ytpe mech that he must piolet to stay alive, and to protect the future of mankind. Some nice plot twists and great characters truely make this a classic. I will put a warning that this game is quite dark and contains some scenes of graphic war like violence and language. This game is more for the 15 and up crowd.

If you want a game that truely plays like an anime it just does not get any better!

8 of 10 found the following review helpful:


What the . . . that's the ending?!  Apr 24, 2001 By TigerPomme "tigerpomme"
I am sure that numerous players purchased Zone of the Enders
(Z.O.E. for short) for both Z.O.E. and the demo of Metal Gear Solid 2:
Sons of Liberty (MGS2). I, on the other hand, not only didn't care if
I got the MSG2 demo, I never actually bothered to play the MSG2
demo. As of this writing, my MSG2 demo still has yet to see the inside
of my PS2. So naturally, this review is solely for the
Z.O.E. game.

I was nervous about purchasing Z.O.E. since I had heard
about the complex controls of the game and in the past, any game that
had overly complex controls generally didn't survive long in my
collection, not because the controls were complex per se but because
the game programmers tend to forget to allow gamers full customization
of those controls. Not only were the controls of Z.O.E. a surprise,
but this game has the most intuitive controls since the days of Super
Mario Bros. The game splashes you right down into the controls of the
Orbital Frame "Jehuty" (Most fans will think of it as a
Mech, robot, or something similar, depending on their favorite
universe) In the beginning, the control buttons are minimized to the
most basic functions for close combat, distance fighting, and
movement. As the game progresses, the Jehuty picks up (or learns) new
abilities and teaches you how to use them. Just as you grasp the
concepts and fine controls of the Jehuty, the lessons stop. Not a bad
thing really, since I never noticed that the lessons had stopped,
since my attention was focused on fighting.

For every single game I
have ever played, I was always able to spot A.I. deficiencies in the
game. Most game programmers never could get the A.I. just right for
that "real world" feel. And yet for the first time since
Half-Life, Z.O.E.'s A.I. is so subtle and finessed that I never once
noticed any A.I. faults my first time through. That, in itself, is
very impressive in my eyes. I never noticed the first time that the
enemies rarely "gang" up on you in close range. If you're
fighting one machine in close combat then the other machines tend to
attack you with long range weapons, as opposed to also attacking in
close range. This makes the game that much more fun. Never once did I
experience frustration due to being overwhelmed by too many
baddies. And when I wasn't worried about the baddies, I sure as heck
was taking in the scenery.

The detail in each scene and the
numerous small details make this game a pleasant jot through a game
world. Things explode, burn and interact just like a real world
should. Usually it's safe to use a building as cover, however be aware
that the enemies will either go around the building or blow the
suckers up to get at you.

And yet for all the destruction, detail
and awesome control, the game seriously lacks one key thing. Length. I
spent quite a bit of time flying around since I never could quite
remember what I was supposed to do next. But even with the extra time
wasted doing nothing, I estimate that the actual game time to be
within hours. I wish game designers would guarantee at least a forty
hour game the first time through. My first time through just barely
reached half that, my second time cut those hours to less than half
the time of my first game. The ending comes as a shock really, One
minute I was wondering how I was going to control Jehuty's possible
new powers and how the next mission was going to resolve itself, when
the credits started to roll. Just when the game story really starts to
become interesting. What a disappointment! The game's abrupt ending
was such a shock that I played through a second time to obtain a
perfect score, thinking that maybe that doing so would unlock the rest
of the game. I even waited until all of the credits passed by. Zip,
nothing, nada. The game has no "secret" that I could
find.

In essence I wish that Z.O.E. didn't come with the MSG2 demo
and instead came with a second CD for the rest of the game. Oh well,
Perhaps with the release of MSG2 that it might come with a demo for
Z.O.E. 2? The game is really sweet but the high ... (as of this
writing) makes admission a little tough to swallow. It really makes no
sense to purchase this game just to play the MSG2 demo. If gamers
liked the original Metal Gear solid enough, I am positive that most
gamers will buy MSG2 regardless of the demo. If you like the concept
of giant Mech warriors beating the tar out of each other, then by all
means, purchase this game. On the other hand if you just want to buy
this game for the MSG2 demo, then you must either be a collector or
have a lot of cash to burn...

15 of 20 found the following review helpful:


Phenomenal graphics, game play, controls, and story  Apr 05, 2001 By Thomas Yu
I'm not sure I understand the other reviews here. Sure Metal Gear 2 is going to be a great game but that's not why I bought Zone of Enders. What you get in this game is the most beautiful realization of what a PS2 can do not only graphically but an awesome RPG-esque story line as well, combined with tight controls and eye popping action. And no I'm not an easy-to-please video game player and neither am I someone who gushes good reviews about lame games. Z.O.E. is definitely worth the money. Otherwise I wouldn't be up at 3:00 AM in the morning writing this review about a game that I just stopped playing 5 minutes ago when I have work in 3 hours. If you want an original game play interface, 360 aerial mecha action, and want to exploit the power of your PS2, this is the game to get right away. And I mean now.

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