Tag Archives: Hideo

Review – Zone of the Enders HD Collection (Part 2)

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What’s good, guys? Joshua Evo back again with Part 2 of my Zone of the Enders HD Collection review. This time, we’re going to take a look at the second game of the series, Zone of the Enders, The 2nd Runner.

My apologies for the huge delay on Part 2, it’s been pretty busy around here as of late. Anyway, let’s get right into the review. ZoE: t2R, apart from obviously being the sequel to the original Zone of the Enders, is widely considered the better of the two games due to things like its much faster pace, wider array of enemies and refined character designs and overall look. The cutscenes had been changed from 3D CG models to a more traditional anime look and the dubbing (while still pretty comical) was improved. Particularly Nohman’s voice characterization, which was SO over the top that you almost had to admire how nutso the guy was. Much different from a voice over the radio that you never saw, like he was in the first game. This time around, the game focuses on the character of Dingo Egret, former BAHRAM soldier turned mining man, who happens to find himself (not unlike Leo Stenbuck from the first game) in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dingo, being the army-hardened-soul-hiding-a-traumatic-past, climbs into the cockpit of our old friend Jehuty and must battle his way out using the skills the combat skills he mastered in his time as one of the enemy.

As well as those mad brooding skills that round out his anime roots.

Like Zone of the Enders HD, 2nd Runner HD is simply that, an HD version of the original game. As I stated previously, aside from the Metal Gear Solid Rising: Revengeance demo, t2R is the primary reason that gamers picked up the ZOE HD collection so obviously, the HD remastering of this game was treated with heavy attention to detail… 

…one would think.

If you’re a regular and astute reader, you’d realize that this is one of the FEW reviews where I didn’t say which console version of the game I reviewed. That’s because I have such reverence for the series that I got it on both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 and will be discussing both. There was a lot of talk before the release of this game that the Xbox 360 version was the superior one, as the PS3 version was said to have severe lag and frame drop issues. Upon firing up the PS3, Xbox 360 and PS2 versions, I found out that while not game-breakingly severe, the PS3 version did in fact suffer from some pretty nasty lag issues. The Xbox 360 version also has some lag but it doesn’t seem as bad. There’s also a few fairly obvious graphical issues, particularly during a main story point where Dingo visits his mentor, Lloyd.

A 1.0.1 patch has since been released and fixes some of the lag and frame rate issues. Now, I must stress, this are hardly issues that anyone would consider game-breaking, more and that the collection (Limited Edition or otherwise) definitely still warrants a purchase for anyone who was a fan of the original games or just missed out on them the first time. As touted, the version of the game included on the HD collection is the UK version of the game and does indeed have added difficulty levels and generally feels tougher than its PS2 counterpart. Some of the levels have also been lengthened with new battle sequences that do a decent job of throwing in more action for players to enjoy. The game also retains a solid amount of unlockable content which encourages multiple playthroughs and a relatively fun VS mode. As with ZOE HD, trophy support was also added to t2R and further extends the replay value of the game. All of these great gameplay elements, topped off with a very manageable price tag make the ZOE HD Collection a worthy addition to any gamer’s library.

– Evo out

13 Scares of Halloween – Day 9: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

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Hey everybody, James B Boss here with day’s scary moment. Now as I’ve said in my last entry, I am quite the scaredy cat and while most horror games scare the crap out of me, today’s moment doesn’t really come from a game you’d expect a scare moment to come from. Especially since the marquee elements of this game include things like stealth and hiding from your enemies inside boxes.

More terrifying than death itself.

My moment comes from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (title just rolls off your tongue doesn’t it). While this game is not very horrifying for the most part, it does have a memorable cast of characters with a set of skills that are tailor made to take down Mr. Solid Snake-ington. One of these characters had a skill, that allowed him to communicate with the dead and his name was The Sorrow. You encounter this guy later on in the game and the fight is more or less scary, depending on your nerves. However, he does have an attack that made me jump out of my seat.

Pants moistening goodness at 4:30

Yeeeaaahhh, that scared me pretty good when I first saw it. Throughout the entire fight, you encounter all of the soldier that you’ve killed during the course of the game, so if you were just tranquilizing enemies instead of killing them, then the fight will be pretty short. If you went nuts with the bullets, then I hope you enjoy wallowing in a river of your own dastardliness! Can YOU live with that? Dunno about you but after seeing this moment in the game, I slept like a baby… a highly caffeinated baby. Well that just about does it for my moment. I’m gonna go wuss out now!

-This is James B Boss, hiding in a box.

Day 28 of 31: Metal Gear Solid

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What’s happening people! It’s Memorial Day weekend and also Day 28!

