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Ice-Pick Lodge forums • zenoclash - discount
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 Post subject: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 20 Mar 2009, 08:06 
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hey, i'm not sure if anyone else here is interested in the upcoming indie game, Zenoclash, but, if you ARE...

the game's not out yet, but you can buy a pre-purchase of the game on steam for *today* only, for a discounted price of $9.99. the game is supposed to come out next month.

if you dont know what the game's about: it seems to be a first person... er, brawler. basically, first person perspective, most of the combat in the game is fist fighting, melee weapons, and a limited amount of gunplay. the gameplay, imo, looks fun, but the setting of the game is what really makes things interesting - it is truly, deeply alien. the main place seems to be a relatively civilized area, "ruled" (not really) by a creature called the Father-Mother, who births and cares for all the creatures in this land - the creatures s/he gives birth to are often very curious things (though at least one of them, the main character, seems to be a human). well, anyway, if you want a good idea of the sheer oddity of this game, take a look at the two trailers they have on their website:

www.zenoclash.com

"of all my children, only one doesnt love me."


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 20 Mar 2009, 14:34 
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Cool, thanks for the heads up! I was actually reading their blog yesterday, but I somehow missed this. To be honest, I wasn't too sure about the game at first, but it's really grown on me over the months I've followed it. Also, the developers recently added a 'survival' mode that should add more to the value.

Well - I'm going to pre-order. Although I've been spending way too much on games recently :wink:


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 22 Mar 2009, 01:18 
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I don't know what the game is really about apart from the violence. The art direction is brilliant, but I'm only sold if there's more to it than combat and pretty colours.


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 22 Mar 2009, 01:29 
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Personally, I think there'll be just the great designs - evrything else seems quite average and not even an RPG. (Why, oh why not?) But this is one game to make an exception. :)
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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 22 Mar 2009, 01:38 
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Yes, I don't know how innovative the game is really going to be. The combat does look quite fun though. The main thing, as you say, is the art direction is unique.

The designers' blog is really interesting, btw. Here's an entry on the game's environments:
http://blogs.aceteam.cl/zenoclash/index ... owentry=15


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 25 Mar 2009, 11:30 
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To be honest, and this is going to sound weird considering this is the Ice-Pick forum, but 'innovation' is quite often overrated. Now don't get me wrong I want more innovative games but I certainly have no problem playing something with zero innovation that is perfectly executed eg Painkiller. I love the best of the AAA games ala HL2 and the best of the indie scene ala Pathologic and couldn't do without either. This game looks like it's going to fall somewhere in the middle beign that it has a unique art direction and while it is another game about killing things, it is in a fairly under represented sub-genre: the FPP melee game. My main concern with what I have seen of it so far is that the combat seems to degenerate into usual melee mode of running backwards and swiping. If they can get the melee combat as solid as Riddick or Condemned and the gameworld is as enchanting as it looks than we could have a good little game on our hands.


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 25 Mar 2009, 15:24 
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My honest opinion from what I've seen is it will be a decent (not great) game, with decent (slightly clunky) combat.

Although they say they have a deep story with excellent characters, that remains to be seen (Most developers seem to claim they have a 'deep story' when usually it's the same weak plot and badly-written cliches).

The art direction is obviously what makes Zeno Clash stand out. Also the first-person brawler aspect, which is not often done. Overall though, it doesn't seem to be deviating too far from the FPS formula.

I do applaud them for doing their own thing and trying something a bit different (even if the gameplay isn't going to really be *that* different). Fortunately, I'm a big FPS fan, and I am generally pretty forgiving of the genre, so I'll probably be happy :wink:


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 26 Mar 2009, 01:22 
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I completely share most of you concerns, especially in regards to the story. I mean it looks enchanting in the trailers but who knows how it will actually play out? It's not really innovative but it isn't exactly jumping on any bandwagon either and it has, like I said, the potential to be a good little game and for $30 NZ I will certainly be happy with that.


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 22 Apr 2009, 16:14 
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well, the game's out now - i've played part of it.

as everyone knows, the look of the game is *fantastic*. it's actually better than i'd realized, just looking at pictures - they really crafted a very *alive* world in this game, very fluid movements of all sorts of characters... quite nice.

forget who mentioned it, but the combat is definitely more complex than step back, forward and hit - there are blocks, the ability to dodge quickly left or right, a running attack, a couple attacks of differing strength (and speed), certain attacks that trigger only if you attack at the right time (such as after shucking to the side to successfully dodge an attack), some ever-wonderful kicking enemies when they're down :D and so on. and also some gunplay, though the guns are relatively primitive - you can switch to regular combat when you wish, though. combat has a lot of character, i find it to be fun, and it's complex enough that it'll likely take you some time to master (i'm far from it, myself).

the story/writing are alright - nothing too amazing so far, but it keeps you going through the general weirdness of the game (which is the big selling point of the game anyway - basically *everything* in this game is odd in some way or another). there's a particular secret, which i'm sure will be revealed in a little bit - whether it's an interesting twist or not, we'll see. some of the writing hits well enough with me, other lines sound a bit awkward (which doesnt much surprise me, as this was made by non-native english speakers). the presentation of the game, the relativly cinematic feel it has (within those bizarre settings) makes things feel a little deeper than they are, though - which is nice! this game is, i'm sure, going to be pretty short though.

