A title with great potential with in depth story however falls short in gameplay.
Zone of the Enders clearly does this, despite having an art direction, which I think is consider what every PS2 gamer would want. It misses the gameplay potential which every gamer would be looking for. Too top it all off… The main character gives this game a weak start and direction to keep you engaged despite having an in-depth story.
The story starts on a colony orbiting Jupiter. The colony gets invaded by an unknown force. You start off the game playing as Leo as he runs for his life, he later gets accidentally dropped into a mecha named Jehuty who had an AI named ADA. ADA is programmed to take care of Leo who pilots Jehuty. As the story continues, more of the plot gets revealed which explains about the whole situation. The story has it's moments, which makes this game worth while to play.
There a lot which Jehuty can do in the game, you can hover around the colony's cityscape attacking the invaders. The controls are fluid, which are really well done and flying around the colony really well. You can grab them and throw them against walls or other enemy units and also obtain special weapons to use during the game.
The game also has puzzles where you would need some elements or 'keys' to succeed in some areas., which has you sent back and forth from location to location… which is alittle of a pain to be honest, because you'll be jumping searching for something for a while and could almost lose what you were doing in the first place. I would say it a poorly executed puzzle element to the game.
On the bright side, the bosses do make the game worth while to battle. The boss battles are well designed and do make a good challenge in the game.
At the end of the day, the game last for 3 hours in the story and the extras include boss and two player battles and it does feel like part of the game feels incomplete… however if you enjoy Japanese Mecha anime hits… give this game a shot.