Zeon

Zeon is a first-person-shooter with a science fiction theme developed and published by Renegade for the Mac, PlayStation Network, and XBOX Live. It is the second FPS developed by the developer (following the tech demo Onslaught). It was released on January 5th, 2011.

Zeon enjoyed incredible popularity following it's release, mostly due to the fact that it was released after Halo Reach, during at time when shooters where not often released.

Setting
Zeon takes place about 300 years from the present day. After trying and failing many methods of faster-than light travel, the Bureau of Orbital Affairs (BOA), commisioned the creation of the BOA Zeon, a ship which would be the first to contain a Royalkov engine, which allows the ship to "jump" forward in time, to their location, allowing faster than light travel.

Players assume the roll of the ship's unnamed Navigator, as alien creatures known as the Jihad board the Zeon.

Act 1: Short-Term Solution
Following the Jihad's boarding of the Zeon, the Navigator is contacted by it's AI, known as Katarina. She tells the Navigator the only way to drive the Jihad off the ship is to make a quick jump to Earth, burning out the engines, but hopefully killing the Jihad with the exahaust. To do this, the Navigator must open a series of hatches which will allow the exhaust from the engines to enter the ship. While completeing this task, the Navigator is contacted by Zeus, the other AI aboard the ship. Before the Navigator can open the final hatch, Zeus rapidly teleports him to the Jihad ship orbiting nearby.

Act 2: In the Enemy's Backyard
The Navigator travels through the ship, killing Jihad as he goes. He is confronted by the Changeling, a higher ranked Jihad, who puts the Navigator through a series of brutal tests, while explaining the life cycle of the Jihad. Apparently, the Jihad reproduce by implanting bits of the cyborg circuitry in inanimate objects. The circuitry then generates the tissue of a new Jihad form. Once the Navigator completes the tests, his weapons are taken away (save for a knife), and he is forced to fight the Changeling. The player bests him in combat, and the Changeling implants him with Jihad circuitry, enabling him to use Jihad weapons and regenerate his health faster. The player is then transported back to the Zeon.

Act 3: Clearing the Air
After returning to the ship, the Navigator fights his way to the ship's lab, where he hopes to get a phalange which, when poured on the Jihad nests, will kill every Jihad on the ship. The lab's entrance is destroyed, so the player must travel through the ventillation, killing small Jihad insects which have been released. During this time, the Navigator continues to talk to Zeus, who claims that killing the Jihad nests will spell doom for the human race. When the Navigator refuses to stop, Zeus turns every mechanised item on the ship against the player.

Act 4: Technical Difficulties
The player fights his way towards the Zeon's main computer database, where Zeus transfers his program into a giant robotic body. The Navigator, unable to stop it, quickly hurries through the ship, pursued by Zeus. The player enters the engine room, and, locking himself it, activates the engine. The Navigator is heavily injured and the exhaust quickly destroys Zeus's robot body, as well as the computer database and most of the Jihad on the ship. As the dust clears, the player decides to finish the fight once and for all.

Act 5: Nesting Theory
The Navigator kills the remaining Jihad left on the ship, then arrives a the nests, where he is confronted by the Hive Queen. The player exhausts the remainder of their ammo killing it, and then drops the Phalange into the nests. While it does kill the rest of the Jihad nests aboard the ship, it causes the Jihad ship to open fire. Using Zeus's former technology to teleport himself into the Jihad ship, the player kills every last Jihad aboard and confronts the Changeling, still alive and in command.

The Changeling reveals that the Jihad where not supposed to meet the Earthlings until 500,000 years after the events of the game, and said meeting would be in peace. However, due to the use of the Royalkov technology, the timestream was heavily disrupted, and every Jihad ship was transported to the game's current time, where they were attacked by hostile humans. The Changeling then claims that humanity has doomed itself, before it attacks the Navigator one last time, and is killed.

The game ends with the Navigator entering a Cryogenic Storage chamber on the Zeon, now dead in space. He turns on the radio, hearing of the human's war against the Jihad, before entering Cryosleep, deciding to wait those 500,000 years.

