The early days of the PlayStation2 were fraught with much disappointment for many gamers, with most games offering very short play times and substandard graphics. The fortunes of the system wouldn't change until June 2001, when the arrival of Twisted Metal: Black initiated a non-stop barrage of top-quality games that lasted all the way through the end of the year. In the meantime, gamers had Konami's mech action game Zone of the Enders to tide them over. Heralded as a "Metal Gear Solid with robots", ZoE promised a heart-wrenching story and epic gameplay. While it falls short of both of those lofty goals, it's still a great-looking, great-playing mech combat game, and could turn into a stellar franchise with a little work.

In ZoE, you assume the role of Leo Stenbuck, a young boy living on a space colony orbiting the planet Jupiter. After fleeing some bullies and a sudden mech attack, Leo finds himself in a secluded warehouse with a shiny new robot (referred to as "orbital frames"). His options limited, he climbs aboard the frame, called the Jehuty, and prepares to (reluctantly) kick some ass. The game begins with an excellent tutorial, similar to the VR Missions in Metal Gear Solid, that covers all the main points of movement and combat. Once completed, you're returned to the space station, where enemy orbital frames are wreaking havoc. Your overall mission is to stop the enemy orbital frames from destroying the colony while rescuing any survivors. There are numerous pre-rendered and real-time cutscenes that advance the basic storyline, featuring full English voice acting.

The on-board computer, ADA, informs you of your objectives during each mission. While she is well-voiced, I can't say the same for the other characters. Leo is a whiny, annoying brat, and the adult characters are no better. The story of prepubescent tikes piloting giant robots has been told dozens of times in animes and manga, and there's really very little that's new in ZoE. The subpar acting really detracts from the experience as well, and I wish Konami had included the Japanese language track like Capcom did with Onimusha. Luckily, the cutscenes can be skipped so you can get back to the action whenever you wish. There are only a handful of musical tracks, and most of these consist of offbeat techno loops and computery-sounding drum beats. The sound effects are generally crisp and clean, epsecially the various technical noises that emanate from the orbital frames. The same musical tracks accompany most of the levels, which, as I'll discuss later, is oddly appropriate.

Where Zone of the Enders truly shines, however, is with its visuals and play mechanics. The various sections of the space station are modeled and textured quite well, and are highly destructible. Although the game does its best to discourage you from unnecessary damage, destroying buildings and homes is simply too much fun. The sense of scale is right-on, as Jehuty stands as tall as some buildings, while objects like trees and automobiles are suitable tiny. The orbital frame designs are outstanding, featuring the incomparable style of Metal Gear illustrator Yoji Shinkawa. The various orbital frames are very unique and are tailor-made for space combat, as their legs taper at the ends to fine points. Pulsing energy lines flow down the body of each frame, which looks great with the reflective surfaces. Everything has a sleek, high-tech feel, and it really feels like you're playing inside a giant robot cartoon.

The animation is superb as well, as Jehuty twists and turns in mid-air in ultra-smooth fasion. The frame rate is locked down at a silky smooth 60fps, and the game doesn't skip a frame no matter how much action is taking place. The laser effects are bright and clean, and the fiery explosions look fantastic against the dark backdrop of space. On the down side, the game lacks anti-aliasing and the jagged edges spoil what should be a super-smooth looking experience. In addition, the areas you fight in are constrained by invisible barriers, so you have much less room to explore than it appears. Sadly, there are very few different enemy designs, so you'll be fighting the same three orbital frames for the entire game. The boss fights are spectacular and a lot of fun, but there are too few of them, even in a short game like this. Thankfully those bosses are gigantic and present a decent challenge, and shine as one of the bright spots in the gameplay department.

The play mechanics Konami has developed for ZoE are nothing short of amazing, and I daresay this is the best-playing game of its type. Analog control is intuitive and responsive, and the Jehuty always does exactly what you want it to do. You can lock-on to targets and cycle through them, then proceed to pummel them with melee attacks or ranged weapons. You can string together a combo of laser lance attacks that are murder on the standard orbital frames. The Jehuty can use a turbo boost to fly faster and cut loose some devastating energy attacks. In addition, you can grab an enemy up close and throw him into a building or even another enemy. There are a variety of sub-weapons that see limited use, from projectiles to repair items to decoys. You've even got an energy shield that protects against most laser blasts and melee attacks. The game plays like a dream, and the fast and furious action is exactly what you want out of a game like this.

The gameplay diversity is where ZoE starts to fall apart. In addition to only three basic enemy types, the missions themselves suffer from repetition. The core gameplay consists of choosing an area and attacking enemy units until they're all destroyed. There are a few rescue missions and a few boss fights, but for the most part you'll be killing the same enemies over and over again most of the time. And many of the missions take place in similar sections of the space station, with very little visual diversity. Despite the excellent control and visuals, this gets boring after a while and the title loses much of its initial appeal. The game is mercifully short, though, requiring only about six hours to complete on first play. Repetitive gameplay and short length are never a good combination, and while I'm generally a fan of shorter games, I know that ZoE will leave many gamers feeling unsatisfied. A cool two-player option becomes available upon completing the game, though even that won't add much replay value to the title.

Although it fails to live up to its rather large billing, Zone of the Enders is a solid B-level game. Its visuals and play mechanics certainly carry the title, though the subpar story and acting coupled with the games' short length will likely turn off many players. This is an excellent starting point, however, and if Konami can flesh out the gameplay, diversify the enemy roster and add a compelling story, then there is high hope for a top-quality sequel. In the end I guess it doesn't really matter, as most gamers were going to buy ZoE strictly for the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo (a smart move by Konami). I can't say I blame them, but ZoE is still worth checking out, especially if you like giant robots.