Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition Review

First-person games tend to be limited in variety. The vast majority of them are shooters, and for good reason – first-person shooters are easy to make and modify (compared to other types of first-person games). Shooters also are mostly easy to play, in the sense that many of them share a similar control scheme. Some first-person games try to bend the shooter formula a bit, but few overhaul it entirely. Zeno Clash is one of those games that try to redefine the first-person game experience, and while it’s problematic in some critical areas, it’s got a good amount of innovation and entertainment value. Zeno Clash is billed as a first-person fighting game. First-person games that focus on close combat are not new – Mirror’s Edge, the Condemned series, and the first Bushido Blade game come to mind as other examples – but there’s been few enough such games that Zeno Clash seems like a breath of fresh air. In Zeno Clash, you play Ghat, a fugitive who’s been falsely accused of murdering the leader of his clan, called Father-Mother. At first the plot may seem like a standard “clear your name” story, but…well, as you might have figured out by the murder victim being named “Father-Mother,” let’s just say it gets really weird, really fast. Sometimes it gets confusing, but at least it’s compelling enough to give you a good context to punch lots of fools in the face. Backing up the weird plot are even weirder visuals – let it not be said that Zeno Clash doesn’t have a unique visual style. It’s a pretty surreal fantasy landscape that focuses more on the disturbing aspects of fantasy rather than the pleasant ones. Zeno Clash’s graphical style brings to mind some of the album art of certain early heavy metal records. Think Brutal Legend on acid…well, even more acid. It’s a refreshing take on graphics that is distinctive enough that you can overlook its few technical issues. As unique as the graphical style is, playing the game is still pretty straightforward, focus on brawling aside – get from point A to point B, beating down whoever’s unlucky enough to stand in your way. Thankfully the control scheme for brawling is easy to understand. The triggers launch weak or strong attacks, and these attacks change depending on context. When standing, you punch; when grabbing, you can either knee your opponent in the face or elbow him on the head; when sprinting, you elbow people in front of you; and when combined with blocking, can deliver devastating kicks as counter-attacks. Kicking ass in this manner can indeed feel satisfying, as you can pull off some impressive moves with a few button presses. It’s pretty simple in theory, but the finer points of brawling in this manner can be problematic. For one, the triggers aren’t the best place to put your primary attacks in a brawling game, considering their pressure sensitivity. Secondly, when there are multiple enemies, it can be hard to manage. Focusing on one opponent is easy enough, but to change targets, you have to look at them with the right stick and then hit the focus button again.