From the packaging of Hideo Kojima’s Zone of the Enders, it’s difficult to tell whether this game comes packaged with the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo or vice versa. The words "Metal Gear Solid" appear four times on the front and back covers of the DVD case. Upon opening the case, you’ll have to move the aforementioned demo disc in order to even get to the Z.O.E. disc. It’s a bit of shrewd marketing designed to stir up the frenzy surrounding Kojima’s "other PS2 game," and it works. I’ll admit to buying Z.O.E. more out of curiosity in the demo than in the main event itself. The $70 entrance fee was eased, though, by the fact that Z.O.E. is a truly fantastic game.

Although the storyline is a bit sparse (and told through less than spectacular anime-like 3D cutscenes), the meat of Z.O.E. is in the gameplay. An action game at heart, Z.O.E. outs you in the cockpit of Jahuty, a mech (here called Orbital Frames) capable of incredible firepower. Confined to a massive colony space station orbiting Jupiter, your task is to save the citizens from invading mechs led by a mysterious woman piloting a Frame called Neith. The game plays out through a series of battles, each set in one of several locales aboard the station. This space station is gigantic, though, and the environments show it – there are several sprawling towns and cities above which you’ll engage a variety of enemy Frames.

The controls are brilliant, easily the best I’ve encountered in a game of this type. The left analog stick controls Jahuty, while the Triangle and X buttons change altitude. Square is a context-sensitive attack button, switching automatically from a long-range rifle to a sword when close to enemies. The various shoulder buttons control boosters, shields and targeting. At first, this may seem daunting, as every button on the PS controller has an important use, but after just a few minutes of play it becomes second nature.

The battles are the highlight of the game – Jahuty dives and circles around enemy Frames, swords clash and energy beams jet through the air. It’s the closest thing to the dynamic duels between Gundams in Japanese anime I’ve ever seen in a videogame. Stray shots destroy buildings and other structures, and the sense of controlling a massive mech is very well portrayed.

If Z.O.E. has a flaw, it’s the length of the game. My first time through the game took a little over 3 hours. I imagine I’ll be able to shorten that time significantly now that I know the sequence of events. Also troubling, is that Z.O.E. employs the hated tactic of artificially lengthening the play time by creating unnecessary side trips back through previously completed areas, usually to pick up a new item that has appeared. The worst of these contrived occurrences happens about halfway through the game when Jahuty is suddenly inflicted with a virus and reduced to a sliver of life, and then thrown into a boss fight. You must then leave the area and return to a previous area, now crawling with enemy patrols, sneak around them without being spotted (since a single hit will decimate Jahuty and end the game) and find the local server terminal that carries the cure for the virus. Finally, you’ll be able to return to the boss and fight it with full health restored.

Luckily, clearing the game does unlock a Versus Mode, which is a lot of fun. Initially, only 5 Frames are available, but beating the game a second time will unlock a couple new ones. The Versus Mode does not employ the traditional split-screen, instead forcing both players to share the same screen, and zooming out (or in) to keep track of both simultaneously. It seems to work fine, although certain situations will cause you to lose track of your character.

Z.O.E. is a very good game, easily the best I’ve played on PS2. The length is a sticking point, though. Had the game been twice as long and featured a few more types of enemies (there are only 3 different enemy Frames that you fight throughout the game, not counting the bosses), it’d deserve a 10.