Saturday, September 22, 2012

"Zone of the Enders", PlayStation 2, 2001.

And now, an ad for a game whose most critical sales point was the fact that it came bundled with a demo for the latest member of a far more popular and hotly-anticipated series.

with ultimate power
comes ultimate consequences

TACTICAL ESPIONAGE ACTION
METAL GEAR SOLID 2
SONS OF LIBERTY
TRIAL EDITION
PLAYABLE DEMO INCLUDED
"Certainly one of the most exciting games we've ever seen, and it plays like an absolute dream."
Official PlayStation magazine
Control system is intuitive and easy to use in a 3D environment
Your decisions during combat affect the outcome of the story
Versus Mode for heated, 2-player battles
The controls of a fully-armed, giant, mechanized, prototype robot are in your hands. So is the fate of your entire space colony. Life and death decisions aren't easy -- but when the time comes, you'll know what to do.
Immersive story follows characters as they examine the meaning of life and death.
Computer AI reacts to and learns from your actions, helping you minimise civilian casualties.
Combat system allows both close-quarter weapon attacks and long-range laser attacks.
Fast-paced battle sequences with multiple enemies in full 3D environments.
Missions change when re-played.


The game's headline seems derivative of Spider-Man's core axiom ("with great power comes great responsibility", which is appropriate for an ad running in a comic book. If you want to connect with them, you need to understand how they talk!
Personally, I've heard enough about the 3D environments -- presumably this was to distinguish the game from other launch games which, while technically in 3D, may not have done much with the perspective?
I was never able to pass the first boss, but maybe that last point ("missions change when re-played") should have inspired me to try again. That means I don't have much from personal experience to report regarding this title, but I can tell you now that I will buy any game that successfully delivers on this game's promise of Immersive story follows characters as they examine the meaning of life and death.

2 comments:

  1. The name makes me think of Ender's Game, but the concept makes me think of Neon Genesis Evangelion, which was already kind of Ender's Game, anyway.

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    1. I don't know that the Japanese are known for coming up with original ideas so much as distilling them to their purest essence. And of course, coming up with hybrids that should never have been.

      But enough racist stereotypes from me!

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