Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner

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Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner

Developer(s)	Konami Computer Entertainment Japan
Publisher(s)	Konami Computer Entertainment
Designer(s)	Shuyo Murata
Release date(s)	^JPN February 13, 2003 ^NA March 10, 2003 ^EU September 26, 2003
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Single player, Two-player versus
Rating(s)	ESRB: Mature (M), PEGI: 12+
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Media	1 DVD-ROM

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner (Japanese title Anubis: Zone of the Enders) is a video game that was developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation 2 in 2003. The sequel to Zone of the Enders, the game was produced by, and is closely associated with, Hideo Kojima. The game is based around mecha combat. All mecha were designed by Yoji Shinkawa, the character and mechanical designer for the Metal Gear Solid series.

The sequel picks up where the last game left off. The controls and graphics are improved to enhance the gameplay. Although instead of going city to city like the first installment, the sequel is divided into sections, one after each boss.

A variety of weapons, enemies, and boss battles have been added to the game. The "Special Edition" PAL and NTSC-J versions of the game featured a variety of additions and extras to the game, including new VR Training options, added scenarios, more difficulties, a music video featuring a remixed "Beyond the Bounds" theme, improved anti-aliasing and graphical optimizations, new Orbital Frames for Versus Mode, among other improvements to the game.

While the previous installment of the series covered themes such as the loss of innocence and the morality of killing, this game featured themes such as camaraderie, duty, vengeance, and mortality.

In a recent GameSpot interview with Kojima, he was asked about a third installment of the game. His response was: "I've been getting questions about that, and I've pretty much counted each one as a demand...I'll be sure to count that one too." An even more recent interview describes Mr. Kojima as saying: "I want to make it, but I'm so busy with MGS4 that I have to focus on that right now." While no confirmations of a third game were made, the possibility of one has been brought to attention many times. Kojima has even stated that he "has an idea for the next Zone of the Enders game", which should please fans fearing poor sales had put an end to the series.

1 Plot
2 Characters
3 Mecha
4 Staff
5 Theme song
6 Reception
7 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Callisto, satellite of Jupiter, 2174, two years after the Antillia raid. Dingo Egret continues his daily job as in ice miner on Callisto, but as he's talking to his friend Angie, his mining LEV's radar detects a shallow bulk of metatron. Dingo intercepts the metatron, revealing it to be a large container holding the Orbital Frame Jehuty. Just as Dingo makes this discovery BAHRAM forces attack Callisto and destroy his LEV. Desperate, Dingo climbs into Jehuty as it is sliding down a steep embankment and activates it, becoming the 2nd Runner of the title. He engages and successfully defeats many Raptors and supposed UAV's called Mosquitos on his way to rescue his friend Rick, who at the time was surrounded by enemies and his LEV was damaged. Ken Marinaris arrives in her Frame, Ardjet, and challenges Dingo to do battle. Jehuty comes out as the victor, but Ardjet escapes and seek refuge inside the BAHRAM battleship that arrived on Callisto as it is evacuating the area.

Dingo manages to get inside the battleship just as the blast doors close and he starts to make his way around the battleship. After battling constant waves of enemies he comes across Nephtis, an Orbital Frame similar to Neith from the first game. Nephtis is now run by an A.I. based on the psychological traits of the deceased Viola. Burst, shot and blade attacks do not get past Nephtis' defence, so Dingo grabs a support beam from a wall and throws it at Nephtis, pinning it to the wall and apparently immobilising it. Just as Dingo starts talking to ADA about Viola, even though he is quite distrought at the news that she died two years previously, Jehuty gets a resonance reaction, Anubis is nearby.

Dingo finds Anubis but is overwhelmed by its speed from the Zero Shift Subweapon as they are doing battle. Nohman is shocked after the short battle to find out that the runner of Jehuty is Dingo. As this happens, Nephtis flies into the room gently with the same bar in its hand that Dingo threw at her earlier. Nephtis does exactly the same to Jehuty and temporarily immobilises it, forcing Dingo to surrender to Nohman's wishes of giving up and returning Jehuty.

In a secluded hallway Ken Marinaris shows up again and proceeds to show a lot of hostility towards Dingo, even punching him in the face before they even begin a conversation. Nohman approaches Dingo and has a peaceful conversation regarding Dingo's supposed return to BAHRAM under Nohman's commmand. Dingo refuses and turns away to get back to Jehuty, as this happens, Nohman shoots Dingo with multiple rounds from a handgun and seems to obliterate his major internal organs. Nohman orders Ken to dispose of Dingo's not-yet-dead body. Ken approaches Dingo, who is lying in midair due to Zero-G and makes a deal "Help me if you want to live". All Dingo can do is lie there speechless.

