Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner

North American cover art. Region NTSC-U: Serial numbers: SLUS-20545 Release date: March 10, 2003 CRCs: FD12A397 Windows Status: Playable Linux Status: ? Mac Status: ? Region PAL: Serial numbers: SLES-51113 Release date: September 26, 2003 CRCs: 3E0BEB3A Windows Status: Playable Linux Status: ? Mac Status: ? Region NTSC-J: Serial numbers: SLPM-65236 Release date: February 13, 2003 Windows Status: ? Linux Status: ? Mac Status: ?

Developer(s): KCEJ
Genre: Action
Wikipedia: Link
Game description: Also known as "Anubis: Zone of the Enders" in Japan. The sequel to Zone of the Enders.
Throughout Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, the player controls Jehuty, the Orbital Frame piloted by Dingo, from a normally behind-the-back third-person viewpoint that centers itself between the player and enemy when locked on. The gameplay is linear, eschewing the "world map" of Zone of the Enders in favor of consecutive stages in which the player must defeat large amounts of robotic enemies, as well as other Orbital Frames and combat vehicles. The player can fully repair Jehuty by collecting Metatron, and save their progress at the beginning of each stage.
The game’s protagonist is Dingo Egret, a former BAHRAM pilot who, at the beginning of the game, works as an ice miner on the moons of Jupiter. After he finds the orbital frame Jehuty, he is attacked by Nohman and his BAHRAM troops. After his capture, he is mortally wounded, but is saved after Ken Marinaris, a disgruntled member of BAHRAM, has Dingo wired into Jehuty’s life-support system. As the game progresses, Dingo and Ken get to be close friends.

Test configuration on Windows:

PCSX2 version:	0.9.8
Graphics by GSDX:	r4600
Sound by SPU2-X:	r4600
Pad plugin is LilyPad:	r4510
BIOS version:	USA v02.00

Comments: Software mode runs fine but slow, and there is a graphical glitch, invisible beams, in hardware mode. It is not known yet whether it has been fixed in svn. These problems still exist in r5492.

Test configuration on Linux:

PCSX2 version:	untested
Graphics by ZZogl:	untested
Sound by SPU2-X:	untested

PC specs used to test the game:

CPU:	Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.4 Ghz
GPU:	GeForce GTX 285

Comments: Varying speeds, down to 30FPS in boss battles. Software mode (F9) in older GSdx revisions (r3693) can actually be faster.
The game is very high demanding in resources (both CPU and GPU wise), if not the highest. An overclocked CPU around 4GHz might help to gain mostly full speed.
Native resolution in hardware mode is the key. In smaller areas 2-3 enemies its fine with 3x upscale, but other than that, it will be painfully slow.

Known Issues

Lights seen through walls

• Type: Graphical issue
• Affected Game Versions: All
• Description: Happens in hardware mode, you can see enemy lights or just any lights through solid objects.
• Solution: Software mode (F9).

Ram and Vram Spikes

• Type: Graphical issue
• Affected Game Versions: All
• Description: Can use a ton of RAM and VRam resources.
  Out of memory comes up also when you use save states somewhat frequently (DX11 mode). Corrupts your current savestate file. Previous state can be restore from backup. Also PCSX2 needs to be restarted before you can use sstates again.
• Solution: Allow 8-bit textures in GSdx hardware mode can help, unavoidable in DX9 hardware modes (shows "Out of memory" error after a bit).