Pros: Fast combat that doesn't get stale; levels are just one interesting scenario after another; lots of subweapons to experiment with
Cons: Not all of the subweapons are useful; story is a bit incoherent and hurts the pacing of the game; short; occassionally fickle camera
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner is perhaps the best example on my list of unbeaten games of a game that I have no excuse for not beating. When I first bought the game about four or five years ago, I played through the entire game and got to the last boss, but then I just put the controller down and never went back. It's not as if I was forcing myself through the game, as I genuinely loved it, both because of a fascination with mechs at the time and because it was an incredibly well done action game. It wasn't because the boss was particularly hard, although I did die when I first faced him. I didn't even have the outside excuse of going on vacation or having something else come up in my life. I literally just stopped playing it and never picked it back up for that last battle. It ended up being a mixed blessing, however, as Mission: Backlog gave me a good reason to replay a game I knew I liked.
Zone of the Enders 2: The Second Runner is a third person mech game that casts you as the pilot of Jehuty, a specialized "Orbital Frame" (this game's name for mechs) that is wanted by two warring factions. Technically the story continues on from the first game, but no real knowledge from the original is needed to get the gist of what is going on. I say "get the gist" because while the general story is easy enough to follow, the specifics are nearly incomprehensible. You find Jehuty while on a mining mission, at which point you are forced to fight in a war where you used to fight in one of the factions until some type of betrayal and the other faction seems to be manipulating you for their own ends. Thrown into the mix is a new energy source called Metatron and a deceased comrade that has been turned into an AI. ZotE2 is a Hideo Kojima game, which should tip off most people that the story will be as convoluted as his Metal Gear Solid games, but I felt like ZotE2 had an especially miasmic quality to its story that didn't really have to exist. The story cutscenes happen often and can last between 3-10 minutes, which also tends to hurt the pace of the game. However, that's also because the action sections are that good.
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner features just about the best mech combat that I have seen in a video game. Mechs in anime often zip about at incredible speeds, dashing from one enemy to another without missing a beat. Mech games, on the other hand, tend to have the mechs trodding slowly around as the developers try to accentuate the weight and enormity of the machines. ZotE2 successfully recreates anime-style mech battles as the player can take Jehuty from enemy to enemy with little effort, making the machine feel that much more powerful. There is one main attack button that changes the style of attack based on how far one is from the enemy. If the enemy is far away, Jehuty will fire an energy shot. If they're close, he'll use a blade attached to his arm. Jehuty also has access to a variety of subweapons, each with a different function. While they're all fun to experiment with, there are a few that are much more useful than others, meaning that you'll be relying on only one or two and you'll ignore the others. The camera can sometimes obscure the action, particularly when near a wall, but it will by no means ruin the game for anyone.
While the combat itself is pretty satisfying, it's the levels that make Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner so special. Clearly a lot of thought went into the level structures, as almost every level is unique from the last. While you begin simply going through a base, battling enemies, the game doesn't settle into that rut. You'll fight boss battles often, most of which require wildly different tactics than you would use otherwise. Additionally, the game has a couple of "dream scenarios," levels that just about any mech fan would kill to have. The two that stand out in my mind are one in which you must take down a fleet of 5 airships in a single life and one in which you fight an entire battle, complete with thousands of enemies and over 50 allies. The levels force you to approach combat in a slightly different way that is still immensely satisfying and go a long ways towards making the game memorable. As I mentioned before, I'd played most of ZotE2 in the past, and when I was playing through it again, I found myself thinking "I remember this!" just about every level (and not with an "oh fuck" before it). You'll likely be disappointed that the game ends after about five and a half hours or so, although chances are you'll enjoy every minute of the gameplay (outside of one somewhat slow "stealth" section). The story took up a bit too much of this five and a half hours as well, although once again these might seem like moot complaints given that Metal Gear Solid was about six hours long and featured more cutscenes.
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner is a game that would be perfect for anyone with a passing interest in 3rd person action games. The action is frenetic enough to always feel exciting, and yet structured in a way that you'll almost always know exactly what you're doing. Add to that first class level design and you have a game that probably should have catapulted the series (thank Metal Gear Solid 3-5 for the lack of a sequel) but instead just lead to some of the best gameplay in a game last generation, despite a too short game.
Overall Score: 8.8
Recommended price: $10
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