When you look at game sales, they can be misleading on whether or not the game in question is good. When Zone of Enders was sold, it included a demo of Metal Gear Solid 2 along with the game. That is because Hideo Kojima and Konami were responsible for making both series. When Zone of Enders 2 came out by itself with no demo of a Metal Gear game, it did worse in sales than the predecessor and the HD version that would include both games a couple of years later. The HD version would include a demo of Metal Gear Rising: and the HD version is the subject of this review. Did any notoriety Zone Of Enders have due to the Metal Gear demos or was the HD bundle a great package on its own?
The gameplay is the same in both games. You can glide around while shooting enemies or attacking enemies with a sword if you are close enough. You also collect sub weapons and powerups that will restore your health and give you different options on how to fight stronger enemies.
These games are not the same in difficulty. The first Zone of Enders is fair because they throw a certain number of squads at you and each squad consists of somewhere between 2-4 enemies. In Zone Of Enders 2, they throw more enemies at you at the same time including 50 enemies that are the size of flies. Also in the sequel, a group of enemies can have a commander who will strategically attack you until the commander of those enemies is killed.
The controls for these games work fine mostly. The big problem is the X button which you have to press whether you are shooting or using a sword repeatedly. While this isn’t much of a problem in the first game, In the second game it doesn’t take you long for your thumb to get tired when you can hit triple-digit hit streaks. If the game was going to throw all these enemies at you, they should have let the player be able to hold the button down instead of having to press it repeatedly.
The story of the first Zone Of Enders is you play as a boy named Leo Stenbuck. He is trying to escape from a war zone on his planet of Jupiter and he takes over an empty orbital frame which are the names of the robots you control in this game. When he takes over the controls of an empty orbital frame, he is recruited to join in the fight he was trying to escape from. Leo’s motivation is to make sure his family and friends are safe.
In the story of Zone of Enders: The 2nd Runner, you play a character named Dingo Egret. Dingo tries to kill Colonel Nohman but is left for dead. Nohman’s assistant instead keeps Dingo alive as long as he is piloting Jehuy. Dingo wants to stop Nohman from ruling the galaxy that controls the sister craft named Anubis.
The quality of the graphics is fine. The backgrounds in the first game are fine. They change up enough that you are not looking at the same background for a long time. In Zone Of Enders, the 2nd runner, you are looking at the same base for the first hour and every hallway looks the same and every room you go through looks similar. When you get to Mars after you escape the base, you run into the same problem. In the sequel, you look at the same environments for so long, they start to look boring.
I have no problems with the sound. The music is fine but not memorable. Whether it’s the voices or sound effects, there is nothing I would change about the game when it comes to the sound.
There is no replayability once you complete the first game. There are multiple endings but once you complete the game, you may not be motivated to play through the game again to find more endings. In the sequel, you can unlock more missions and characters and you can use any subweapon in the game on these missions.
The gameplay is fun but the difficulty in the second game is unfair with how many enemies they throw at you at one time. The controls are fine except for how you have to repeatedly press the attack button when you are dealing with dozens of enemies at once. The story makes sense except when you meet up with Leo in the second game, he looks like he is much older than he was in the first game when the second game is supposed to take place a couple of years after the first game. The graphics are fine quality but the levels do change a lot less frequently in the second game. The music is fine but forgettable. I have no problems with the voices or sound effects. The first game has no replayability except for multiple endings and the second game does feature extra missions and characters along with the option to use any subweapon in the entire game. So I give Zone Of Enders: The HD Collection on the Xbox 360 a 6 out of 10. You could pick it up for pretty cheap if you’re interested but you’re not missing anything if you skip these games.
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