Zone of the Enders

Do you those awesome games that rock like hell but are unheard of? Zone of the Enders (from now on, called ZoE) is one of those games. Probably one of, if not the one, the most dynamic games I've ever played. Really. The goddamned game rocks the socks out of Satan's horns.

The first game is about a guy called Leo Stenbuck, who is an Ender (person who lives in a Space Colony) and is caught in the middle of a raid (the Antilia Raid) led by BAHRAM. After seeing his friends being squashed by a damaged UNSF LEV (a mech), he glances at an Orbitral Frame (a more powerful class of mech), and starts running away. He eventually hides inside a factory and stumbles inside the cockpit (and this time, the pun in cockpit can REALLY be applied) of an Orbital Frame called Jehuty. After escaping the factory inside the mech, Leo receives instructions from UNSF for him to deliver them the OF he was piloting. And basically, that's the story of the first game. Leo later encounters Jehuty's twin Orbital Frame - Anubis, and is forced to retreat, since it was an impossible fight for him. He eventually escapes from the colony and hands the mech to the UNSF.

Yeah, the story is quite corny and is not that great. It gets the point across and is enough for the game to work, though. But what really makes the game shine is not the story, rather, it's the gameplay. It's so addicting and awesome. This is the only PS2 game that really gave me a sensation of being afloat in the middle of the air, with full control of the direction I wanted to go. The combat is also very nice and the bosses are quite interesting. And do not forget - this game can be very fast-paced, which seriously rocks.
Oh, and this is just to not mention something that is also amazingly spectacular - visuals. Like... AWESOME. They're just so smooth and cool. Really. Awesome is the only word I can use to describe it. It makes me love the game even more than I already do.

Now, as if this awesomeness wasn't enough, Konami had to come with a (needed) sequel! Guess what? It's even more epic. So goddamn epic it could blow the Sun as if it was a candle (ok... I'm obviously exaggerating. But you get my point). First off - the grab system has been improved. This time, instead of simply restricting the movement of an enemy using some kind of static field, we really DO GRAB enemies and it has gone from one of the most useless actions to one of the most awesome and important moves. We can now use enemies (or other objects) as weapons, shield or even a projectile, which can make Jehuty to start spinning like nuts, damaging anything near it, and then launching the enemy into our foes. Very, very handy.
Another change was the way our enemies organized. They are no longer patrolling the areas in squads of 3. No sir. They now swarm at you, which makes things more interesting. The boss fights are also quite cool, but more "brainless brawl" than the ones of the previous games. This, of course, putting Nephtis and Zakat aside, which are 2 cool bosses, and the first appearing 3 times in the game and being a pain in the ass.

Story-wise, the 2nd one maintains the same corniness, but it's a bit cooler and this time, it has real anime cutscenes.


Still, they are quite some awesome games, and when I get to talk about them, I get a bit too carried away. You've probably noticed that, no? Well, has any of you ever played any of these two games? If yes, what do you think about it? And if you've never played it and have a PS2 - BUY IT. NOW. IMMEDIATELY. YOU HAVE NO IDEA OF WHAT YOU'RE MISSING.