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Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner - Mars, beyond being quite a mouthful, is arriving in September 2018, Konami announced. The 4K remaster of the game was initially slated for spring, so this is also a slight delay, but those seem to be mighty common these days.
This will be the third edition of the game, following the original for PlayStation 2 in 2003 and the HD release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012. Mars, stylised with an upside-down “A”, will be released on the PlayStation 4 and, finally, PC, with added VR support on the console version.
Zone of the Enders is Hideo Kojima’s other brainchild alongside the more popular Metal Gear franchise, and after Kojima split with Konami the rights stayed with the publisher. A third Zone of the Enders game quietly disappeared into the void and is unlikely to resurface, unless by some miracle Kojima re-acquires the rights to it.
The 2nd Runner is a direct sequel to the first Zone of the Enders game, and trades its semi-open world approach to a more linear progression. Players control the orbital frame Jehuty, a flying combat mecha from a third person perspective. Enemies include other orbital frames and a colourful assortment of various sci-fi military vehicles. Compared to the HD edition, Mars isn’t just a touch-up of the existing assets. The trailer clearly shows that the textures have been reworked with added detail, and there are more visual effects at play. The trailer also clearly shows that the original PS2 version looks a lot better in my memories than it actually did.
