Take on Elephant-man and his bizarre friends
What don’t we like?
The budgetary restraints that the Indie developer, ACE Team, must have had while making Zeno Clash are apparent on some occasions. It’s clear that the majority of cash was injected into the art-style and getting the basics right. As a result, the combat system sometimes struggles when you’re up against multiple opponents with some slowdown and stuttering causing a few frustrations, as well as a targeting system that more often than not works against you. On a number of occasions the odds of winning the fight against a gang of enemies when close-up can be very slim and as a result we found ourselves wanting to flee to safety rather than face them and use ranged weapons to eliminate their threat. There are also a few annoying glitches, such as getting stuck in scenery where you’ll find yourself being pummeled by a group of enemies. The cast of interesting characters and the intriguing storyline leads up nicely to what you assume will be a brilliant ending, but there’s a huge anti-climax. The ending in Zeno Clash has left us totally puzzled.
Final Thoughts
Zeno Clash is just £14.99 to download from Steam and represents superb value for money despite its relatively short gameplay time of approximately 6 hours. It’s a crime that there’s no demo currently available because a lot of people may overlook what is a unique experience and a satisfyingly playable brawler.
Verdict: 8/10