as far as music/voices... i admit that specific scores arent sticking out in my mind, but i recall enjoying it - some nice stuff in there, fitting in nicely with the atmosphere of the game. the voice acting is difficult to rate... generally, for the non-human creatures, who have odd, distorted voices, i find the performances to be quite nice - much better than most games out there. i find the main character to be on-and-off in his performance - he has a decent voice, some of his lines he delivers well, other lines he just sounds a bit awkward in the delivery. the supporting female character is easily the weakest performance in the game - most of her lines come out *very* flat, and i'm not quite sure why they decided to give such a weak performance to one of the main characters - there are other female performances in the game which are far superior. on the other hand, however, i do recognize that almost *everyone* in this game talks rather oddly, and i'm willing to accept the possibility that i've misinterpreted things, and that these sometimes-off performances might be intentionally sounding that way. even if this were the case, i wish they had done something a bit better for that lass, Deadra... it just doesnt sound very good.

overall, i'm quite enjoying the game - the gameplay is enjoyable so far, and the combination of the visual and audial aesthetics with the bizarrity of the world, characters, and the writing to some degree, is making for a really neat experience. :)


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 23 Apr 2009, 00:38 
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I also started playing Zeno Clash last night. I'm not very far in yet, but I like it!

*Very* nice presentation. The use of motion blur and other visual effects really does give it a 'cinematic' feel. The combat feels brutal and works well.

I like the way ACE Team have obviously tried to recreate some of the feel/gameplay of oldskool brawlers, especially the ability to knock a gun out of an enemy's hands and pick it up for yourself. Of course, the same thing can easily happen to you.

I'm surprised at how minimal the story is so far. The voice acting is fine, from what I've heard. Btw, Deadra's face and usual expression remind me of Sean Young in 'Blade Runner.' Her 'flat' performance reminds me of that, too. So I guess it was intentional? I don't mind it, anyway.

No real complaints right now. It would be nice to explore the world instead of being confined to small areas, but I guess it suits the gameplay. There is an immense amount of visual detail, but it's hard to appreciate it fully when the game is all about fast-paced, up-close combat.


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 23 Apr 2009, 00:53 
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Oh God, why did they have to release this when we're finishing the game?! :(
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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 23 Apr 2009, 01:54 
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Oh God, why did they have to release this when we're finishing the game?! :(
Gief traillers! :D

Ohhhh I have a tittle! :D Thank you.


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 23 Apr 2009, 03:04 
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Atari has all the trailers - they made the new one. I'm actually interested to see what they've come up with. :) If something goes wrong - we can always add them to the humour section.

Oh, and you're welcome! :)
I didn't come up with a better one, but if you have any suggestions - I'll gladly change it. :)
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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 23 Apr 2009, 03:19 
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No real complaints right now. It would be nice to explore the world instead of being confined to small areas, but I guess it suits the gameplay. There is an immense amount of visual detail, but it's hard to appreciate it fully when the game is all about fast-paced, up-close combat.
seriously. i would *love* to explore this world - it would be neat if it was a semi-rpg in a similar vein to Morrowind, because the sociology/anthropology of the societies in this game are really quite interesting. ... yes, i get excited about things like that, geek as i am :oops:

but i wouldnt expect it. Ace, of course, is a very small team, not to mention this is their first game since they formed the company - they dont have the resources to make something really huge. what surprised me was how tight and relatively detailed things in this game can be... just a small example: early in the game, when you're walking down that path with those odd creatures (forget what they're called) jumping over the fences and attacking you - right at the start i turned around and looked at Deadra and noticed that she was standing correctly. she was standing on a slight incline, and her foot was actually resting as a proper human would (rather than doing something like, say, part of her foot being on ground and the other part floating on air, or her foot partly clipping through the ground). that's just a very small detail, but they obviously put a lot of care into things to have that.


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 24 Apr 2009, 04:04 
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I've been playing it for the last few days and overall I give it a solid thumbs up. Of course it looks fantastic and the combat is solid, immensely entertaining and has a lot more subtlety to it than I thought it would (it was I, feighnt, who voiced concerns about the usual hit-back track-hit pattern). The story so far is intriguing enough but I doubt it's really going to amount to much and the voice acting is pretty average to bad but acceptable for an indie game. My one misgiving, apart form not being able to explore the world, is the attempts at gameplay variation often fall a little flat and I find myself pushing through those parts just to get to the next section where I can punch people in the face. :)

I can also definitely see myself revisiting this, particularly the challenges, quite often because the combat is just so perfect!


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 08 May 2009, 19:52 
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I finished the game last night (though I still have the challenge towers to attempt). Overall verdict: A lot of fun and highly recommended!

The Russian retail version is due for release on May 14th :)


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 13 May 2009, 19:25 
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The game's fun. The combat reminded me of Vampire the Masquerade. I'm impressed they managed to pull something of such an overridden horse as HL2 engine. The game could be even more fun if it was an RPG. The overall design of several first stages reminded me of Curst plane of the PS:T setting.
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If you do not describe your attack in a gloriously cinematic fashion, the difficulty increases one step. (c)


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 14 May 2009, 22:32 
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The game's so short I wanna cry((((

There are many nice unexpanded ideas in Zenoclash. I'd really like to shake hands with their designer, 'cause the levels and enemies are so well drawn, it hurts me they are so small.
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A man with a spade -
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Knows nothing, but slaughter.
No use to cry quarter!


If you do not describe your attack in a gloriously cinematic fashion, the difficulty increases one step. (c)


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 18 May 2009, 17:45 
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By the way... viewtopic.php?p=83760#p83760

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Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;

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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 18 May 2009, 19:03 
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Wow! :shock: :D That's beautiful. And I just noticed that Kaelte posted it on the ACE Team forums :wink:


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 19 May 2009, 22:00 
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And some more... :)

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How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;

---- Alexander Pope


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 Post subject: Re: zenoclash - discount
PostPosted: 20 May 2009, 18:35 
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For you guys:

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/58701


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