Despite the excellent Fist of Mars, which is a capable Super Robot Wars clone, the PlayStation 2
ZOE games leave a fair amount to be functionally desired.
For those of you out there that may not have played either of
the ZOE games, they are set in the semi-distant future when mankind has begun to colonize space.
Whilst we get why all this promotion is kicking off,
the ZOE games were never all that popular when they were released on the (far more widespread) PS2.
The first
ZoE game, admittedly, looks far less impressive when compared with the 10x faster, more intense sequel, but neither game disappoints, even all these years later.
god of war... metal gear... white knight chronicles origins... the new
ZOE game (yes thats right I said new ZOE) and now Uncharted.
While some of the franchise's mechanics are in serious need of a tune - up, the background story and narrative of the games have always lived up to the promise of having Hideo Kojima's name associated with them, and I don't doubt that Konami, if they gave a third
ZoE game their full attention, could get the functional issues out of the way.
Not exact matches
He is also a ONE TRICK PONY, Metal Gear Solid is the ONLY
game he could manage to make for Konami that was successful,
ZOE both flopped to the point that when Konami approached him about making a 3rd after they released the HD collection Kojima said NO... He absolutely DID NOT pioneer stealth, many
game before Metal Gear and since Metal Gear do stealth worlds better.
Both
ZOE and Anubis try to be two disparate
game types simultaneously; a long range shooter and a three dimensional close combat
game.
In the original
ZOE, once the player completed the
game, versus mode was unlocked.
Owing to budgetary issues, only Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner received this treatment and even then it's only the PS3 version that benefits - the Xbox 360
game was not updated, and the original
ZOE remains untouched on both platforms.
Comparable to the shoddy work we received in the Silent Hill HD Collection, the
ZOE remasters were saddled with an unplayably low frame - rate and an inaccurate presentation which didn't respect the look of the original
games.
Bearing in mind the quality of the original
ZOE HD release and its Silent Hill counterpart, we can only assume that budgets took priority over properly remastering these
games in a high definition format.
He was, however, pretty clear that his next
game was NOT a new Zone of Enders, «I only have two choices for what to make: MGS5, or an original
game... As for
ZOE and the rest, I'm sorry, but that kind of got pushed to the back burner.
A demo for
ZoE will also be released soon, offering a «hands - on experience» with the
game prior to its release.
Until now most giant robot
games had been fairly slow and lumbering affairs, but thanks to
ZOE's unique combat system, players suddenly found themselves engaging in some of the most exciting, fast paced and engrossing mid-air battles ever seen.
This was unfortunate as Anubis was definitely a superior
game when compared to
ZOE but its actual popularity cast a more realistic shadow over the series» future.
If
ZOE had such a sizeable fanbase then we'd have a lot more
games in the series.
Also most
ZOE fans I know have never player any of the ACE
games.
Sean's Pick: My experience with the Zone of the Enders series begins and ends with the fantastically underrated GBA strategy
game,
ZOE: The Fist of Mars.