Xbox 360
Developers have been trying to get melee combat right in first person games for years, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic tried to step up and deliver a visceral experience but found itself bogged down in a generic fantasy setting and lackluster level design. The same could certainly not be said about the aesthetic style in Zeno Clash, the debut project from ACE Team, which is filled with bizarre environments and creatures. Prehistoric Whales, Giraffe/ant-eater hybrids, pig-men and many more all inhabit the fantasy world of Zenozoik.
The player assumes the role of Ghat and after an initially weird tutorial starts the game immediately after murdering Father-Mother (This kind of pseudo-freudian psychology is littered throughout the game), and events play out in the time honoured flash back sequence. You're not alone in your fleeing though as your female companion Deadra will follow you like an obedient puppy and you'll also meet a golem called Kak (ah, scatalogical humour!). However it's difficult to care about either of these characters too much in the under six hours it will take to complete the game, especially as both are invulnerable to harm.
The gameplay is a mixed bag too, true to the box you're straight into some fighting that would make Russell Crowe proud. The key to solving the fighting game/FPS conundrum has always been the controls, and ACE Team have attempted to tackle this by adopting a less is more approach, using just the left and right mouse button for the majority of the actions. The schema is based around weak and strong attacks but the meat of the combat system is timing as a successful block can allow a counter-attack that will stun opponents allowing you to mete out some judicious punishment.
Some flair is added with the ability to grapple dazed foes and deliver brutal knees to the face or tumble them into their fellow attackers to injure them and stop you being surrounded. However because Zeno Clash insists it has a story to tell, the combat often feels meek as blows that should crack ribs and smash teeth simply knock out opponents, only for them to reappear literally seconds later with full health. It's rather boring, as well as breaking the illusion of the world, to fight essentially the same dozen enemies over and over, especially when Zeno Clash so desperately tries to break the mould established by stalwart shooters such as Doom.
Also in a departure from standard FPS faire, weapons are limited, certain enemies need heavy weapons, such as clubs, to kill and there are a few gunpowder weapons as well as more traditional fantasy staples such as crossbows (no swords though). To stop players from simply picking off the opponents most battles are confined to small arenas and enemies knock the weapons from your hands to use against you unless you can pistol whip them in time. The lock on system also helps to focus the melee combat as locking-on gives a tunnel vision effect which helps to focus on one foe but staying in it too long will result in others ganging up on you.
While there's no denying the simplicity of the action is effective, this basic design ethos carries over to other parts of the game. Some rudimentary puzzles help to spice up the gameplay but even Zeno Clash can't avoid a tired on the rails shooter section although to its credit it at least uses this to make some lengthy character exposition more interesting. Boss battles are a little more interesting, one has you sniping a foe mounted on one of the giraffe/ant-eaters while he/she throws armadillos laden with kegs of explosives at you.
After completion you can turn to the challenge rooms which allow you to fight successively harder waves of enemies from the game whilst racing to get the best time with minimum damage suffered. You can try to top the leaderboard against your friends but the combat screams for a, sadly lacking, versus mode. The ever present spectre of achievements also hovers over the game but even these are quite tame, performing a certain amount of counter attacks, or killing wildlife.
The million dollar question, or £15 question here, is Zeno Clash worth your hard earned cash? Without a decent multiplayer mode, the melee combat is ultimately forgettable. It's the sort of game that would be better rented than bought as replay is limited but PC gamers don't have this option any more. If you're looking for a game that deviates from the norm then this is definitely worth considering, as there are some ideas that are worth salvaging. If a sequel appears and a combination pack is released then this could well be a better recommendation, if you must have it, use it as a stocking stuffer and not a main present.