 

 

Hey cool, it’s the game I got my name from, sorta. Metal Gear Solid is and always will be a great title. The reason why, is because it had everything to offer for us gamers. Challenging boss fight and obstacles, great storyline (if you can you know, understand all of it?) and memorable characters. The game starts off with you infiltrating a base known as Shadow Moses and your mission is to infiltrate and stop the antagonist from using the Metal Gear to take over the world. It may seem like a simple story, but if you play for along time, you will find that there are twists and turns to the story. The gameplay was quite unique for it’s time, because not a lot of games had you play through the entire story using stealth. There were some parts of the game where you go guns-a-blazing (especially the boss fights), so it was not all stealth, which was a nice change of pace. The boss were probably my favorite of this game, because they made you think about how you should take them down, instead of just running up to them and attack them repeatedly (I HATE YOU PSYCHO MANTIS!!!). The characters are another example of how great this game is. Seriously, if start talking about this game with a die hard fan, they will just go on and off about the games’ characters. Solid Snake is the protagonist of the series and he just b@d@$$. I have yet to see another video game character that tops his manlyness and I don’t think that will happen anytime soon. If you are looking for a game where you want to take out your opponents with steal and finesse, then Metal Gear Solid is the game to play. If you want to play this awesome title, then I suggest seek it out and definitely play the other games in the series. 

– James B. Boss

 

Admittedly, the most I ever played of this game was a short demo disc that came with my cousin’s Playstation and this was some time after the game itself had actually been released but I distinctly remember the feeling of having to adapt that I got from the game. I initially tried to run and fun my way through it and rather quickly found out that that was a pretty pointless way to try to go through MGS. I liked the feeling of having to be deliberate with every action, like how I could easily tranquilize a guard but have to worry about his unconscious @$$ drawing attention from other guards. These little touches were things I’d not seen before in a game and definitely held my attention enough to have to actually plot my my course through the demo. To this day, I’ve never finished it but I’ve watched it played by my brother numerous times and it’s just as thrilling now as it was back then.

- Evo out. 

Day 9 of 31 – Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner

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All the way to Day 9? I’m actually sort of impressed with the crew. Good job, guys!

 

 

If you can’t read the text in the image, I apologize as marquee photos of this game are kind of hard to come by. Zone of the Enders: the 2nd Runner (or Anubis in Japan) is the sequel to the Playstation 2 launch title Zone of the Enders. It’s also one of my top three favorite video games of all time and currently occupies the #1 slot of my own personal “Greatest Games No One Knew About” list. The first ZOE game was a decent effort for a launch title but was more memorable to gamers as “that game with the robots that came with the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo disc” which was a pity. When ZOE2 hit the shelves, it wasn’t a particularly widely touted game but those who were in the know were treated to much faster game play, a more fleshed out and expanded story, shinier graphics, new weapons and powers and a more optimized mech combat gaming experience. I first heard about it when my cousin from Canada visited for Christmas one year and happened to have the game with him. I hadn’t heard ANYTHING about it at that point, apart from a small blurb in a gaming magazine, so when he fired it up, it was a wholly satisfying and surprising experience. My brother and I ended up playing the hell out of it so much that when my cousin returned home after the holidays, he left it to us with the words “I was going to sell it back since I was done with it but I’d rather leave it to people who love playing it that much.” That sentiment holds true for me even now, as I fire ZOE2 up from time to time just to play through it again (as it is quite short). I have a pretty incredible amount of fan-nerd-ness for this franchise with a particular emphasis on ZOE2. The way it ties into it’s predecessor but still takes on a story of its own, the huge battles, memorable characters, the soundtrack and hybrid of rail shooter and open wandering game play are things that just combine together almost seamlessly to form the incredible story of the Orbital Frames Jehuty and Anubis, their runners and the larger conflict that the world around them that they are simultaneously the center of. It’s a game that shouldn’t be missed AND lest we forget, a HD Collection of the Zone of the Enders games was announced and is slated to hit the shelves in Fall of 2012. Hopefully, the sales and interest generated are enough that Hideo Kojima sees fit to green light what  fans of his and of the ZOE series have been clamoring for for years now; Zone of the Enders 3. 

-Evo out.

 

Well it’s about time we talk about this awesome title! Zone of The Enders from my point of view, has got to be one of the most creative games I have ever played that revolved around giant robots. The first installment of the series was indeed a sleeper hit, mostly because it was probably out-shined by the demo disc of Metal Gear Solid 2 that was included with the game (REALLY? A DEMO DISC? COME ON PEOPLE!). However, when the second game came out for the series, I was blown away by how amped up the battle system of this game was. It was MUCH more fast-paced and it was very much enjoyable. I especially loved how I could grab enemies and repeatedly press the Circle button to almost comically spin them around and throw them into a wall (or other enemies for that matter). I also found it hilarious that you could also use enemies as melee weapons by grabbing them and using the attack button to swing them around, but my favorite thing about this game was the unique design of some of the robots. When I see the main robots Jehuty and Anubis with those lines of energy coursing through their bodies, it gives me an idea on how powerful and badass these two are. Seriously, it’s like they are giving a message to others saying, “if you %*@# with us, were gonna beat the living hell out of you”. This kind of attention to detail to the characters and the other robots and craft made me into a fan immediately and I have been drooling over it ever since. All in all, Zone of The Enders is one hell of an underrated series. It has been hiding behind the shadows of some of Konami’s best titles and has yet to see the light of day. Hopefully with the release of the HD collection in the fall this year, people will finally give the proper attention to this awesome masterpiece and maybe, just maybe, like my brother said, long time fans like he and I will be able to finally play Zone of The Enders 3.

–James B. Boss