The last two seasons of PlayStation2 software have largely delivered the type of engaging experiences that fans have been expecting since the machine launched in early 2000. Konami has been at the forefront of this movement with top-quality games in the Silent Hill and Metal Gear franchises, as well as a highly-anticipated Castlevania title scheduled for release later this year. But their other attempt at PS2 greatness, Zone of the Enders, failed to give players anything more than a colorful technology demo. Despite their best intentions, the original ZOE will forever be known as the free game that came with the $50 Metal Gear Solid 2 demo. Of course Konami is a company who isn't content with failure, and they've taken all the criticism of ZOE to heart in crafting its sequel.

For the second Zone of the Enders game, appropriately titled The 2nd Runner, Konami has tossed nearly everything from the original out the window in order to build an entirely new action game. I'll discuss the changes throughout the review, but here's a preview of what you're in for: whiny protagonist Leo Stenbuck has been replaced by gruff anti-hero Dingo Egret; the wretched FMV and painful acting have been swapped out for slick anime cutscenes and acceptable voice over performances; dull, repetitive missions have been canned in favor of frantic, diverse ones; and minimal replay value has been boosted by mini-missions and extra modes of play. Almost every disappointing aspect of Zone of the Enders has been addressed and remedied in The 2nd Runner.

You will once again pilot the orbital frame (giant robot) known as Jehuty, though you will be assuming the role of a grizzled ex-military pilot named Dingo Egret. The protagonist from the first game (Leo Stenbuck) is still around but he is thankfully only a supporting character this time. The story told in The 2nd Runner is a continuation from the first game and begins on Callisto, an icy moon of Jupiter. Dingo is dispatched in a LEV (mining robot) on the surface and quickly decides to investigate a deposit of Metatron that his scanners have located. Once he gets there he discovers a structure housing an abandoned orbital frame, which turns out to be Jehuty. At this time the BAHRAM war fleet attacks Callisto and destroys Dingo's LEV, forcing him to pilot the newly-found Jehuty.

The one thing that has remained intact from the first game is the fantastic play mechanics. Controlling Jehuty will quickly become second nature for most game players, even for those who never played the first game. The left and right analog sticks control lateral movement and viewing angle respectively, while the triangle and cross buttons allow you to change Jehuty's elevation. Once you acquire a lock on a target you will automatically circle around it, so much of the time your movements are relative to your current target. It sounds complicated, but moving around in ZOE2 will feel very natural after spending a few minutes with the game. Like the original, you will be offered a comprehensive tutorial mode that will allow you to familiarize yourself with the controls.

Attacking and defending will feel familiar to ZOE veterans. Jehuty can fire a series of weak laser pellets from a distance with the square button; increasing the pressure you apply will produce slightly stronger blasts. This will change to a melee sword attack when you engage your target up close. Mashing the square button will produce a flurry of sword slashes like before, but now you can finish off a combo by tossing the enemy up or down, and they will take extra damage if you can smash them into another object. Holding the R1 button produces an energy shield around Jehuty that protects against everything but Burst attacks. Burst attacks (preformed by holding R2 and pressing square), much like regular attacks, come in long-range and melee varieties that are useful in various capacities.

Jehuty can grab enemies and objects with the circle button, providing you with some very fun things to do. You can grab an enemy and use him as a shield or swing him around like a baseball bat. A number of different objects in the environment, including girders, tankers and shield plates, can also be used for offensive and defensive purposes. Jehuty can also equip a host of sub-weapons during the game that prove to be far more useful than the ones from the last game. The Gauntlet fires a thin beam of energy that can knock enemies away to a safe distance, while the Phalanx fires a continuous stream of high-speed pellets that can hit multiple targets. The various sub-weapons provide a fun and easy-to-use compliment to Jehuty's primary combat abilities.

