A unique and interesting world
There is a moment I want to say about half way through Zeno Clash where the girl you have been travelling with asks you to go hunt for some food. So you run out into the desert and walk through the legs of large dinosaur type creatures. While this wasn't the first time during the game where I said to myself "wow, this is a different game environment," it was the moment where I was sold. There is something to be said for doing small tasks in interesting enviroments. It feels as though the guys who made this game knew what they had and they really give the player a chance to immerse themselves in the world.
Another interesting aspect to the game is the fact that a lot of the story is told in flashback. Having these two parallel stories allows the game to start with a bang and then progress at a steady pace by slowly revealing the lead up to the games opening. There are moments that are a bit off in the story and the voice acting isn't really up to par with a big name release but structurally, the story is strong. This is in spite of the fact that the central narrative which at times feels complex is actually rather simple.
Naturally the world and story would be wasted if the combat didn't work. Thankfully Ace have developed a very intuitive combat system that only occasionally gets frustrating. I remember when the 3D craze first started and there was talk about when we would get combinations of the popular at the time fighting genre and the newly popular first person genre. There have been games like Chornicles of Riddick which do a good job of it but treat it as a sort of diversion to the shooting. While Zeno Clash doesn't go all the way (there are guns...interesting guns but they are still guns) the hand to hand combat makes up the bulk of your fights and you damn well better get used to it.
Amazing world, a well told (if a little average) story and solid, intuitive gameplay. Zeno Clash is worth a look and certainly has me interested to see what Ace will do with a sequel. Personally I'd crave a chance to explore this world in more depth in an open world setting.
