zeno-clash-2 posts

There are few original ideas for games. We see a ton of titles that, while well made, go over the same stuff over and over again. And then there's ACE Team. The Chile-based development studio made a huge splash in 2009 with the release of Zeno Clash, a unique mix of first person shooter and melee fighting in a strange fictional world that looked unlike any game we had seen before or since.

But ACE Team isn't done with surprising us yet. At E3 2010 the developer revealed its next game Rock of Ages, a unique blend of action (rolling a boulder down hills) strategy (defensive units set up to stop the boulder before it hits a castle) and historical art styles (five art styles from Earth's past), all in a mix of Monty Python-like animation visuals. The game is due out in 2011 via download from publisher Atlus and in one of the first interviews about the game Big Download got ACE Team's co-founder Andres Bordeu to give us more info about Rock of Ages including what the game was previously called.

Last year developer ACE Team announced that it planned to create Zeno Clash 2, a sequel to their acclaimed downloadable first person action game. Since the announcement was made there's been no word on the game's progress. At E3 2010 it was announced that ACE Team was working on an all new game, Rock of Ages, but there was no word on the status of Zeno Clash 2.

In an upcoming interview with Big Download about Rock of Ages, ACE Team's Andres Bordeu was asked about Zeno Clash 2. He replied, "The majority of our efforts are being focused on Rock of Ages, though we are working on another project which we are keeping under cover for now." When we ask for some clarification on Zeno Clash 2's status outside of the interview, Bordeu told us, "I can't elaborate much on this subject for the moment. All I can say is that we have developed some content for the sequel, but at this point the studio has decided to focus on developing new games/IPs, thus Rock of Ages is our main priority. And yes, we are working on another game concept which is not Zeno Clash 2. We're a small studio so there is only so much we can work on simultaneously."

Look for the Rock of Ages interview with Bordeu to be posted later today on Big Download.

Last October, Tripwire Interactive announced plans to take the acclaimed downloadable action game Zeno Clash to retail stores. Now Tripwire has announced that the boxed copy of the game from developer ACE Team is finally shipping to stores.

The retail version contains all of the content from the downloadable game that folks can purchase on Steam. That includes all of the extra challenge levels that ACE Team released after the original game came out. ACE Team has already announced plans to develop a sequel to the game. Meanwhile they are working on an Xbox 360 port, Zeno Clash Ultimate Edition, that will be made available for that game console in late March.

ACE Team promised extra free content would be released for their recent and acclaimed first person action game Zeno Clash and today the company revealed plans for a three level challenge pack called The Pit. The levels will be released sometime this weekend. According to a press release, ". . . gravity is the enemy and taking a wrong step can be fatal. Destructible floors and traps await the skilled who want to reach the bottom of the pit alive."

ACE Team will also cut the price of Zeno Clash by 50 percent this weekend in suport of the new downloadable levels. You can check out a YouTube video showing gameplay from The Pit levels after the jump.

Gallery: Zeno Clash

The odd but cool first person action game Zeno Clash has become a cult hit for its developer ACE Team and today the company revealed that a sequel is now in development. Zeno Clash 2 will take place after the events of the first game and have the player once again in the role of Ghat. Both old and new characters will be back and ACE Team says the sequel will have a larger scope than the original. It will "feature open ended gameplay with large explorable environments and RPG elements." The melee combat will also get "even more brutal" in the sequel. No release date was revealed.

In the meantime ACE Team plans to continue to support the original Zeno Clash with updates and new content. Indeed the team released a new free update via Steam that adds "Health and Time counters in the Challenge Mode" along with support for Italian subtitles.

[Via email press release]