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Developer: ACE Team
Publisher: Atlus
Platform: XBLA
Genre: Action
Release Date: May 5, 2010
Price: $14.99
Zeno Clash Ultimate Edition for XBLA is a first person brawler taking place in the weirdest environment you have ever seen.
Zeno Clash tells the tale of Ghat and his adventure through the strange and surreal land of Zenozoik, Pursued by those who want justice, for his heinous act against his family, he is joined by his companion Deadra as they try to find the truth in a world of mystery. It is a fairly common story in gaming and as such, not the true selling point of the title. If anything it’s the world that this adventure takes place in that really makes it worth your while.
Our Protagonist Ghat and his companion Deadra
The world of Zeno Clash shows off the phenomenal artistic design of the folks over at ACE Team. It melds the styles of Tim Schaffer, Tim Burton and games like Neverhood into a weirdly refreshing world of creepy deformed characters and eye popping environments. There are no typical buildings and hallways to be seen in this game. In their place are lush outdoor environments with surreal plant life and all sorts of imaginary creatures your mind has never seen. Each section of the game has its own unique color palette and atmosphere. Of course visuals alone do not make a game; you need gameplay to a go along with it.
The gameplay of Zeno Clash UE is very reminiscent of games like Condemned and Breakdown. It is a first person brawler, with some ranged combat via guns and grenades. You have your basic combat, which includes a light punch, mapped to the right trigger, a heavy punch mapped to the left trigger, blocking with the A button and throwing grenades with the B button. You are taught a fair amount of different combos throughout the single player story; however, you probably won’t use many of them because the basic three hit punch or heavy punch combo usually does the trick. Projectile weapons are handled in a fairly standard way; that is to say you line up your sights with the left trigger and shoot with the right trigger. The controls are fairly simple and intuitive and don’t take much time at all to get used to.
I don't know what that is but I'm sure ready to hit it.
Like Condemned and Breakdown, Zeno Clash immerses you in the world and makes you feel every punch you throw. You feel powerful when you are able to knock an opponent back a few feet, however, there are many times, especially in the second half of the game where frustration will start rearing its ugly head. Enemies constantly begin blocking every attack and start hitting you from behind, which can leave you very disoriented. As you are disoriented, the enemies begin rushing you in groups of 3 or 4 and then you essentially become helpless.
It is at this point where you think to yourself, let me pull away from the enemies and start picking them off with projectile weapons. Well unfortunately, projectile weapons are generally useless as they are very cumbersome to use and most often are not very fun or practical when you have multiple enemies charging. It also doesn’t help that the reload animation for every weapon is extremely long and leaves you vulnerable to attacks. It is this combination of ineffective melee combat and useless projectile combat that the game devolves into a frustrating mess. Luckily the single player only lasts about 4 to 5 hours, so there isn’t too much frustration to be had.
2 on 1, I like those odds
The game does have a few other modes, notably the local and online co-op Tower challenges, which can be quite entertaining with a buddy. However, they are mainly just a diversion, which don't really add much in the way of gameplay. Beyond these modes there isn’t much to Zeno Clash UE, however it is a visual masterpiece and does provide some entertaining battle sequences; even if it does eventually turn into a bit of a frustrating bar fight. I do recommend that you give it a shot, if only to see a world like no other.
FINAL VERDICT
3 out of 5
[embed:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3erYi1r-dV4 ]
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