20.1.2012

I wouldn't have even been aware of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West had it not been for my good friend who lent it me in favour of the admittedly inferior Medal of Honor. And it's hard to see why, with its storyline thats epic in scale, characters you clearly care about and unique visual design. It's a very ambitious game on these fonts, and its such a shame that the game wasn't more recognised. I highly doubt we can expect a sequel with the serious lack games sold.Basically, Enslaved is a post apocalyptic future concept were deadly robots called mechs rule in numbers over mankind. Very few humans remain, and the ones who do are captured as slaves and possibly executed. We follow a guy known as Monkey,who is in this very situation. As he awaits death on an airship, luck comes his way as it crashes and he escapes his cell. Here is where he can put his acrobatic skills to test, defying impossible stunts to keep himself from being killed. When an oppurtunity like that comes along, why wouldn't you try your hardest to survive? He comes across an incredibly intelligent woman called Trip who also plans to escape. But with no trust and little time at her hands, she doesn't sieze the oppurtunity to help Monkey to escape in the pod, thus making things much harder for him. When it turns out they have crash landed side by side, Monkey awakes with a slave crown on his head. Trip placed it on his head to ensure he doesn't kill her, or he dies to. But mainly, because she wants to seek out her family and with all the mechs roaming she doesn't have the combat skills to survive if anything goes wrong.Sounds like the recipe for an ultimate disastrous partnership doesn't it? While the first hour or so show two strangers who are bitterly hostile towards each other, the rest of the game develops a relationship no one could predict to be so beautiful and believable. They feed off each others talents to make it through a journey of blood thirsty mechs and mind bending puzzles, with Monkey's incredible strentgh and agility, and Trip's technologically adept mind. While the storyline is nothing original, its real plot lies in how the two protagonists bond and Enslaved makes damn sure you care about them.So the gameplay itself is its pitfall. There is actually nothing at all wrong with gameplay, it's just nothing specail. And it feels we've done it many times before. I like to say there's three elements in this sector: the platforming, the combat and the stealth. The platforming alone feels so epic at times it's cinematic (look no further than the superb first chapter), but while it does charm in that aspect, it esentially feels like Prince of Persia or Assassin's Creed clone.The combat... well even the combat feels like its ripped straight from God of War. There is original ideas like every now and then, an icon will flash over an enemy's head which depending on which variety it is, it will perform an execution which will help dispatch surrounding enemies with ease, such as using a torso as a detonating bomb or an arm as a gattling gun.The stealth however, is suprisingly the highlight. The concept of how you go about feels like it has been done before (run to cover from enemy bullets, run to the next cover etc.), but it's never been done to this depth. As well as getting yourself closer to the enemies to rid of them, you have to make sure Trip gets across safely. To do this you must perform distractions, and here you control both Trip and Monkey. At first it seems too confusing for it's own good, but I eventually came to love these scenarios more so than any of the other elements of gameplay.There's a great variety of enemies on store here, everything from combat mechs, demolition mechs and ninja like mechs. Every two levels or so, it will introduce a new form of enemy, which keeps it fresh. There's also a few bosses thrown in the mix. The individual bosses are used various times throughout the game, and at first look terrifying and offer a good change from God of War gameplay against the mechs. But because of the number of times a certain boss is used, it detracts from the experience. You get sick off seeing the same mech dog and it made me think of the creators as a bit lazy. However, minor complaint aside, there's little to complain in this sector.The graphics are truly stunning. Everything from the wonderful effects, level design and character models. It often feels like a hollywood movie, its done to that much detail. I haven't been this amazed by visuals since Prince of Persia. I also love the facial movement. It's rare you cancome across a game that you can truly pick out emotions on characters faces, but Enslaved pulls this off brilliantly. The voice acting as expected is second to none. Only other that competes in this department are RPG games. Although there's essentially only two characters to work on here, it's still amazing considering the amount of dialogue. Sound is another great feat, including all the background noises you expect to here to make platforming more immersive. While in battles, the sci-fi sound effects never feel forced, and often sound brutal in such a pretty game. The score is sublime, one of the best in recent years and whoever that composer is, I'd love to hear more from him.There's a good 15 hours here, not to mention a new game plus, and collectibles. If you ask me, thats quite good for a third person adventure. By around three quarters in, the multi layered gameplay gets suprisingly old, but luckily the story remains consistent and keeps you hooked to the superb climax. Overall, you owe yourself to get this little known gem, the more sold the more likely a sequel! If you love games that rely on storylines, this is easily one of the highest recommended on the system. Don't let Enslaved drop from your radar, as it has done from many others.

