Rock of Ages
Rock of Ages
Game
Game2009
Zeno Clash
Developer ACE Team
Zeno Clash is a first-person fighting video game with elements of a first-person shooter. It is the debut game of developer ACE Team and uses the Source engine. It was released for download through content delivery service Steam on 21 April 2009. The Xbox 360 version, entitled Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition, was released 5 May 2010 and contains additional features not found in the Windows version. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
259 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 3, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
93
LovedLoved
167 positive · 13 negative
95% range 88–96%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 167 | 13 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 31 | 1 | 41 |
| Lemmy * | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Mastodon * | 2 | 1 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
1,838 of 2,093 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
93% recommend · 172 yes, 13 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 185 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (2,801 of 3,238 positive).
Players praise the game's surreal, grotesque art style and unique world. [1][2][3] Many note the first-person melee combat is fun but janky and repetitive. [4][5][6] Some reviewers find the game short, with technical issues and dated gameplay. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [8]
I'm pretty amazed by the positive ratio of reviews here, this game has a few pieces of combat that are fun here and there but the overall experience is terrible and sluggish. The game is borderline unplayable without modifying because the mouse issues and the awful camera sway/FOV make it an eyesore to even play. I shouldn't have to become a modder just to be able to play your game, and unfortunately even if I did …
- [1]
Zeno Clash is a relic, a fascinatingly ugly experiment in first-person brawling wrapped in dated Source engine tech. Its surreal aesthetic and brutal combat offer a jarring departure from convention. Yet, it exists now mostly as a curiosity, a node in Steam's network designed to funnel you towards bundle purchases. Play it to experience the weirdness, but recognize it as digital taxidermy – interesting to look at, …
- [2]
satisfying combat but the real strength of this game is the unsettling, creepy vibe in this crazy world. ace team was high
- [13]
This game is an fps, but calling it just an fps is like calling Evangelion just a mecha anime, technically true but completely missing the point, this game has a unique, grotesque, and deranged aesthetic in the best way possible, that makes you stop every five minutes and go wtf am I even looking at? Everything about this game feels completely alien, the story, the atmosphere, the weapons, the characters (except the …
- [3]
"Erminia peed on herself and starved to death anonymously, and that is what Erminia did." Okay, then... It feels like a fever dream produced by a wildly inspired mad artist who was let loose to do whatever he wanted. It’s a mesmerizing, surreal journey, with an irresistible atmosphere and sense of aesthetics — drenched in unique, insane designs — where absolutely nothing feels normal. Even the characters themselves …
Summarised from 34 of the 259 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Zeno Clash sits at 93% positive across 180 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Zeno Clash received "generally favourable reviews", while the Ultimate Edition received "mixed or average reviews", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In January 2009, Zeno Clash was a nominated finalist in the Independent Games Festival yearly competition, in the category of Excellence in Visual Art. It was one of five games to be selected for this award, from a total of 226 participating titles. It was named PC Game of the Month by IGN for April 2009. It was praised for its originality and "satisfying sense of combat." It was a finalist in the category of Best Debut in the Tenth Annual Game Developer Choice Awards. It also won PC Gamer's 2009's Independent Game of the…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 259 · most liked firstSo, ACE Team's new game is Vermintide: Conquistadors vs Cthulhu, huh? Interesting. As an aside, Clash: Artifacts Of Chaos (aka Zeno Clash 3, but rebranded due to publisher weirdness) is going real cheap here. It is EXTREMELY good. Like a Chilean surrealist version of the new God Of War games.
positive · AI labelView post →Zeno Clash is a relic, a fascinatingly ugly experiment in first-person brawling wrapped in dated Source engine tech. Its surreal aesthetic and brutal combat offer a jarring departure from convention. Yet, it exists now mostly as a curiosity, a node in Steam's network designed to funnel you towards bundle purchases. Play it to experience the weirdness, but recognize it as digital taxidermy – interesting to look at, fundamentally dead, and propped up by a system that values your engagement far…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Missed it the other day - first real gameplay footage of Ace Team's (Zeno Clash, Eternal Cylinder, etc) new 4-player co-op game. I was expecting it to be more like Vermintide but it feels like there's a bit of Outlast Trials and Peak DNA in there too. Good on them for not walking the beaten path.
neutral · AI labelView post →Zeno Clash 1 and 2. They're first person brawler games set in a world that's very Daliesque. They're very rough but the visuals and setting always sat with me store.steampowered.com/app/22200/Ze...
