Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition Review

When I first heard of Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition, I had no idea what it was. After playing the game however, well, I still have no idea what it is. I have never been so utterly freaked out by a title that isn’t considered a “horror” game. Still, if you can get past all of the crazy characters, tripped out environments and the somewhat nausea-inducing fighting system, you are in for a pretty good experience.

It is hard to follow the story, although if you pay close enough attention, you can make some sense out of the beginning. After an explosive spat with the Father-Mother (the leader of your “family”), the protagonist Ghat blacks out and drops the giant bird-dinosaur with his other-worldly ninja skills. Naturally, this does not sit well with the others in your clan. With some help from your sister/girlfriend/girl with antlers and an afro friend, you escape into a world that not even your wildest imagination can materialize even on it’s craziest day.

Seeing that this is a first person brawler, I had to go in to my experience timidly. I’ve been hurt before with Mirror’s Edge. The controls are simple enough, but the timing required to pull off some of the more powerful maneuvers will have you wanting to give up and stick to the simplicity of the weaker single hits. If you do commit to it, there are some cool kicks and combos you can string together for a bit more involved experience. There is a nice parry/dodge/counter system that’s easy enough to master, but it’s hard to do with multiple freaks bearing down on you.

Luckily, there is an indicator that tells you if there is an enemy in close proximity if you are locked on to another target. It seems to be picky about when it wants to work, so don’t rely on it too much. I have to say that some of the fights are very difficult for the first six or seven tries. Weapon combat is a little loose and could use some cool combos, but it gets the job done. For the record: fish guns are awesome.

For a downloadable title, Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition has some pretty stellar visuals. The way the leaves sway in the wind, the fluidity of the crazy zebra-monkey-dog’s various martial arts movements and the overall brilliance of the world will have you thinking that you are playing a full retail game. As weird and backwards as the land is, everything is very well done and the imagination of the artists really shows through. Essentially, the whole game feels a lot like a more fleshed out Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind visually, only tripped out on acid.

The music, while dramatic during violent freaky fighting time, really seems to take from classic first person games such as Doom and Wolfenstein. The rest of the sounds, however, are potentially the most disturbing part of the game. Specifically the sounds the NPCs make. I’m not sure how the developer made some of these sounds, but then again, I’m not sure I want to. From high blood-curdling shrieks, to low death gurgles that resemble the most evil beings ever encountered in a video game, it has to be some of the most creative, yet terrifying sound work I’ve heard in my long gaming career.

The multiplayer seems like it would be fun. Unfortunately, I could not find any players to share in the first person slugfesting. Zeno rush is nice if you want to go through the meatier fights with the added challenge of a timer. This, however, does not really add much to the game except more frustration and does not really add to the replay value of the game like I had hoped it would. The extra modes seem a bit tacked on, but if there were more people with the game online, I expect it would be worth at least a few more times through. There were so many times in the single player campaign that I needed non-AI help, so a co-op story would have been a great add-on, rather than just a few “hit the bad dudes” missions.

Overall, Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition is an average game. It brings some new concepts to the first person genre as a whole: some good and some bad. Smashing and bashing in first person is fun at times and brutally frustrating at others. Without a solid online fan base, this game doesn’t really have a lot of replay merit. Luckily, the story is long and interesting enough to warrant the $15 purchase. Zeno Clash is originally a PC title and the Xbox Live Arcade title is the same thing with a few extra modes and bonuses to the single player campaign. If you have played it before, there is no need to buy it on the Marketplace. If this is your first venture into the world of Zenozoik, I strongly recommend you download the trial and then determine if this first person brawler is worth your hard earned points.