Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner MARS Reviews

Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner MARS is ranked in the 44th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
5 / 10
Sep 13, 2018

Zone of the Enders comes to the current gen in better shape than ever, but still an artifact of its time.

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8.5 / 10.0
Sep 7, 2018

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner - Mars may have flown under the radar in 2003 but it now has the chance to shine again 15 years later. Just know that the budget price reflects the fact that not a whole lot has been added: so if you didn't like it then you won't suddenly be smitten.

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72 / 100
Sep 12, 2018

15 years after its original release, ZOE 2nd Runner is still a good robot combat game. Thanks to a great remaster in 4K it doesn´t look too outdated, except for the anime sequences. We enjoyed the VR mode, which allows us to play the entire game in first person perspective.

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5 / 10
Sep 11, 2018

Hideo Kojima has been accused at various points of promoting style over substance, and in this remaster of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner that's more apparent than ever. For all of its fantastically designed mech, and its tight and often enjoyable combat, Zone of the Enders 2nd Runner is an ugly, poorly-told and overly short slice of nostalgia that can't be saved by the introduction of VR.

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8 / 10.0
Sep 13, 2018

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner – MARS is, in the end, the best possible version of the classic mechas title. The sci-fi game brings renewed joy to the players once again with a mix of anime scenes in this sequel. Even if the gameplay gets a bit tough in the beginning, it is easily managable. Furthermore, the feeling of immersion is very impressive, especially if we use a virtual reality device.

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Ollie Barder
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Sep 23, 2018

Overall, the standard game is an excellent high-definition remaster and is the best version of the game to date. The VR mode ruins that impressive achievement and is wholly unnecessary. In short, play this for the high definition remaster and give the VR mode a very wide berth.

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7 / 10.0
Sep 12, 2018

Konami wants to show its best past, but the company does it by eluding the original creative team. Zone of the Enders MARS: The Second Runner works well with virtual reality, but we miss some extra content and more effort to maintain the cult work.

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8.1 / 10.0
Sep 9, 2018

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner M∀RS is (still) the best mecha videogame.

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60 / 100
Sep 8, 2018

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner --- M∀RS is one of the best looking mech games out there, despite being a remaster of a 15-year-old game. Its fast, flashy combat still looks and feels good, but is constantly undermined by an extremely unwieldy camera. With its short, linear campaign, dull story, and terrible dialogue, The 2nd Runner seems stuck in 2003, despite its slick graphical upgrade.

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70 / 100
Sep 16, 2018
7 / 10.0
Sep 17, 2018

Another great re-release of a fantastic title that is unfortunately held back by the newly added VR mode. As good as the game is, however the package would have been stronger with the addition of the first game,

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Wccftech
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Sep 24, 2018

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner - M∀RS is still one of the best mecha action games to grace any platform, although the decade and a half since its original release have caused Jehuty to lose some of its luster. While the native 4K60 and PSVR support is a great improvement, some other aspects of the game just feel out of date.

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Twinfinite
Joseph Yaden
Top Critic
2.5 / 5.0
Sep 9, 2018

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner M∀RS is a faithful remaster of a game that time has not been kind to. It fails at modernizing it for 2018 standards, making it feel like a clunky mess to play.

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TrustedReviews
Trusted Reviews
Top Critic
Sep 6, 2018

The addition of PSVR is gimmicky, but fun, with VR shining in cabin-based games like this one, was re-jigged to be. The rest of the game despite showing its age heavily in places manages to feel a fresh experience, as surprisingly nothing has really come out in all this time that comes close to how slickly agile aerial mech combat feels here.

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7.5 / 10.0
Sep 11, 2018

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner M∀RS is a solid remaster that fans of the original shouldn't hesitate to pick up. Having said that, the game hasn't aged all that well. Combat can quickly get repetitive, and new abilities are hardly used before another new one comes along. Top it all off with a campaign that only takes 6-10 hours to complete, new players may wonder what all the fuss was about when the original released (especially with the script's hilariously bad translation). Still, this release is the most complete version of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner to date.

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85 / 100
Sep 10, 2018

A great remastered version for one of the most beloved games of the PS2.

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Sep 20, 2018

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner MARS is a solid remaster with spiffy HD visuals and high-quality audio, but these updates can't cover the fact that it's a PlayStation 2 game at its core.

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6.5 / 10.0
Sep 20, 2018

It's easy for me to understand how Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner captured the attention of players back in the PlayStation 2 era, as it offered, and continues to offer, some gameplay ideas and experiences that still don't exist in abundance to this day. Even back then, however, some of what it does would have been inexcusable to me—and playing the remastered Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner – M∀RS in our modern era, those weaknesses are just too hard to ignore.

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5 / 10
Sep 19, 2018

This second Zone of the Enders remains the charming game that it was but this new version, that can played in VR, brings no added value, not even offering the Japanese VO or subtitles written correctly ...

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6.5 / 10.0
Sep 19, 2018

Beyond the resolution increase, improved audio mix and middling VR, there's really not much to this remaster. The exclusion of the first game also makes recommending last gen's collection easier. If you're a fan of Kojima's mech series, then Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner MARS is worth picking up. It's unlikely to win any new fans though.

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