Two months later on BAHRAM's Deimos Station, Ken forges an order from Nohman stating to base scientists that Dingo is to be revived and placed inside Jehuty. When Dingo comes to, Ken tells him that Jehuty's energy is supplementing his heart and lungs. If Dingo leaves Jehuty, he will die within seconds. Ken goes on to tell Dingo that she is in fact a spy from the UNSF sent in to report in Nohman. Dingo believes her, but is reluctant to obey her orders. While Dingo tries to find a way to escape Deimos, he receives an SOS from a UNSF Phantoma LEV stuck inside a cargo of freight. The pilot of the LEV, Taper, need to use the emergency catapult to rendezvous with his unit on Mars to attack Aumaan. Dingo is reluctant to follow Ken's orders, but he successfully carries the LEV through the ship towards the catapult, whilst fighting off numerous enemy forces. Just as Taper evacuates the ship, Nephtis makes a short pursuit of Jehuty, however, Dingo escapes before Nephtis can reach him.

Dingo lands Jehuty on the outer egdes of west Margeritifer, a county of Mars. The entire area is war torn with burning buildings left, right and centre. Just as Dingo gets his head around the catastrophic landscape, he is attacked by many frames, but before the enemies reach Jehuty, they are destroyed by a large laser attack. the attack came from a Vic Viper frame flown by Leo Stenbuck.

[edit] Characters

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Dingo Egret: Dingo is an ice miner on Jupiter's satellite Callisto. A former member of BAHRAM, Dingo disappeared after his unit was wiped out in a UNSF ambush. He passes his days as an ice miner around Jupiter's moons, until he finds the hidden Orbital Frame Jehuty.

Just as he finds the Frame, BAHRAM does as well, and attacks the mining operation to retrieve it. Dingo activates Jehuty and takes it into battle, wiping out the BAHRAM drones and driving off Ardjet. He infiltrates the BAHRAM battleship, but is defeated by Anubis and Nephtis. Outside of their orbital frames, Nohman tries to get him to join him once more, but Dingo refuses and Nohman shoots him. The gun shot wounds destroy his heart and lungs.

Dingo wakes up several weeks later in the cockpit of Jehuty, hard-wired into its life-support system. Ken Marinaris, claiming to be a UNSF spy, asks him to help the UNSF stop BAHRAM.

Nohman: Commander of BAHRAM. His real name is Ridley Hardiman. He pursues the project of completing "Aumaan" -- the invincible military fortress to secure the victory of BAHRAM. He is the frame runner who pilots "Anubis".

In truth, Nohman has no desire to liberate or conquer Mars. His ultimate plan is to destroy humanity, and the entire solar system with it. Aumaan is just the weapon to do that.

Ken Marinaris: Ken Marinaris is an Orbital Frame runner who claims to be a spy for the UNSF. She pilots the Orbital Frame Ardjet, and is the first to battle against Dingo and Jehuty on Callisto. When Dingo is seriously wounded by Nohman, Ken revives him and hides his body. As the BAHRAM fleet returns to Mars, she has him wired into Jehuty's systems, and convinces him to help her fight against BAHRAM.

In actuality, Ken is no spy, she is in fact a normal BAHRAM OF runner, but found herself disagreeing with Nohman's motives and methods.

Leo Stenbuck: The main character of the previous game. Leo Stenbuck was a boy living on Antillia, a space colony orbiting the planet Jupiter, when an attack on the colony by BAHRAM leaves most of his friends dead and himself accidentally in the cockpit of the Orbital Frame Jehuty. Leo found himself having to fight his way across the colony to the safety of the waiting UNSF ship "Atlantis", doing a lot of growing up on the way as well as forming a unique bond with Jehuty's onboard computer A.D.A.

Two years later, Leo is still fighting for the UNSF, this time in the cockpit of the prototype LEV Vic Viper. Fighting a year long skirmish against Bahram with the crew of the Atlantis, Leo has endured much but come out an immensely strong hearted young man, his will matched only by his incredible prodigy level piloting skill which has further been honed. Upon realizing the UNSF intends with finality to send the Jehuty to Mars in order to self-destruct with the military fortress Aumaan (as stated at the cliff hanger of the previous game), Leo alters the course of the Urenbeck Catapult (a form of near light speed travel in the Zone of the Enders universe.) to send Jehuty to the ice covered Jupiter moon of Callisto, intending to hide it among the Metatron mines present on the moon. He then intended to use the rather powerful Vic Viper to fight against BAHRAM and Aumaan itself. He is surprised and angered to find Dingo with Jehuty on Mars, and quickly attacks him in an attempt to retrieve his old Frame believing Dingo to be an agent of BAHRAM.

Viola A.I.: An Artificial Intelligence based on the battle abilities and thought patterns of Viola, a BAHRAM officer who died fighting against Leo and Jehuty during the incident on Antillia. She almost never speaks, and seems to have been programmed with a hatred or obsession with Jehuty.

A.D.A.: The AI built into Jehuty. Before the battles on Antillia, A.D.A. was cold and mostly emotionless, but quickly warmed up to her young pilot, who was a great influence on her. She is helpful to both Leo and Dingo, and will often help them in battle by managing Jehuty's weapons.

