The Zone of the Enders series is one which has received more acclaim in the years following release than actually at their debut airing. Much like Power Stone and Battalion Wars, Zone of the Enders and its sequel performed moderately at retail. Partly in thanks to the inclusion of a demo of the then-forthcoming Metal Gear Solid videogame packaged within. But given the demand for a third title going unanswered, Zone of the Enders: HD Collection remains your best opportunity to enjoy the frantic sci-fi action.
Zone of the Sci-Fi
Zone of the Enders is set in a reasonably standard anime science-fiction future. It tells the tale of a boy named Leo Stenbuck. A colonist from the Jupiter-based Antilia, which is under attack by BAHRAM. Stenbuck is captured at the beginning of the game, but soon escapes when BAHRAM forces attack. However, his friends aren’t so lucky. Stenbuck finds an Orbital Frame by the name of ‘Jehuty,’ and using this suit and its built-in AI A.D.A, he vows to eliminate BAHRAM.
As has come to be expected from a Kojima-helmed title, the plot exposition in Zone of the Enders is long and unrelenting. The game often takes several minutes to explain the smallest plot point through dialogue alone. This is a trait inherited from eastern anime of course, but one that clearly works better in non-interactive media. There are many points at which the action is broken mid-stream for an unnecessary twist, demonstrating a complete ignorance of pacing.
That being said, the gameplay itself does make up for the frequently irritating plot delivery. Zone of the Enders is a space combat videogame which plays fairly traditionally, but has since found very few imitators. Indeed, back in 2012 there was only really WarTech: Senko No Ronde and the Dynasty Warriors: Gundam titles that laid claim to progress the formula.
Zoned-In on Gameplay
Players are lead from one-point-to-another, with the core gameplay appeal being that of the combat. You can engage at long- or close-range. Your weaponry automatically adjusting to suit the context of the targeted craft. However, choosing which enemy to engage first is half of the battle, as players won’t be given multi-target weapons easily. Arena based challenges against packs of enemies and boss fights are the order of the day, and their structure is undoubtedly superior to that of the accompanying storyline.
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner however, is an altogether different beast. Overcoming many of the issues of the first title, it maintains the sense of speed involved in the combat whilst beefing-up the story with extensive animated sequences. It also reinvigorates combat by filling arenas with enemies as opposed to dividing them into smaller squads. This makes for more epic encounters, but also leads to crippling drops in frame rate at times. These significant improvements are perhaps the reason why the game was chosen to be rebuilt as a VR experience.
Zone of the Enders: HD Collection is… Zone of the Enders in HD
From a technical point of view, Zone of the Enders: HD Collection is hardly striking. Very little attention has been paid to bringing the aging visual design up to modern standards. At the time, SEGA were re-texturing many of their classics for modern consoles. This collection is a far cry from that effort. Instead, this is simply a HD upscale. The same character models and textures of the PlayStation 2 originals simply ported onto newer consoles by High Voltage Software. The same applies to the sound quality.
Despite it’s flaws, Zone of the Enders: HD Collection is a very welcome entry to the series. It found a nice home alongside it’s sister title, the Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection. Compatible with Xbox Series X|S, it’s a welcome revisit even now. Truth be told however, much of the hype surrounding the series since its initial release may be just that. Time has proven that both Zone of the Enders and Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner are leading examples for their genre, but hardly pioneering works. Hopes that a third effort would achieve both the commercial success and progressive gameplay that the franchise has always been aiming for are all but dead nowadays. But if nothing else, Zone of the Enders: HD Collection offers an experience that is hard to find on modern hardware.
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