Preview | Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition

Format: Xbox360 | Genre: Fighting/FPS | Publisher: Atlus | Developer: ACE Team | ETA: 30/03/10

On the PC, Zeno Clash featured among our favourite games of last year. A spectacular synergy of face-punching and first-person shooting, it included a giant bird-man-woman and a collection of dinosaur-giraffe-elephants. It was just a little bit insane.

But, importantly, it was really, really good. Considering Zeno Clash was Chilean developer ACE Team’s first release, it emerged wonderfully polished, with tighter first-person melee mechanics than pretty much any competitor.  Its world was a strange and beautiful one – so much so that I took it upon myself to chat to them about it just recently.

At the end of March, this miraculous indie game hits the 360, through the good old Xbox Live Arcade service. Better still, it’s in the form of an Ultimate Edition.

“We always wanted to create a game for all platforms,” explains co-designer Carlos Bordeu, “but for a startup studio, getting a game published on a console is too hard. It was the success of the PC game which has allowed us to create a special version for the Xbox 360, and we’re very happy to be able to reach the console crowd with our bizarre title.”

“We were approached on more than one occasion by Microsoft before we teamed up with [XBLA publisher] Atlus,” adds Bordeu’s brother, Andres, the other lead designer on the project. “The game generated a lot of buzz and the post release scenario put us in touch with a lot of people. We got many requests from the community to get the game on the Xbox 360 and we felt it would fit really well in the XBLA catalogue.”

CARE IN THE COMMUNITY
Punching, kicking, knee-jabbing and firepowering your way through an fantasy alien landscape, Zeno Clash places you in the boots of an outcast, driven away from his home after apparently killing the ominous Father-Mother, for reasons undisclosed at the start of the game. Being on the run, alongside a woman with the most inexplicable hairdo, sees you traversing vast a desert while hunting rabbits, engaging in several showdowns with an explosive-squirrel-sporting maniac, and even travelling to the end of the world.

But that’s just the main game. The Ultimate Edition has more. Its major addition is a co-operative mode, which allows you to play through the extra challenge levels – taking place inside an enormous tower – with a friend. “We have been asked for some sort of multiplayer component for a long time and we’re happy to be including that now,” says Carlos.

Other minor tweaks have been made based on feedback from the PC community. And listening to criticism from the fans is an integral part of how ACE Team build their future work, says Andres. “As developers, we’re really active at the official forums discussing with people who are playing the game or just want to learn more about the crazy world we created. We’re also always on the lookout for reviews and media reactions. It’s important for us to stay in touch with our fans and the media because through their input we can improve our future games. We’re going to be really active in the web after we release Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition.”

We’ll be bringing you a full review of the game when it arrives on the 360 on 30 March – just in case our 8/10 review of the PC original wasn’t enough to convince you. Worried about taking the plunge on such a surreal game? Carlos Bordeu has some words of encouragement. “Play the trial when it’s out and give it a try – I’m sure you’ll be surprised,” he says. “Where else can you play a game where the antagonist is a huge hermaphrodite creature, eh?” By Lewis Denby