A.D.A. cares a lot for Leo, a fact that Dingo often teases her about. In return, she teases him about his interactions with Ken Marinaris.

When Jehuty was captured by the UNSF, A.D.A. was given a single directive: To make her way into the fortress Aumaan, and destroy it by self-destructing Jehuty. Leo hid Jehuty on Callisto in an attempt to prevent her from doing so.

Lloyd: Runner who pilots Inhert. A BAHRAM scientist who conducts research on Orbital Frames. He's worked with Dingo when Dingo was a BAHRAM test pilot. While having doubts about BAHRAM's dictatorship, he does serve BAHRAM loyally. He has the key to filling in the gap between the performances of Jehuty and Anubis. Lloyd, along with Inhert, was designed by Kazuma Kaneko, of the Megami Tensei fame [1].

Taper: A UNSF soldier who somehow finds his way onto BAHRAM's battleship. Ken tries to have Dingo use him as a contact with the UNSF. Once reunited with his squad on Mars he, along with Dingo and Leo, lead an attack on the BAHRAM super-fortress of Aumaan. Taper is a loyal soldier, but is probably too panic-prone for his own good.

[edit] Mecha

Jehuty: An Orbital Frame secretly developed on the space colony on Jupiter's orbit. It has escaped the attacks of BAHRAM 2 years ago, thanks to Leo Stenbuck. But it has been lost since. Dingo discovers Jehuty on Jupiter's satellite Callisto. It is considered the mech that controls the fate of the entire human race.

Jehuty's normal form of attack is energy blasts fired from its hands. These can be either small bolts, a spread of beams that can home in on the enemy, or a huge, powerful ball of energy that can be hurled at a target. Jehuty also has a switch-blade attached to its right elbow that can be swung forward over the hand for close combat. Jehuty can also download attack programs that give it additional weapons.

When Jehuty is upgraded to Jehuty ver.2 by Lloyd, it gets even more powerful, and gains three "options', which also fire at enemies, and can help attack enemies in close combat. It can also use powerful weapons such as the Vector Cannon, and gains the ability to Zero Shift, compressing and releasing space in order to move great distances instantly.

Anubis: The strongest Orbital Frame controlled by Nohman. A twin mech developed along with Jehuty, it has similar characteristics. Anubis's abilities are similar to Jehuty's through the use of burst attacks and its laser dash attack. Anubis can also use Zero Shift like Jehuty.

Ardjet: Orbital Frame piloted by Ken with a tough exterior armor. Ardjet is primarily armed with wisps, small remote drones that can act as missiles or grab onto an orbital frame or other target. Ardjet also has the capability to fire a very powerful beam weapon by cocooning itself in its armour.

Vic Viper: Mech piloted by Leo. Morphs into humanoid mode and flight mode. The Vic Viper, also known as the V2, is not an Orbital Frame, but is an extremely powerful LEV, capable of nearly matching the more powerful Frames in combat.

Vic Viper is patterned off of the ship in the Gradius series, and its weapons reflect that. Aside from the Gauntlet subweapon, all of its weapons used in flight mode are powerups used by ships in the Gradius series (missiles, lasers, Ripple beams, and Options).

Nephtis: Orbital Frame piloted by the Viola A.I. An enhanced version of the Orbital Frame Neith piloted by the original Viola.

Inhert: Lloyd's prototype frame. Unlike conventional Orbital Frames, the cockpit is at the head. It uses magnetic rays in its power train. Its armor consists of a special gel (the black substance on the surface).

LEV Phantoma: A UNSF military LEV. It was the strongest of mechs until BAHRAM Orbital Frames were invented. Now it is an out-of-date mech that cannot match Orbital Frames at all.

Zakat: Zakat (Russian Закат, "Dusk") is BAHRAM's gigantic Orbital Frame for destroying bases. It played a central role in BAHRAM's overtaking of Mars. It is controlled by 4 runners. Zakat is spherical in overall shape, armed with a powerful shield and multiple beam cannons.

[edit] Staff

Yoji Shinkawa - Mechanical Designer
Hideo Kojima - Producer
Nobuyoshi Nishimura - Character Design 2D Animation Director
Tsubasa Masao - Original Character Designer
Shuyo Murata - Game Design/Scenario/Director
Kazuma Kaneko - Guest Character/Mechanical Designer

[edit] Theme song

The game's theme song is "Beyond the Bounds," composed by Maki Kirioka and performed by Maki Kimura. (Lyrics) A remix of the song appears on Pop'n Music 8.

[edit] Reception

The game is being praised by some players for it's beautifull visuals and graphics, fast and intense boss battles and with some praising it's excellent controls. The game recieved positive reviews from game sites even if the game will be finished from 5-6 hours depending on the player.

GameSpot - 8.8/10
IGN - 8.6/10
GameTab - 83.58%/100%
GameSpy - 3/5

[edit] External links

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner - Konami Official Site
Zone of the Enders: The Unofficial site - Unofficial Zone of the Enders site, contains character, story, orbital frames, LEV, gameplay, timeline, informations.