Upon first playing Zeno Clash, it can be difficult to put the nature of the experience into words. The developers at ACE Team have created a universe that is absolutely bizarre and it only gets increasingly stranger as the game goes on. This radical departure from the norm can actually be a bit off-putting at first, but a superb first-person brawling system mixed with a fantastical visual style help to keep this adventure approachable. Not to mention that uppercutting bird-men that squawk like crows when they die rarely gets old.

As an inherently strange game, the story is equally incomprehensible - at least at first. You play as Ghat, a man whom awakens after evidently killing "Father-Mother", a hermaphroditic creature responsible for the creation of his family. The reasons for Ghat's actions are at this point unknown, but his siblings are significantly less than happy that their parent is dead. This leads to what you would expect; escape town before getting killed, and be sure to punch a few of your brothers and sisters in the face on the way out. Nothing here really makes sense on a practical level, but perhaps that's part of what makes it appealing.

If you think this guy looks strange, wait until you see some of the other characters.

Fortunately, the act of clobbering people-creatures is executed so well that even if you hate the narrative and the visual style, the simple act of beating things up can still lead to some enjoyment. This is due to the excellent first-person melee combat system that blends camera blurring, tilting, and field of view changes in such a way that it makes fights feel that much more visceral. It also helps that Valve's Source engine handles collision and physics so well that every punch and kick comes across as sufficiently brutal. Without question, Zeno Clash offers some of the best hand-to-hand combat from this perspective that you'll ever see. It's not perfect, but it's up there with the likes of Riddick and Dark Messiah.

Progression in Zeno Clash involves taking Ghat through numerous chapters that serve as arenas for many of the fight sequences. Most levels offer unique set pieces with slightly different takes on the standard gameplay, but there is little-to-no actual exploration. This is understandable given the indie nature of the developer, but the inability to explore beyond the boundaries of each area is a little disappointing. It won't be long until you stumble across some of the game's projectile weapons, which while interestingly designed, aren't that much fun to fire. This is largely due to the horrifically long reload times that essentially lock you into position, offering all foes around you a few free hits. Many of the reload animations themselves don't seem to finish when you think they do either, and in many cases you'll quickly try to melee or switch to your bare knuckles only to find out later that your gun is still empty.

Making matters worse, there are certain points where you're forced to use these weapons, and these sections are relatively uninteresting and border on frustrating the closer you get toward the end of the game. Since you can't drop guns or easily transition away aside from locking on to enemies (or getting hit), this can lead to instances where you'll wind up fighting with both the controls and your opponents at the same time. The developers have promised a patch to allow you to discard weapons, so it's not all bad. It's just a shame that the gunplay can't hold a candle to the awesome hand-to-hand combat.

As far as content goes, this is a pretty short game, clocking in at about 3 hours on the default difficultly setting. Gameplay is extended a bit through a leaderboard-based challenge mode, and it is both fun and exceedingly difficult. Be prepared to be thrown into fights with tons of enemies gunning for you at once, with each level getting progressively more challenging. The key to this mode is positioning and timing - so it expects you to have an above average understanding of the fighting mechanics. It also forces a bit of shooting onto you as well, though it's not nearly as a bad as the stuff from the story-driven campaign. While Zeno Clash isn't exactly brimming with content, it's still recommendable at the $20 asking price.

Yes, those are guns and they shoot... something.

If you haven't even so much as glanced at any of the screenshots by now, you should know that this game looks different than anything you've likely seen previously in the medium. The developers clearly had a distinct vision for Zeno Clash, and when you're not simultaneously baffled and intrigued by what lies before you, you just may see it too. The environments themselves are exceptionally done, and convey a slightly prehistoric but often beautiful landscape. The varied enemy designs, solid animations, and depth of field blurring are all used to great effect as well. Unfortunately, the same can't exactly be said about the audio. The music is serviceable and the sounds are very Mortal Kombat-esque, but the voice acting is downright terrible. Ultimately, this is a nice looking game with some rough edges in the sound department.

So is the game worth it? At its fairly low price point, the intense melee combat, impressive art style, and bizarre setting will likely provide something that you haven't experienced before in a video game. At the same time, this style may also turn you off if your favorite game characters rarely deviate from orcs or space marines. Despite the initial weirdness and a few flaws, Zeno Clash is a unique take on first-person fighting that anyone with an open mind will likely enjoy.