Hideo Kojima's original Zone of the Enders (probably most famous for being "the game that the MGS2 demo came with") told the story of Leo Stenbuck and his accidental and reluctant partnership/relationship with an elegant flying mechanical robot called Jehuty (called an 'orbital frame' here) and its battle computer ADA. The term 'Enders' is what people living on Earth call Earth people who have colonised Mars, and what Mars people call the colonists of Jupiter. Leo's mission was to learn how to use Jehuty and to stop it from falling into the hands of the Terran USF or the Mars-based Bahram army, who seemed intent on killing all the colonists on the massive orbiting space colony and orbital frame development facility Antilia due to an anti-terrestrial revolt, oh, and also because they wanted to get their grubby hands on the most advanced orbital frames. Antilia makes the best orbital frames because of the Metatron, the metal they're made out of which is mined on Jupiter's nearby moon, Callisto.

 Political and metallurgical plotline aside, the game was a pretty repetitive (and short) robot-combat adventure with stunning visual effects and some cool, truly three-dimensional combat. The sequel sees a Metatron mining robot pilot called Dingo Egret (no, seriously) find Jehuty hidden away - he's soon propelled on an epic journey full of spectacular airborne battles to track down the evil Bahram commander Nohman. When I tell you that Dingo's love interest is a young lady called Ken you'll be reminded that this is a Hideo Kojima production, and ZOE2 certainly brings all the usual Kojima baggage with it (more about that in a minute).

 Played from a loose third-person camera, you control Jehuty with the left stick, triangle and X raise or lower your altitude, R2 is a dash or boost button - it also acts as a sort of modifier button, as combined with square and depending on the distance from the enemy it alters your basic attacks. It also allows you to lock on to about twenty enemies at a time - and there are times when you will need to, believe me. When they're in range Jehuty locks on to enemies automatically at which point you can decide which way you're going to dispose of them; whether it be a basic smashing blade attack, or a grab and throw (you can even grab other mechanics and bits of scenery and use them as clubs, missiles or shields). As you progress more varied and interesting weapons become available, some that were in the first game, and some spectacular new ones as well.

 ZOE2 is without doubt one of the visual highlights of the year, fast, smooth action with more laser, smoke and blast effects than should be legal (I think they go completely over the top at times). The gameplay is slick and easy to get into as well (an excellent VR tutorial sees to that) and the sound and music is brilliant too (some of the best in-game music I've heard since Halo). But, the action soon gets repetitive, with little variety in mission objectives or innovation since the first game (in fact, I think it's even more linear). As usual with a Kojima game, the anime-style link sequences are plentiful and sometimes lengthy, but the English translation must be too literal, and sometimes makes the dialogue sound confusing and even silly. Once again the game is rather short too (my first-time completion time of 5hrs 52 minutes with a B rating felt even shorter than ZOE). A versus mode (in which you can use the various versions of Jehuty as well as other mechs that you come across in the game like Anubis, Vic Viper and Nephtis), and one-off extra missions might add a bit to the lifespan, but I'd have been more impressed with some toned-down effects and a 2-player co-op mode - that really would have helped the longevity.

 Lack of lifespan and dodgy dialogue aside, ZOE2 is one of those eye candy experiences that no PS2 owner should miss - but it will probably be completed in one sitting by some gamers, and that's just too short. In the end I couldn't help feeling I'd rather have just sat and watched it, rather than played it. Maybe they should have called it Zone of the Enders: The Perfect Rental. SS