neutral · AI labelView post →Remember that really weird game Zeno Clash we played over a decade ago? Well I've decided to beat it on stream! www.twitch.tv/snipeandwib
neutral · AI labelView post →Also a huge 90% off Clash: Artifacts of Chaos. Latest in the Zeno Clash series, but works great as a standalone game. Like a surrealistic Chilean take on the new God Of War games. An ascetic with a face like a gangrenous toe adopts a weird bird-child hunted by authorities obsessed with dice games.
neutral · AI labelView post →This is the greatest game that I will never, ever in good conscience recommend to anyone. It is my emotional support terrible game that irreversibly altered the trajectory of my life in my teenage years, and it's perfect. You probably won't like it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Two new Lovecraft games announced, including one from Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong studio. >If you love Lovecraft, publisher Nacon will be hoping you also love the two Lovecraft games it's lining up for its 2025 slate - one of which is a "thrilling investigative adventure" from the team behind The Council and Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong. > >Starting with that one, it's called Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss, and cast players as Noah, an agent of a secret Interpol division that…
neutral · AI labelView post →The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu announced - a first-person co-op horror game from ACE Team (Zeno Clash), coming to PS5, XBS, and PC later this year. (Read more: Gematsu)
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm pretty amazed by the positive ratio of reviews here, this game has a few pieces of combat that are fun here and there but the overall experience is terrible and sluggish. The game is borderline unplayable without modifying because the mouse issues and the awful camera sway/FOV make it an eyesore to even play. I shouldn't have to become a modder just to be able to play your game, and unfortunately even if I did mod it there's not enough here to be interesting. The models for the mutants in…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As promised and delivered last second, the lineup for this year's Variety December specials (dates are estimates) Children of the Sun: TONIGHT Zeno Clash I & II: 13th-15th Sifu: 20th - 22nd Neva: 27th -29th And a surprise extra special game extending into the first weekend of 2025, on Jan 4th 👀
neutral · AI labelView post →VERY strange game. In core - its a simple brawler where all in game-loop consists of moving around very small locations, and fighting with single or multiple opponents. Alongside to hand-to-hand combat with dodge, parry, block, fast kick, strong kick and grab (when the opponents is dizzy), you can use some sort of grenades and ranged weapons, but with dynamic and genre of the game they are more of an icing on a cake. Years ago i played the chronicles of Riddick and some of my friends said that…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Split Fiction's narrative is nothing special but god DAMN is that entire game just so non-stop jaw-dropping. I kept saying throughout Zeno Clash 2 how ACE Team kinda just kept out-weirding themselves. Hazelight kept out-cooling themselves on this one.
positive · AI labelView post →[Aces Wilds ](https://store.steampowered.com/app/269230/Aces_Wild_Manic_Brawling_Action/) is a 2D beat'em up, fast paced, straightforward arcade game [Brigador](https://store.steampowered.com/app/274500/Brigador_UpArmored_Edition/) is a top down mecha shooter game; I wouldn't usually recommend it in regards to action since it can be a little difficult, but since you mentioned God Hand then I can assume you understand that some games can be action but still require thinking. Just like you…
neutral · AI labelView post →The game aged very poorly. The design of the world and the enemies still shines through, you can still see the imagination of the ACE team on display, but gameplay-wise it just plays like ass. The weapons feel weak, the fights are long and annoying more than challenging, the parry windows are short, the levels themselves are just incredibly short sequences of arenas, where the same braindead enemies run towards you.. There's also an incredibly annoying bug, where mouse input becomes…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I remember playing this game back when i was in elementary school and never beating it (I was a child and terrible at video games). It has been over a decade since I played and thought to myself it is time to redeem myself and final beat this beast that lurked in the shadows of my past( Im a gamer now right). I proceeded to go through the whole game in one sitting and reached the final boss without dying (damn I really did suck as a kid). However, right as I was about to conquer my demons I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →does anyone remember that game Zeno Clash?
neutral · AI labelView post →satisfying combat but the real strength of this game is the unsettling, creepy vibe in this crazy world. ace team was high
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ACE Team, the team behind Zeno Clash, announced a new game a couple days ago. The trailer has me really interested not only because the game looks fun, but because it genuinely seems like technical masterclass.
