I did not play “Zone of the Enders” the first time around in 2001, and after spending some time with the recent HD re-release, I seriously regret doing so.
The game, for the uninitiated, is about giant robot battles in space. It is set in the future, and mankind has stuck its foot in door of space travel with colonies on Mars and surrounding planets, most notably Jupiter. The people on Earth are being jerks to the people on the colonies (the titular “Enders”) and the colonies decide that rebellion is in order. On the Jupiter colony, the rebels have constructed a super fighting robot, Jehuty, and the overbearing Earth government wants it deconstructed. They send an army of mechs and robots to kill everything with a pulse and steal Jehuty for themselves. However, before they can do that, a spineless teenage wimp named Leo accidentally finds himself piloting Jehuty. He makes his way across the Jupiter colony in order to return it to the downtrodden rebels.
“Enders” possesses the same slick art style “Metal Gear” is famous for, and most of the game’s visuals are based off of that art design. I say most because there is something fairly weird going on with this in “Zone of the Enders”. The pre-rendered cutscenes in this game can only be described as disgusting. Conversely, the actual in-game graphics are so beautiful they are likely to strike me blind. This is a weird switcheroo “Enders” HD is playing, but it is one that I am more than grateful for because nearly all of the game is spent away from those awful CG cutscenes.
The gameplay itself is fairly simple and straightforward, if a bit repetitive. There is an over-world with different areas the Jehuty can travel to, and each area has the same three different kinds of robots to wipe the floor with. There is a paper-thin leveling system that lets you know how tough each enemy is compared to yourself, and the different levels of enemies correspond to their relative intelligence, ranging from “box of hammers” to “clever girl.” Some of them will go down faster than an elevator with its cords cut, while others will put up a fairly decent fight that require timing and skill to take down.
I could do without the constant narration during fights, though. The helpful onboard AI character will let you know everything you are doing at all times. Sometimes it is helpful. Other times it makes me want to rip my ears off to get some peace and quiet, but that is really only a minor nitpick and all the annoying voices eventually drift away as a haze of beautifully-rendered explosions and fast-paced giant robot combat takes over. Konami decided to share this little bit of history with us and I am more than pleased with the finished result.