Fights against major characters are much more involved than they were in Zone of the Enders and often require you to use a multitude of techniques. For instance, a battle against Nephtis might require you to use a shield plate to guard against her dash attack. This will also temporarily neutralize her shield and allow you to attack her. Another battle against ArdJet sees her possessed by a virus, and you must carefully grab her to delete it. But if the timing of your actions is off you'll damage her, increasing your chances of outright destroying her. The boss battles will really test your knowledge of the combat system and aren't mere button-mashing affairs. Both patience and skill are needed to continually succeed in The 2nd Runner.

The core play mechanics are intuitive and flexible, and allow you to fight off hordes of attackers with relative ease. Many engagements will find you battling upwards of 50 enemies at a time, though these targets are usually small and easily dispatched with homing lasers. Jehuty can lock onto as many as 100 targets simultaneously by holding down the square button while boosting; seeing him unload a barrage of a hundred bright blue lasers is truly a sight to behold. Many of the larger enemies will appear in mixed squads containing many different individual units, requiring you to prioritize your targets. Sometimes a "commander" type will appear; this unit can direct the efforts of the other combatants in the squad, resulting in a much more effective resistance against you.

The biggest failing of the original Zone of the Enders was the boring mission structure and repetitive mission variety, but Konami has boosted those qualities through the roof in The 2nd Runner. The first few missions see you performing various actions like escorting an abandoned LEV pilot to Mars, destroying a train full of enemy orbital frames and saving a civilian section of a city from destruction at the hands of the BAHRAM army. Some missions will have you navigating mazes (don't worry, there's a map), assisting a group of allies, or even sneaking through a mine field. You will rarely find yourself doing the same types of things, lending the game a fresh feeling all the way to the end. There are also a greater number of enemies to fight, so you won't keep seeing the same 3 designs for the whole game.

The action is fast and furious throughout most of these missions, but it climbs to absolutely insane levels in the massive battlefield engagement later in the game. This battle sees you assisting an army of 40 LEVs fight off literally hundreds of enemy orbital frames on a gigantic stretch of battlefield. The screen is crammed full of wreckage, smoke and laser fire for the better part of ten full minutes, and you will destroy upwards of 300 targets before the battle is over. Of course, your objective is also to save as many friendly LEVs as possible, so you've got to watch your radar closely for distress signals. It's very intense and quite a bit of fun, and your hands will likely ache afterwards. That's a very good sign for an action game.

The main game is a lot of fun, but it's still on the short side at about 5 hours. Konami has thoughtfully provided some extra game elements intended to lengthen your play time. During the game you can collect EX Icons that are hidden in various parts of each level. Collecting these will unlock extra missions for you to play outside of the main game. These missions include combat exercises that emphasize the various techniques (like series of missions where you can only use Grab attacks) and a very addictive survival mode. There is even a Gradius-style mini-game called Zoradius that lets you pilot the Vic Viper for some space shooting fun. Like the first game, The 2nd Runner contains a two-player versus mode that lets you jump in the cockpit of every orbital frame in the game.

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner is a fantastic visual feast that combines cel-shading with texture mapping to produce a unique and striking look. Jehuty and the other major orbital frames look outstanding, and the cel-shading gives them a sleek, metallic look. The animation is very smooth and the particle effects are extremely impressive. The enemy models are only moderately detailed, but this is easily forgiven in light of the sheer number that decorate the screen. The richly-detailed environments are loaded with destructible objects that collapse with tons of debris and awesome-looking cel-shaded smoke and explosion effects. The only negative comment I can make is that the game slows down quite frequently during heavy action, so it looks like you're playing in slow-motion sometimes.

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner is a fantastic action game that improves upon the original in every conceivable way. The developers at Konami really took the criticism of the first game to heart and delivered a sequel that definitely fulfills the potential greatness showcased by Zone of the Enders. With the progress shown in this latest installment, the ZOE series is now a legitimate game series that has me excited about future titles. The 2nd Runner looks great, sounds great, plays great and, most importantly, is packed with engaging gameplay that kept me playing for quite a long time. I highly recommend this one for action game afficianados and those who were by the disappointed by the original game. I can safely say that Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner will not disappoint.