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Zone Of The Enders: The 2nd Runner MARS Review. Of nostalgia for PS2-era gamers, but this remaster of. Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner: MARS Review – PS4. Zone of the Enders was one of my favorite franchises back on the PlayStation 2. The Hideo Kojima produced mech action game was was fast and furious and was just plain fun to play.
Already remastered once for the Zone of the Enders HD Collection, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner has been given yet another makeover for PS4 and PC.Now featuring 4K and VR support, fans of the game who can make use of such frivolities may find Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner MARS, as it’s now called, a decent pickup. Everyone else, however, is probably better going about their business as usual, oblivious to its release.
Decent graphics, dated gameplayAs remasters go, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner MARS isn’t a bad one. The nature of its graphics means that it’s fairly nice looking running at higher resolutions. Character and enemy models look clean and crisp, their bold lines and colours making them stand out amidst the chaos. It’s only the environments that sometimes remind you that this is an old game, with outdoor locations being particularly bland at times. But throw in lasers and other flashy attacks and you have a game that looks like a comic book in motion.
The problem with Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner MARS is that the game itself hasn’t aged all that well. Its controls are now clunky, and its camera system is simply unbearable. It constantly fails to give you a decent view of the action, though that’s also partly due to the game’s awkward lock on system.
When you’re doing battle with only a few enemies it works quite well, but when there’s a screen full of them, choosing specific targets becomes a bit of a nightmare.You can, of course, choose to not lock onto any enemies, but then you’re left to deal with your mech’s sluggish manual aiming. Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner MARS is one of those games where your targeting reticule moves at a decent pace when moving it left or right, but a hell of a lot slower when you’re moving it up or down. It’s very frustrating. Oh, and without locking on, pulling off melee attacks becomes pretty much impossible.Short yet still tediousMission design is also dated, and quite simply dull.
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A lot of the time you’ll be moving from one bland room to another, with not much difference between them. You’ll battle the same enemies over and over again with the same moves. You do unlock some sub weapons along the way to give the action some variety, but it’s just not quite enough to break the tedium that eventually sets in. And that tedium does rear its head in a game that has three or four hours of actual gameplay at best is pretty bad.You’ll spend nearly as much time watching the story of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner MARS unravel before you as you do play it, and unfortunately, it’s just not that riveting. It’s a Hideo Kojima game through and through, with scenes of pointless exposition being shoved in your face one after another. It all boils down to some bad people in control of bad mechs doing bad things, and it’s up to you to stop them.
And if you’ve never played the original Zone of the Enders, there’ll be a lot of things discussed that will have you scratching your head.Saved by VRWhat saves this release is that if you’ve got a VR headset, playing Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner MARS in VR mode really does change the experience. Playing the game looking out of a cockpit adds to the immersion, and also makes it more intuitive. The camera and controls become a little less clunky and awkward, and while playing in VR adds to the difficulty, there is a new “Very Easy” mode for those struggling to adjust.
It’s quite easy to get disoriented while playing in VR mode though, thanks to the need to dash around quite often.Make no mistake about it, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner MARS is a game that will only really be appreciated by fans of the series. Even with its VR mode, there’s nothing here that newcomers will find particularly impressive. Time hasn’t been kind to the gameplay of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, and without any work being put in to remedy its now dated mechanics, this remaster feels pointless and defunct.Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner MARS is available on PS4 and PC. We reviewed the PS4 version.
Konami's classic short-lived mech-based action series has already been given an HD remake so let's see how it holds up in virtual reality.
I've been a big fan of Zone of the Enders ever since it released on PlayStation 2 back in 2001. The tight yet involving controls make the mech combat just awesome. After playing through the original countless times, the sequel finally released and it managed to be even better. Admittedly, I missed the world map and more open-ended missions of the original game as the sequel opts for a much more linear approach but the action is definitely more intense, there's an actually interesting story complete with anime cutscenes, and the campaign features a lot more variety. You'll find yourself trying to stop a train, taking on massive battleships, searching for someone hidden in a storage container, navigating through a minefield, and fighting an assortment of memorable bosses including Vic Viper itself. If you know what that is then be sure to take our Konami shoot 'em ups trivia quiz because you obviously know your stuff.
With all of that out of the way, just what the heck is Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner Mars? Back in 2012, Zone of the Enders HD Collection released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and it was a great excuse for fans to enjoy the series again with improved graphics. This time around, the visuals are even better as everything is incredibly sharp and smooth. However, the most significant addition is VR support. That's right; you can play the entire game in virtual reality through Dingo's eyes within Jehuty's cockpit.
Although being able to experience this classic game in VR sounds exciting, I was somewhat disappointed with its implementation. For starters, only the gameplay segments are presented in virtual reality while the cutscenes and dialogue sequences remain in a distant rectangle. Why can't you look around during these scenes? That would have been fantastic!
Anyway, the gameplay while using VR is a lot more difficult so thankfully, there's a VeRy easy difficulty setting. Fighting enemies is handled exactly the same as without VR and it doesn't really feel like it adds any additional enjoyment to the combat. For example, most VR games have you tilt your head around constantly to observe your surroundings but considering you're almost always locked on to enemies in Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, you can simply look straight ahead 100% of the time. Also, melee combat is very disorienting. The camera jumps all over the place and you end up not knowing where you're facing simply after slashing a few foes.
As a result, the VR implementation here is more of a gimmick than anything. However, this doesn't make the core game any less enjoyable. It's still an awesome experience that mech and action game fans need to play. That being said, some aspects certainly haven't aged well. For starters, the voice acting is laughably bad. It's surprising because Konami also produced the Metal Gear Solid series which has some of the best acting in gaming history. Finally, I already mentioned how I don't like the linear campaign layout but what makes it worse is that it doesn't feature much replay value. There are only a few collectibles in the form of unlockable EX Missions which can be fun to master but I wish there was much more. You can play versus mode against a friend but that definitely lacks lasting appeal. In the end, the core game is still a blast but I wish more improvements were made and more extras were added.
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner is a classic action game that holds up beautifully. That being said, this Mars remaster certainly doesn't feel necessary, especially because we already have an HD Collection and the VR implementation is far from perfect.
- + Same great game that's full of non-stop action and variety throughout
- + Looks better than ever
- + Now has an optional VR component
- - VR mode isn't much more than a gimmick and can be very disorienting
- - The voice acting is just awful
- - Linear campaign with little replay value
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