Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition

Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition – Demo Impressions

Zeno Clash is a game i heard about a couple of years ago mostly for its melee and weird visuals. Today i played some of the Xbox Live Arcade’s Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition which apparently comes with a new multiplayer mode that isn’t found in the PC version. Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition was developed by ACE Team and published by Atlus Co for XBLA. It released May 10, 2010.

The menu section showed sub-menus of  New Game (Main Adventure-”Prologue” and “Fugitive”). Zeno Rush and Tower Challenge. Other main sub-menus included Cooperative Challenge, Leaderboards, Achievements, Help & Options, Extras, Unlock Full Game and Return to game Library. The only worthwhile menu is New Game and the two levels you can play in this particular demo are Prologue and Fugitive.

I decided to give the Prologue a go first. The tutorial was servicable as is taught me the combat and shooting basics of Zeno Clash. You wake up in a haze to see your father teaching you. I learned how to lock-on, block, dodge, throw kicks, throw punches, grabbing, aiming and shoot guns, throw Skull Bones and more. I did like the melee first-person brawling in Zeno Clash. Its visceral enough although not perfect. Its fun enough and reminded me of Condemned’s bum fighting. I was kinda shocked how much i enjoyed the actual gameplay most notably the fighting in this game.

There are clear quality issues with Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition’s presentation. The art direction is interesting but lacked good texture work and animations. I understand this game is just over a year old. I also know games much older like Gears of War look much better. Maybe the Source Engine had to do with its sub-par visuals. The music wasn’t the best and the voice acting seemed less than stellar. The artstyle is that of a fantasy tribal world where animals and humans are intertwined genetically. I will say the world does seem interesting even though its presentation is rough around the edges.

After completing the Prologue level i was immediately thrusted into the story level from the campaign titled Fugitive. The protagonist is named Gat if i heard right. He is running away from apparently slaughtering his parents. A girl is trying to help him escape a bridge but not before getting cornered by a group of three enemies. You do some hand to hand combat (which was fun). After taking the trio out the girl gets the gate lifted at which time your told to grab some fruit to replenish health (A button). Next, another tutorial scene with dad ensues. You do some gun training. After the training your now back to fighting and escaping except this time you have a gun and start shooting the enemies. Shooting is wonky in Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition. The demo pretty much ends after that.

The full game of Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition has Co-op gameplay and challenges to complete online or in split screen. I can take away knowing the melee combat is fun but most other aspects seemed rough around the edges regarding this Xbox Live Arcade Game. Thanks for reading.