neutral · AI labelView post →I decided to play this first-person beat 'em up again with my brother, years after having experienced it via Xbox Live. And it's a great experience still, holding up far better for me than the likes of Braid and Limbo. That's strange, since 2D was and is easier to make immediately playable on a smaller dev budget. Now, there is a little jank in this, as you would expect to find in a 3D indie game made before there was even a real 2D indie boom -- but not nearly as much as I feared. The wild…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For the latest edition of their "Indie Game of the Week" feature on @giantbomb.com, @gbmento.bsky.social looked at Clash: Artifacts of Chaos! Does it do enough to beat the Zeno Clash comparisons? Read to find out! Link: giantbomb.com/users/4945/a... #games #gaming #indiegame #indie #giantbomb
neutral · AI labelView post →"Erminia peed on herself and starved to death anonymously, and that is what Erminia did." Okay, then... It feels like a fever dream produced by a wildly inspired mad artist who was let loose to do whatever he wanted. It’s a mesmerizing, surreal journey, with an irresistible atmosphere and sense of aesthetics — drenched in unique, insane designs — where absolutely nothing feels normal. Even the characters themselves seem to have no idea what’s going on. I didn’t even bother trying to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Going through the ACE team catalog, this time I'm playing Clash: Artifacts of Chaos. It's a spinoff of Zeno Clash series, but in third person. As always with the ACE team the world is beautiful and weird. Plays nice enough too, liking it so far
positive · AI labelView post →you're telling me you don't have 3 hours to play this game. close forsaken and have fun for once in your life.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A short fun fighting game Pros: -cool artstyle feels like something from Xavier: Renegade Angel -funny ragdoll and fighting Cons: -sometimes janky combat makes it hard for challenges when you are going for time -game is a bit short but still good -no saving manually 6/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A very obscure and a very unique game but I like it very much. This is a 16 years old game and runs perfectly on modern systems.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love its world, i hate its gameplay.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A game as wondrous as it is weird. Zeno Clash has to be one of the craziest games I've played in recent memory, the world of this game is absolutely ridiculous in the best possible way. The character and world design is absolutely unhinged, I found myself having a stupid smile on my face every time I'd encounter a new enemy, enter a new level or pickup a new weapon. Combat is an absolute blast, if a little janky, and it kept me thoroughly entertained through out my playtime. The story is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Amazing game. I like a game with a vision - something that wants to do something new and this game sure is like that. I mean in a lot of ways it feels like they took unwritten rules (that exists for good reasons) and just were like ♥♥♥♥ it lets do first person melee actually. Lets have a weird intriguing alien world but not explain anything. Lets have VAs talk while inhaling to make it sound freaky but not put in subtitles. Lets have a blind guy be a sniper using squirrels rigged with…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is an fps, but calling it just an fps is like calling Evangelion just a mecha anime, technically true but completely missing the point, this game has a unique, grotesque, and deranged aesthetic in the best way possible, that makes you stop every five minutes and go wtf am I even looking at? Everything about this game feels completely alien, the story, the atmosphere, the weapons, the characters (except the protagonist who is relatively normal, which makes the contrast even weirder).…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of my favorite games of all times. Great combat mechanics, top-level original lore. Love it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game holds a special place in my heart for me. It is quite an emotional experience, albeit a short one. In some aspects it is better than Zeno Clash 2.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think about this game a lot. It's got such an interesting art style and atmosphere with an equally strange story and premise. It is brought down by what is only serviceable and somewhat repetitive gameplay, except the game isn't long enough for this problem to really set in as it just doesn't overstay its welcome. At a certain point with the game as well it starts going to locations and has unique events occur that end up making the game feel like legend of zelda majoras mask had a baby with…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is great, you should try it. Awesome style and sound, nice and funny fighting mechanic. Abolutely worth its price. Also, Kenshi vibes.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I expected violence, but not animal cruelty. The first thing the game had me do was kick a bunch of innocent chickens. Shortly after, an NPC tears the heads off multiple chickens and I was required to shoot their headless bodies as they floundered around. This may not bother most people, but it is not something I want to see in a game, and I *definitely* don't want to be required to partake in it to advance in the game. I would not have purchased it if there was any indication of this on the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I dont remember buying this.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Next month we are recording a special Game Club episode of The Gamesline Podcast about Zeno Clash, the cult classic 2009 first-person brawler from ACE Team! Zeno Clash is 5 hours long, so you have plenty of time to play along and send us an e-mail to [email protected] by August 15th!
