PixlBit

This piece is kind of coming in the wake of jaundice's blog yesterday on franchises that need to be rebooted but I finished the first half of the ZOE HD Collection last night and wanted to share my thoughts. Note: Generally in my reviews for single player sections, I will be playing on the hardest difficulty available, so if I note that certain sections are really hard or combat is a certain way - keep in mind that this may be different on lower settings.

In 2001, my buddy Tommy invited me over to his house to hang out. We ran upstairs so we could try out his new mature game (we were both in 6th grade so it was a big deal at the time). He popped in Zone of the Enders and after the initial level - I was hooked.

Zone of the Enders tells the story of a boy, named Leom whose home is being attacked by a rebel force from Mars named Bahram. Leo takes control of Jehuty (an advanced mech warrior or "orbital frame") while attempting to escape from enemy mechs and is subsequently tasked to with delivering said orbital frame to the other side of the station. This simple task spans the duration of the five to six hour campaign. If I had one major complaint about Zone of the Enders it would be the story. Leo is a whiny adolescent who spends the majority of cutscenes complaining about the circumstances he is put in and the other characters are not developed enough to really comment on. As soon as the story starts to get really exciting the game abruptly ends, leaving Zone of the Enders as really more of an introduction for plot points that will be addressed in ZOE: The Second Runner. Thankfully, the combat more than makes up for this aspect of the game.

Combat starts off simple with you being able to dispatch most enemies with simple attacks, but quickly evolves into an fast-paced, frantic mech battles where utilizing all your skills is a must to progress. The game starts with giving you basic energy attacks and sword attacks. As the game progresses you unlock new weapons and abilities in a Zelda-esque fashion which generally requires you to destroy a bunch of enimies, obtain the upgrade, and then use it in some fashion to progress the story. You could concievable play most of the game from long range but true mastery and completion of Hard mode will require you to have a basic grasp of all your weapons, including rushing in for some sword fighting before blasting right back out of the fray.

While combat is entertaining, there is not much to the game outside of it. The objectives for some missions are not well defined and you may spend a bit backtracking to old areas just to see if you actually have to go there to progress the story. Killing normal enemies is fun, but at the same time, it can become monotonous after a while since until the end of the game they pretty much stick to the same tactics. That being said the final mission is superb and keeps you at the edge of your seat until the final cinematic.

The game really shines whenever you reach a boss fight, which require you to utilize all your skills to the max. Each contains multiple stages that require you to adapt quickly to their new techniques. In the first few hours, you will only have one or two boss fights, but towards the end of the game you will literally fight three bosses in a row with no ammo pickups - which can be frustrating.

There is a level up system in the game, but it doesn't make you more powerful, instead it is used to give an indictation of the powerful of the enemy you are facing. In addition, some times I would be half way through a level up and it would reset back to the beginning of the bar at the start of the next area.

The game is beautiful while you are playing it. Lasers flash across the screen, sparks fly as you skid across the ground, and powerful attacks look awesome. The cutscenes did not get the same crafted update which is stange because ZOE: The Second Runner got every cutscene sequence translated into full HD. Regardless, This game serves it's purpose as a great opening act to an awesome series. The Collection is only $30 and we are only halfway through! Stay tuned for Zone of the Ender's HD Collection Part 2: The Second Runner!