Gameplay
Zeon is a first-person shooter, and plays as such. The player's health is determined by a bar at the top of the screen, which stands for power. Power is drained by sprinting or taking damage. Power does not recharge automatically for the first Act of the Main Mission, but can be recharged through special terminals. It recharges automatically following Act 2.

The weapon loadouts have also been altered to make it more realistic. Players can now only carry a Primary Weapon, and a light weapon. The two light weapons available are the Energy Pistol and the Pistol. Everything else is Primary. The player also carries 3 grenades, and a knife. This applies to multiplayer as well.

The weapons in Zeon are out of the norm, there being about 15 guns in the game. Here they are:
 * Ranger- a human Assault Rifle which can fire a razor blade around the room as it's secondary fire.
 * Dark Rifle- the Jihad main weapon, it can drain the life of it's opponent and give it to it's wielder.
 * Rose Gun- A human weapon. The bullets are twisted, and you can guess where it gets it's name.
 * Pistol- A human weapon. A standard pistol, but can slow down time with secondary fire.
 * Rocket Launcher- A human weapon. Rocket path can be controlled in secondary fire.
 * Hail Rifle- a Jihad weapon. Fires a barrage of boomerang style energy bolts.
 * Energy Rifle- a Jihad weapon. Discharges bright red bursts of energy.
 * Energy Pistol- a Jihad weapon, similar to the Energy Rifle, but can freeze opponents with secondary fire.
 * Sonic Carbine- a Jihad weapon, can fire large pulses of sound to drain power, but not health.
 * Ranger II- a human weapon, it can fire multiple razor blades.
 * Sniper Rifle- a human weapon. Bullets can teleport behind the enemy's head with secondary fire.
 * Shotgun- a human weapon. Bullets can detonate inside the enemy with secondary fire.
 * SMG- a human weapon. Can circle the enemy, hitting them multiple times with the same bullets, with secondary fire.
 * Energy Carbine- a Jihad weapon. Similar to the Human Sniper Rifle, but bullets can teleport directly into an opponent via Secondary Fire.
 * Energy Charger- a Jihad weapon. Similar to the Shotgun, but only one hit is required to kill. One of the rarest weapons in the game.

Multiplayer
Zeon features 16-player multiplayer. There are 5 maps. Players can customize their own Jihad or Marine character.

Stars
In Multiplayer, each player's online character has 5 Star spaces. By performing certain tasks in multiplayer, as well as killing enemies, players earn Gunpowder. At the end of each match, players have two options for the Gunpowder they have earned: 1) To add it to their Star total, and 2) to use it to buy Perks in the Perk shop.

Players start out with no stars, and only the Ranger and Pistol as their weapons. However, by contributing Gunpowder to their Star total, they can earn up to 5 Stars. Each star takes a while to fill up, except the first one. When a player earns a star, they gain new weapons, armor permuations, and more Perks are buyable in the Perk Shop. If a player has gained all 5 Stars, they can buy up to 7 more Star Spaces in the Perk Shop. However, the additonal Star Spaces take an incredibly higher amount of Gunpowder than even the 5th Star.

Modes

 * Blazing- the main "Deathmatch" mode. Players may enter their characters with their normal color schemes and weapons.
 * Team Blazing- Players are sorted into Red and Blue teams. An entire team shares a smilar loadout.
 * Capture the Flag- Capture the flag and return it to your base!
 * Steal the Flag- There's only one flag, and it's in the center of the map! Steal the flag and return it to your base!
 * Nuke Delivery- Take the Nuke inside your base and transport it to your opponent's.
 * Ball Boy- Players compete to hold the Ball the longest. Players with the ball have all their default Perks activated at once, and until they lose the Ball.
 * Silence- Similar to Blazing, but everyone is invisible! Making a noise (such as firing, walking, and more), reveals your location. Players are all armed with Sniper Rifles and Energy Carbines.

Legacy
Zeon has become one of the best-selling XBOX Live or PlayStation Network games of all time, with critics praising it's story and good gameplay. However, a common criticism was it's simularity to Halo. Despite the announcement of Zeon 2: Mjolnir, as well as the spin-off titled Mjolnir as well, fans continue to build custom content for the game.