SA-X – Metroid Fusion

The Metroid series was creating atmosphere and tension from simple world design as far back as its inception, so when Metroid Fusion took the series on a slightly different path for a handheld game, their masterstroke was introducing the SA-X. The result of her infected Power Suit being pulled together by the mimetic X Parasites, the player is hunted throughout the game by the heartless creature with the full power of a endgame Samus. Powerless to harm the SA-X, should they hear the telltale footsteps and accompanying anxiety, the player can only run or hide throughout the entirety of the game, until the final showdown at least. 

Konami’s upcoming VR enabled remaster of Zone Of The Enders: The 2nd Runner, the second game in Hideo Kojima’s cult hit mech action series, will soon be getting a demo. The demo for Zone Of The Enders: The 2nd Runner – M∀RS will be up on the PSN Store later this week, the PlayStation Blog announced. And the best news here is, the demo will be native 4K, and compatible with VR too- which will also be true of the final game.

Given how well suited Zone of the Enders seems to something like VR or high fidelity graphics, it is good to see Konami is letting people try out a piece of a remaster espousing both those virtues for themselves- it will also easily be the best way for them to generate interest in the upcoming release by a broader audience, that the original release never reached.

Zone Of The Enders: The 2nd Runner – M∀RS will release on September 6.

Konami has announced that the confusingly titled Zone of the Enders: The 2nd RUNNER – M∀RS will release on PS4, PlayStation VR and Steam on September 6th. Since Konami Europe made the announcement via its official Twitter, it’s assumed that September is the worldwide release. Before the game releases, Konami will offer a 4K and VR demo on the PlayStation Store to try out.

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd RUNNER – M∀RS will offer more than just improved visuals. It also has numerous training modules and a mini-map, a “Very Easy” difficulty setting, “Pro Mode” controls for quickly selecting sub-weapons and a cinematic theater for rewatching any cut-scene (that too in VR). Aside from the base game, the VR version will also include 3D models that can be viewed in full 360 degrees and a 3D Hangar for interacting with Jehuty.

PS4 and PC players can look forward to 4K support, “next-gen surround sound” and new sound design on top of everything else. Check out the intro trailer for the game below and let us know if you’ll be picking it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajAQJBaWc90

Kojima’s lesser known series, Zone of the Enders, will be receiving a full remake with the upcoming Zone of the Enders – 2nd Runner MARS sometime in the future courtesy of Cygames. A curious fan at Resetera going by the tag Peace recently reached out to Cygames, curious if he would be able to experience the game in it’s original Japanese.

The response, which you can find below, is unfortunately pretty conclusive. While the representative said they passed the request onto the right team, they can’t promise that the feature will be in the game, at least upon release.

While it seems like a kind of niche feature, the ability to enjoy a title with the original Japanese audio can be a make or break feature for some fans, insistent on enjoying a game as close to the original vision as possible. Will you be checking out the game, or does this news put you off? Let us know in the comments below.

Hello XXXX,

Thank you for contacting Cygames. You have reached our Corporate Contact Center.

We are delighted to hear that you are looking forward to the release of Anubis Zone of the Enders: MARS.
We will forward your request for a dual language option to the appropriate department for consideration.
However, please note that we cannot guarantee that such a feature will be available in the game upon release.

Thank you again for getting in touch with us, and please stay tuned for more information on Anubis Zone of the Enders: MARS and its release!

Sincerely,

Konami may not be in gamers’ best books at the moment, but it looks like their upcoming remake for Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, Hideo Kojima’s beloved sequel to his cult classic mechs game, might end up winning them some brownie points.

The new remake will add VR compatibility to the game, which is excellent news, because The 2nd Runner is a game well suited to something like that. If you want to see how the new version fares against the older PS2 and PS3 versions, you can check out the new trailer for yourself, which compares the graphics of the new game with those of the older ones.

It looks like Konami might have a winner here, as long as they don’t mess with the actual game design in the original (or scrub Kojima’s name from it) too much. Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner M∀RS launches later this year for PC and PS4, with compatibility for VR on both platforms.