Zeno Clash Combat Guide: Put Em Up!

Chances are good that you've never played a game like Zeno Clash before. The game, best described as a first-person brawler, contains vicious bare-knuckle hand-to-hand combat far more visceral than anything to be found in recent, similar titles, such as Mirror's Edge. Getting the most out of the game depends on learning the combat system. It is easy to become frustrated after a few defeats, particularly in the fights against multiple opponents, which occur often and can be quite difficult. But Zeno Clash is a rewarding game to master, and well worth the effort of training yourself in its vocabulary of combat.

At the most basic level you have three moves. These are the punch, the combo punch, and the strong punch. Punching is done by clicking the left mouse button, and a combo punch of three blows is performed by keeping the button down. A strong punch is performed with the right mouse button. The combo punch is your bread-and-butter, as it is quick and fairly damaging. Using these light blows repeatedly against a foe will put them into a stunned state, allowing you to throw them or pummel them at will. The strong punch is also very important, as it does a serious amount of damage and has some special properties. First, it will knock down a stunned foe. Second, it can be used against blocking opponents as a block-buster, although you need to follow up your strong punch with a standard attack for this to work.

More advanced moves that you will learn include the charge and the defensive punch. The charge is performed by sprinting into an enemy and pressing the left mouse button. This attack doesn't do a ton of damage but it does throw your enemy off guard for a moment, letting you get in more blows. The defensive punch is performed by moving backwards and pressing the right mouse button. You'll slowly move back your hand and then release a furious blow that can knock an enemy off his feat.

The most basic defensive move is the block, which is performed by pressing the space bar. The block will stop most incoming attacks from the front. It does fatigue you, however, which means you can't just sit behind your arms and take punishment forever. Second is the dodge. The dodge can be performed by pressing either of the strafe keys and the spacebar while an enemy attack is incoming. If you've performed the dodge correctly, time should slow down, giving you a window to perform an offensive counter-attack.

Both of block and dodge have counter-attacks associated with them. If you block at the exact moment that an enemy blow is incoming, you will deflect the blow. If you the follow up with what would be a normal attack, you'll perform a strong kick that sends your attacker flying. If you attack while performing a dodge (specifically, while the time-slow effect is active) then you'll perform a strong punch which knocks your enemy off their feet. Both of these moves can be difficult to pull off, but they do a huge amount of damage.