Zone of the Enders HD Collection Review

I like cult classics. I like Hideo Kojima. And you know what I really like? Giant robots. Giant robots that beat the crap out of each other and cause a ton of collateral damage to the surrounding area. So obviously, once I heard of it, I needed to pick up the Zone of the Enders HD Collection. This version of the games has gotten a lot of flack from reviewers, but it's not all true. In fact, most of their problems aren't really that major.

The Zone of the Enders HD Collection includes both Zone of the Enders and Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner. An awesome demo of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is also included, but I won't be getting into that. The Zone of the Enders games have always had this style and flair to them that I've loved since the start. The game is just too fun. Keep in mind this review is going to be a bit longer than most because I'm going to cover both the original Zone of the Enders, and the sequel.

The Zone of the Enders games take place in the late 22nd century. Humans have successfully colonized Mars and have space colonies in orbit around Jupiter. This is made possible through two things: The discovery of Metatron, which is a high energy ore, and the creation of the Laborious Extra-Orbital Vehicle, or LEV. The people on Earth, though, are prejudiced against the people who live on Mars and the Jupiter colonies, and were given them the slur "Enders." The people on Earth forced very harsh laws onto them. After years of oppression, the Enders decided to band together to rebel against the Earthlings, the most well-known group of these being BAHRAM. BAHRAM had obtained the Orbital Frame, a mech that pushes the use of Metatron to the limit, whose capabilities far surpass that of the LEV. The Orbital Frames will decide the fate of the earth and its colonies.

Zone of the Enders follows the story of Leo Stenbuck, who accidentally falls upon the Orbital Frame, Jehuty, while his colony is under attack by the forces of BAHRAM. After using Jehuty to survive the attack, he is ordered by Elena Weinberg to bring it to her so it can be sent off to Mars. He has to rescue civilians and fend off BAHRAM's forces along the way. The AI in Jehuty, ADA, is concerned with nothing more than completing the objective of getting Jehuty to Mars. Leo argues with ADA plenty of times about how saving innocent lives is just as, if not more important, than some robot going to another planet. The story isn't too good, and it's really short. If you ignore the bonus missions, you can beat the whole game in less than an afternoon. It's fun, but nothing special.

Comments

Qanba Q4 RAF Review (PS3, 360, PC)

As someone whose been fairly big on fighting games for the past few years, I saw that it was finally time for me to get an arcade stick. I did some research, got recommendations, and my final choice was the Qanba Q4 Real Arcade Fightingstick. I thought that getting a stick would help me improve my skills and add a whole new experience to playing the game. While the choice in controller is all up to preference, the Qanba Q4 is definitely worth a look. I decided that, in order to see just how well the stick worked, I'd need to get the most precise inputs possible, and be able to make sure it had no input lag. So I started up my good buddy, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus. Now, if you've ever played this game, you would know that it's near impossible to find any fighting game more mechanically advanced than it. Guilty Gear players are known for their incredibly precise inputs. To fully test the precision, I used 4 characters: Chipp, Jam, Potemkin, and Axl. Chip

Neon Alley Review (PS3, 360)

Well I am veering off into left field nowadays aren't I? First gaming products, now 24/7 anime stations; I promise to get back to actual GAMES soon but I felt like this was something I needed to talk about seeing as the next game I'll review comes with a free 30 day trial of this service. Today I'm gonna review Neon Alley. Whats that? You want more back story on me (said no one ever) ? Well I'm an otaku. Like a serious otaku. Like an "I signed up for a 24/7 anime station cause it was relevant to my interests," type of otaku. Now I have Netflix as I assume most of the civilized world does and I had recently watched all the anime I was interested in at the time when I heard about Neon Alley. My first thought was "So this is Crunchyroll?", but it's not. While Crunchyroll allows you to choose what you want to watch, Neon Alley is far more like TV. You have virtually no control. Another big difference is all the anime on Neon Alley is DUBBED. Now t

Mayflash Universal Adapter Review (PS3, 360, PC, PS2)

As to not let the waters get stale with game reviews, I, Aesop (yours truly), will be switching it up today with a product review. Namely: the Mayflash Universal Adaptor. Now, if you're anything like me, when the ashes cleared and you grew out of The Great Console War, you came out with both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. And if you're creepily like me, after prolonged play with both of them, you'll have noticed only 3 major differences: The exclusives, the payment (I'm looking at you Xbox Live), and the controllers. A little back story on me again: I grew up on Playstation. I didn't own anything other than Sony systems all the way up to the Nintendo DS Lite and I've owned every Sony gaming system. Now, you might be thinking, "What does this have to do with the review?" It actually has a lot to do with it. You see, the Mayflash Universal Adapter is an adapter that lets you use your preferred controller; whether it be Xbox, Dau

Level One Gaming

Search This Blog