Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner (PS2)

It's sequel arrived with no such fanfare but is ironically one of the best games on the PS2 and possibly better than 'Sons of Liberty'... that's right I said it.

For a start ZOE 2nd Runner is gorgeous. Gone are the bland environments of the original and now the space colonies shimmer and pulse with electricity (or is it metetron, whatever). Yoji Shinkawa's Mech design is as distinctive, and quite frankly cool, as you'd expect but now the whole game benefits from subtle Cell shading effects that really captures the Anime vibe that the series goes for. You won't find a better use of this technique on any other game.

FMV's are replaced with Manga-esque videos that are infinitley better than the original partly because (once again) they just look cool but also because of new Playable Character Dingo who's a little tougher than Leo his predecessor.

Gameplay too has been taken up several notches. The temptation to button mash in the original lead to encounters becoming repetative - here that's not a problem. Nearly every enemy that comes at you requires a different strategy, whether that's grabbing it's limp body as a shield, throwing it into walls, throwing projectiles at it or just getting up close and personal with the sword. And everything happens at once, very fast. You wonder how the PS2 can manage it considering the number of enemies on screen and the fact that it looks fantastic.

Boss Battles are uniformly brilliant too but you'd come to expect that from Kojima, no? In fact the entire game seems to be more geared towards set piece after set piece so it never gets boring.

It's sure to be one of the forgotton games of the system but anyone who plays it won't forget ZOE the 2nd Runner in a hurry.


nice   June 25, 2005
S. Sorour (uk)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful

konami did it again. hideo kojima is brilliant. im a big fan of kojima. anyway zoe 2 is great not better then the 1st but great. worth the money likes


Superb   June 15, 2005
Hawk (derby, derbyshire United Kingdom)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

a perfect sequal to a perfect game, there are very few fanatics of this game but for those of us who are swept away by the breathtaking battle frame robotic action can all agree there's nothing quite like it,

after zoe was finished konami were unsure to release a sequal, but thank god they did, this game brings the justice it so much deserves, forget solid snake, the action in this game is fast and furious and fantastic and to add to it all i still get shivers down my spine seeing the blue rays that glide down jehuty's body continuesly throughout the game,

the zoe fans out there have been bugging for zoe3 to be released but as before konami are still unsure but at this years e3 they said they may consider a follow up and the PS3, i cant imagine how this game will look on next gen consoles but by god im sure i'll faint