neutral · AI labelView post →I'd recommend this if not for the grotesque transphobia
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Zeno Clash has an extremely unique art style, surrealistic and grotesque at the same time; has fun first-person combat that still holds up and feels fresh; has a memorable world and setting filled with strange and bizarre creatures and characters; and offers a strong atmosphere unlike anything I've seen before, full of creativity. The only drawbacks are that the game is short, around 5-10 hours (if you take your time); the combat gets a bit repetitive as there isn't much variety; there are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I rate this game Erminia peed on herself and starved to death anonymously, and that is what Erminia did / 10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the art style is really nice and unique, but the gameplay is butt
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played this many years ago. While I can never enjoy first person attempts at melee, I loved this game for its stylish and how daring it was. If you like a weird, pagan, shamanistic world filled with bazaar creatures to explore, this game is for you.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A gem, a cathedral for those with the eyes to see, a delight for the heart, eyes, and mind
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The other negative review for this game outlines my experience quite perfectly. I don't think this game is very good. It feels like running through gelatin. edit: I havent played more but I feel I need to add something to this. Someone asked me about this game yesterday and I had to confide in them something that I will confess to all of you who read this now. I identified with one character and one character only in this game, Oxameter. "Oxameter just walks in a straight line without…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TOMORROW, we step once more into the boots of Ghat, with some ZENO CLASH 2! I expect it to be as weird as the first game but honestly after how the first game ended I have no idea what to expect. I'll be starting at 2pm BST / 9am EDT Catch me when I go live @ www.twitch.tv/olmyra
neutral · AI labelView post →Even today, 16 years after it first released, Zeno Clash still feels amazing. ACE Team's surrealist style is a joy to experience, combining uniquely imaginative visuals with captivating storytelling. The first person melee combat and weapons are super satisfying, offering visceral, intimate combat that is made even better by the game's memorable character designs. While it's quite short and focused, that actually makes Zeno Clash an even tighter and more compelling experience from start to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →49. Zeno Clash (replay) I just like these kinds of games. Games with a really weird world and concepts you don’t see often. And i also think it's a pretty solid brawler. It’s not perfect but it fully commits to its vision without compromise, resulting in a unique game you wont forget.
positive · AI labelView post →What in the ♥♥♥♥ did my friend get me for Christmas? Recommended Edit: It's like if morrowind was a 4 hour beat 'em up instead of a 200 hour rpg, complete with terrible combat and some of the most creative environments you'll see in a game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Picked up Kenshi even though I'm not fond of the aesthetics (reminds me of Zeno Clash which was also too bizarre for me)... This game is absolutely batshit. Got chased around the map by a needy shopkeep, then a hungry mob of 20 people. One of them tried to eat my dog. 10/10
neutral · AI labelView post →I had no idea there was another ZENO CLASH game out. 2023 is saved. I have a little guy that rides on my shoulder, and I've already found a cool S. 10/10
positive · AI labelView post →Gonna go live with more Zeno Clash 2 with storyteller_gaming in about 15 minutes or so! Come say hi as we try to understand what the hell this game is lmao Streaming At: Twitch.tv/jinxlesvt #vtuber #indievtuber #envtuber #zenoclash2
neutral · AI labelView post →This is a must play I'm serious the graphics are crazy the kicks are brutal cheers to father-mother birdman and the pigs
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →what a weird little romp. probably best to play on controller, i played on kb+m and the controls were agonizing at times, especially with the locking on.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"... and then, he killed himself"
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It has great game feel and a superb style. But it's incredibly short, shallow, and easy, even after the 15-minute long "stage" where a guy talks at you on a boat. It's worth a playthrough and gets a thumbs up because it's very cheap. It could have been a great game instead of an interesting oddity if the developers had spent more time on enemy variety and content instead of the frankly retarded and embarrassing "story" elements.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →goated. source classic.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It was an interesting game back then, probably in 2009 the gameplay was acceptable, but nowadays it feels clunky and bad. The only interesting about this games is the art style and the world building. Other than that the game is quite boring.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'll get the negatives out first; combat is definitely a bit clunky and fairly repetitive. It's mostly the same handful of enemies and characters you fight, just in different environments. The game also crashed for me whenever I changed a video setting, and at random times when finishing/starting a new chapter in the story. And no FOV settings either. Despite that, Zeno Clash remains one of the most wonderfully bizarre gaming experiences I've ever had, with an unforgettably unique art style &…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Zeno Clash is one of the strangest games I've ever played, and I mean that as high praise — there's genuinely nothing else quite like wandering through Zenozoik punching bizarre bird-people and grotesque misfits while piecing together the story of Ghat and his infamous Father-Mother. The first-person brawling is surprisingly satisfying once it clicks, with a real sense of weight to the hits, though the auto-lock system can get frustrating when you're juggling multiple enemies and the ranged…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Maybe the winner for the most unhinged thing I’ve seen in a game is Zeno Clash 2’s “FPS Challenge” mode that drops you in an arena starting with a bunch of gun pickups. The goal is to kill enemies with attached intense particle emitters fast enough before your FPS counter drops below the threshold.
positive · AI labelView post →
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