With the American release still up in the air, not a whole
lot of official information has been acquired about Konami’s
next cinematic stunner. Led by legendary designer (and creator
of the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty) Hideo
Kojima, Zone of the Enders (Z.O.E) looks like another visual
and aural masterpiece from Konami. Z.O.E borrows heavily from
anime influences, as apparent from the character and mech
designs. A dramatic action adventure game in which you feel
and experience the spectacular story while fighting the enemy
in space with Jehuty -- a gigantic humanoid weapon
"orbital frame". Can you save the space colony from
the terrorist hijackers? The main story is as follows:
"The 22nd Century, Solar System. The inhabitancy area
of human beings has gone way beyond the lunar orbit and has
expanded to the surface of Mars. Humans have also started to
reach out to Jupiter for the procurement of natural resources.
The laborers work at the space colony ‘Antilia’ which is
located on the satellite orbit of Jupiter. These people living
at the ‘End of the World’ are referred to as ‘Enders’.
Leo Stenbuck, an Ender boy and introvert living on Antilia,
was forced to accompany his bully friends to the UN Space
Force (UNSF) facility to steal from the junkyard and gets
caught. At the same time, the fanatical military regime of
Mars known as Z.O.E. takes military action in the form of a
colony hijack. Antilia instantly turns into a battlefield. The
other boys lose their lives right in front of Leo. Leo cannot
deny that he has thought that "now that these guys are
gone, I'd never get bullied again." He then blames
himself for not being able to save them. He panics and runs
from the spot.
Leo ends up in a place where lies the true reason of the
colony hijack and the key to the survival of mankind -- the
gigantic humanoid weapon -- orbital frame – ‘Jehuty’...
"
Z.O.E’s dramatic and compelling storyline intertwines
with a deep action gameplay full of splendid mech battles that
will make any magna otaku jump for joy. Playing the game
involves battling on multiple planes (dimensions, not actual
planes…) and axis’s, giving the player total control
over his mech’s movements even with the controls being said
to be of a complicated design. The use of the analog stuck and
two buttons enables free aerial movement. The game allows the
best camera angle when locking onto the enemy and not losing
it from sight, enabling easy, refreshing, but strategically
deep robot action. The game controls directly lead you into
the story, and you will enjoy an exhilarating and dramatic VR
experience. As Konami says –"This is no ‘Robot
Simulator.’ This is a totally new ‘Robot Animation
Simulator’."
Unquestionably, Zone of the Enders sports some of the
slickest, most awe-inspiring graphics of any upcoming
PlayStation 2 titles. Like it’s in-house brother, MGS II,
Z.O.E will have visuals unmatched by any other game on the
market. Beautiful lighting effects, detailed textures and
particle effects will really separate Z.O.E from the
competition. An interesting use of motion blur and the ability
to keep the frame rate consistently fast shows off how robust
the game’s engine is.
Zone of Enders is set to hit the Japanese market in
February, so a stateside translation should appear shortly
thereafter. Not much would be in the way of Konami publishing
it here in the US, so just keep an eye out for this mech
splendor. We’ll be sure to pass along any new information we
receive on this stunning title.
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