Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner
Sorti le 13 février 2003 sur PlayStation 2, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner est développé par Konami Computer Entertainment Japan et édité par Konami. Ce second opus inscrit son action dans les genres du jeu de tir et du hack 'n' slash / beat 'em up, plaçant à nouveau le joueur aux commandes de l'« Orbital Frame » Jehuty. Contrairement à son prédécesseur, l'expérience se recentre sur l'action pure : la protection de civils est abandonnée au profit d'un arsenal considérablement étoffé pour le mécha.
L'intrigue se déroule deux ans après les événements du premier volet et suit Dingo Egret, ancien membre de l'organisation militaire martienne BAHRAM. Après avoir refusé de réintégrer les rangs de son chef, Ridley « Nohman » Hardiman, Dingo est abattu, puis sauvé par l'agent Ken Marinaris qui lie son corps à Jehuty, le contraignant à combattre BAHRAM. La direction du projet a été confiée à Shuyo Murata, sur décision du producteur Hideo Kojima, dans l'optique de proposer une expérience distincte et de corriger les défauts reprochés au jeu original, notamment en renforçant la dimension action.
La presse a globalement salué les améliorations apportées, louant la qualité graphique et la profondeur du gameplay. Cheat Code Central a ainsi souligné un titre « fun to play » offrant une « great story and awesome visuals », tandis que GameNow jugeait qu'il construisait un « gorgeous, challenging, and satisfying game » autour des acquis du premier épisode. Toutefois, la brièveté de l'aventure principale — estimée à environ 6 heures et demie pour la trame principale et 14 heures pour une complétion totale — ainsi que sa présentation ont été pointées du côté des réserves. Certains joueurs sur Metacritic ont reconnu une « amélioration significative » mais regrettent une narration parfois lourde, ou trouvent les combats redondants malgré une jouabilité « clean ». Malgré un accueil critique favorable, reflété par une note agrégée de 74,83, le jeu a connu des ventes médiocres. Notons enfin une particularité de distribution : l'Europe n'a pas reçu l'édition standard, mais directement l'édition spéciale du titre.
Médias
Avis des critiques et joueurs
Critiques de la Presse (Metacritic)
« Fun to play and offers a great story and awesome visuals. The hardest thing you may have to decide is when to hit the save button and stop playing. The game draws you in quickly and holds your attention. »
« Takes what was cool about the first installment and builds a gorgeous, challenging, and satisfying game around it. [Apr 2003, p.47] »
« Using some of the finest visuals to grace a next-generation platform, and solid gameplay, the game proves that PlayStation 2 has more than a bit of fight left in it. »
« The game is a whole lot faster than the previous game. There is so much going on at the screen at once, it might be hard for players to keep up, but that will never be the case. »
« The game is very story-heavy and linear because of the heavy focus on story. Outside of that, though, the game is a vast improvement over the previous game. »
« While short, grabs you for those few hours and won't let go. The game is such an improvement over the first installment that those who didn't like the first game will probably like this one. »
« It plays mostly like the first, so if you liked it you’ll love this one. »
« When it comes to the raw energy and unadulterated action, ZOE2 has few peers. [May 2003, p.72] »
Avis des Joueurs (Metacritic)
« Una mejora significativa con respecto a la primera entrega que no logra despejarse de la necesidad de contarte (o intentar contarte) una historia de una profundidad aparentemente real pero objetivamente vacía, como el interior de un mecha cuando le quitas el alma de niño que lo pilota. Hideo Kojima parece divertirse (como un niño) como productor en este título que tiene de infantil lo que carece de madurez y, por eso, trata al jugador como un niño, no como un jugador con voluntad de diversión. El error conceptual está servido con un combate que sí mejora y es más divertido pero abruma cuando entiendes la innecesaria cantidad de momentos cliché que desprende. »
« I love the mech suit fighting! This also played very clean and well as far as the story goes. While the battle gameplay can be a little tedious, as I was spamming the basic attacks and doing mostly fine, the difficulty spike increases shortly after you start playing it. This is a lot of fun! »
« Although I was never particularly drawn to mecha games, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner was a refreshing exception. The combat system was smooth, satisfying, and visually captivating, making each battle a thrilling experience. The game improved on its predecessor in every aspect, offering a wider variety of weapons and environments. The graphics remain some of the best on the PS2. The characters were engaging, and the story, complemented by anime-style cutscenes, added an intriguing layer to the overall narrative. However, the game's main flaw is its length; it can be completed in just around 8 hours, which leaves you wanting more. »
« Zone Of The Enders is already a wild ride of mecha based anime goodness that honestly still doesn’t make the most sense, but it has some interesting lore behind it, and The 2nd Runner thankfully picks up where the original leave off. You start off as an entirely different pilot, and while you have no original attachment to Judity, the game makes it very clear that you two are stuck together. This makes for a nice dynamic of unrelenting hero with his robot girlfriend and big booba friend. Along the way you start to met more and more people from the original game, and it builds well as a **** game is just as cutesy and high octane action as ever, having the buildings scaled down like a train set; along with a bunch of new enemies coming out in full force to attack you. While the game still has some problems with controls, it’s not as bad as the first one, and both games are still quite manageable given enough time and energy. Sadly the game does have a few difficulty spikes that are just absolutely baffling, and one boss fight in particular just had me reset the whole game as when you pick a difficulty, you stick with it throughout. Thankfully the rest of the game is far more manageable after those initial difficulty spikes, but it certainly isn’t a push over, even on easy difficulty. 2nd Runner is longer than the first game, but not by much nor should it have been given the story they wanted to deliver, and how much filler it would have had if they did increase run time. That being said the game could use a few extra modes to make things a little spicier.Story is fairly standard revenge plot mixed together with callbacks to the first game. While it certainly won’t win any creative awards, they do at least add a good amount of flavor with returning characters, and it’s really a treat to play this game after playing the first one. The climax to the final boss is also a spectacle to behold, and would certainly have studio trigger have a run for it’s money as you deliver those final blows, but mostly I just remember the little train sets.2nd Runner is a good sequel to build on the first game, but it still suffers greatly from some very bad difficulty spikes and annoying puzzles. While I don’t think this should turn away anyone wanting to some mecha action; it certainly could have done a better job at pulling the casual crowd. Overall I enjoyed my time with this cult classic, and wish the game series all the best as I would love to see a follow up to this game. »
« Just a perfect game. I loved it when it was released. Even if nowadays it's gameplay could be considered a bit repetitive, the RPG elements anemic at best, and the replayability close to zero, it was, for a while, one of the most visually stricking games available. The nostalgia factor might be at play here, not gonna lie. »
« Iconic art direction, solid music score and the gameplay is alright. It has a lot of potential to be a really amazing game but the combat lacks depth and thus the level design often has to resort to various gimmicks to make up for it. It is a shame there isn't that many games like this which could take the formula further and expand upon it. »
« Fast-paced hack and slash+shooting mech game, also pretty fun. "YOU RIKE IT?" »
« I have never played a bigger improvement on a game than ZONE OF THE ENDERS: THE 2ND RUNNER, a Do you like fast-paced action robots and good anime story den go forward , a The difficulty is awesome you always feel like you're being challenged just the right amount And a graphic still looks beautiful to this day, Your Next Favorite game »
