Hands-down the best mecha inspired action game ever!
Well, in ZOE2, you won't be taking on the role of Leo Stunbuck, the 1st runner on Jehuty. But instead, you take on the role of a much cooler, crazier character, Dingo. The game is told in Anime style storyline. Which means twist and turns regularly leading to the odd bout of undeniable confusion.
Graphics:
Once again Konami have really pushed the PS2 hardware with the visuals. Even to this day, its one of the best looking PS2 games around. It's often hard to believe the sheer amount of polygons and what not being banded around your TV screen especially when you consider the game suffers no slow-down. Think of the original game, double the quantity of explosions and mix in some effective cell shading techniques and you'll almost come close as to how good this title looks. The cut-scenes themselves are works of art, easily matching some of the more popular feature length anime films. Style is something this game certainly doesn't lack.
Sound:
Great special effects explosions and awesome voice acting. As always, nothing Kojima had done in the sound department was bad. The music are great stuff too, but you won't get any of those AAA levels of MGS music styles here though. But overall, its still damn good.
Gameplay:
Gameplay sticks more or less to originals formula but things had been cleaned up and streamlined this time around giving players a much slicker experience. You'll once again take control of an orbital frame simply known as Jehuty and be expected to participate in fights with other mechanical monstrosities. But Konami have implemented a few new moves to make things interesting including projectile throwing and the dull sounding but extremely useful option to lock on to multiple targets. The first few sections of the game are just there to give you a chance to get used to the initially awesome controls and after a while Jehuty can be upgraded with the all new sub-weapons including mines and EMP style weapons. Each having a unique function and often with spectacular results.
Get IT or rent IT?
I must say get it if you are a fan of Gundam and Xenogears. ZOE2 trully is an fine piece of art, making it one of the best Mecha-story game. Besides its hard to find this game in a new copy today, but if you really do... grab it without any hesistation at all!