30.3.2012

While this game has a number of flaws (camera angles can be awkward and obstructive at times and the absence of a jump button can be annoying) overall it is a shame it has been overlooked as much as it has.The gameplay is fun and addictive, the graphics are good (7 out 10, ie better than CoD, worse than Uncharted), the post-apocalyptic world beautiful and the storline/characters, inspired by the 16th Century Chinese novel Journey to the West (which also inspired Monkey and Dragonball) is phenomenal. In fact, it's in the characters that the game has its main strengths. You actually care about what happens to the three protagonists and find yourself wanting to continue playing to see how the story develops and finishes.This is made all the better by a great voice-acting cast and exceptional motion capture by Andy Serkis (the man behind Gollum, Caesar [Rise of the Planet of the Apes] and King Kong). The icing on the cake is that the cutscenes and dialogue add to the gameplay, never being too lengthy or convuluted or interrupting you mid-fight (re. MGS).Enslaved plays much like Uncharted or God of War with a mix of over the shoulder aiming and 'button bashing' melee fighting. It may be simple and combos limited but that doesnt take away from the fun of dismembering mechs. Again, much like GoW and Uncharted there is a number of puzzles throughout the game which elevate it from a simple 3rd person action game. These puzzles range from simple to somewhat challenging without ever becoming annoying and offer a break from mech smashing which when completed can be quite rewarding. Finally, the platforming in Enslaved has recieved quite a bit of criticism. While I can't dispute its simplicity I would say that anyone who has ever played a game with sensitive platforming requiring precise run-up's, timing or an exact analogue movement would probably agree that a somewhat easier method is probably the lesser of two evils. What's more it's enjoyable, can offer numerous paths to your destination (the differnce being appearing in front, behind, to the side of or completely by-passing a group of enemies depending on your own playing style) and offers fantastic views of the world around you.With the addition of the ability to upgrade your health, armour, weapon and moves as you see fit Enslaved to a degree allows a freedom of playstyle.In conclusion this game plays brilliantly if a little clunky at times, the graphics and world are great and the storyline/acting is one of the best in years. The game just missed out on the 5* rating due to its few mechanical faults which really should have been fixed pre-release. This is how 3rd person games should be made but sadly due to limited sales we will have to make do with a DLC add-on rather than a sequal (though a rather extensive and worthwhile add-on admittidely).For a shorter conclusion - buy this game.

11.10.2010

Enslaved is great. In terms of story, quirky interesting characters and an epic, interesting story full of twists and turns it scores on so many levels. In parts the graphics are simply stunning and the environments are beautiful and well thought out. The Journey to the West story it's loosely based on opens up some great oppertunities for gameplay, as Monkey's staff is fun to use and his cloud is a pretty cool feature that will offer alot of diversity throughout this adventure.Gameplay-wise there is plenty to do, with each chapter changing things up slightly. Trip is very useful and she stays put whilst you figure out a technique to make it through a certain area.

13.10.2010

I've played a lot of games. I love Final Fantasy for its story telling, Uncharted for its unprecedented platform elements and God of War for its pure scale and drama.And now I love Enslaved; because it totally suprised me as being the best game out this year that I have played. By a long shot.I saw the advert for this game and wasn't that bothered; it looked a bit like Jak and Daxter mixed with Avatar - but I took a chance and it's a good thing I did. So here's what's so great about Enslaved;*The story; It takes it time, and to be honest, at times I wasn't convinced all the way through that it was that good. But then you hit the epilogue and literally; Wow!

28.3.2013

This was one game that had been on my to-play list for a while and I only did so recently. Of course, being on said list for such a long time meant it was over three years old before I did get around to it and to be honest it does show its age in parts. That said, a good old game is still a good game and this fits that bill perfectly.Gameplay is fun - plenty of running and climbing, whacking and shooting. Although you are left to make up your mind as to how and when earth became this massive wasteland (read gamers playground) the story does keep you involved mainly due to the evolving and often touching partnership initially born out of necessity between the central characters of Trip and Monkey on a journey (an odyssey even...)

9.10.2010

Having tried the PS3 demo for Enslaved a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to love the game just based on the premise, but had reservations. There were some technical issues in terms of texture pop-in and camera angles during the action, but I'm so glad I decided to give the full game a chance. While there are still the odd moments of slowdown, texture pop-in and frustrating camera moments, this is a game that deserves to be played.Enslaved follows in the footsteps of Ico and (some of the) Prince of Persia games, giving you control of one character (Monkey) and someone to look after and defend while they help you (Trip). The game lives or dies on the quality of its main cast,

19.11.2015

I really liked Enslaved and pushed through all the little niggles to actually finish it. The acting is great, Monkey sounds like Vin Diesel but very surprisingly is voiced by Andy Serkis, Trip is voiced by Lyndsey Shaw - familiar to anyone who watched Ned's Declassified when they were younger, and of course the ultimate hero - Pigsy played by Richard Ridings.A few of the elements will be familiar to fans of the 80's Japanese series - Monkey - where he rides around on a magic cloud, has a friend called Pigsy and of course a magic staff, but these are about the only resemblances that I can see.The story is the real strength of Enslaved as you get more and more behind the characters,

18.11.2010

The campaign is around 12-15 hours, depending on the difficulty you play it on and if you want to collect all the bright shiny things to upgrade your weapons and shield. Whilst the gameplay might not always be the smoothest, it is varied and always exciting, especially at certain points in the story where it can be very tense. The whole game is designed and looks beautiful, and some of the sights are breathtaking, a much better looking post-apocalyptic world than that of Fallout. The acting is flawless and you grow to really care about the characters throughout the game, which in the end is why you should be playing the game. It puts a new exciting spin on a very over used storyline and the ending,

21.4.2011

I had high hopes for this game as as it was developed by the the creators of one of my favopurite ps3 games: Heavenly Sword and i'm happy to report thgat i was overall impressed with the game but i felt it lacked the scale and epicness of Heavenly sword. The Game begins on a brilliant high with you escaping and exploding slave ship and it is here where you meet trip, a hot girl with a penchant for hacking. the opening scene alone was so brethtasking i continued playing hoping for a similar adrenaline rush but was unfortunately denied. However this was maded up brilliantly thanks to the introduction to pigsy who added so comedy onto the tale and the final boss was a brilliant spectacle to behold

25.11.2010

Enslaved is a twist on an ancient tale (or so I've come to read). The original is titled "Journey to the West", written some time ago (like 16th century Chinese tale). So it is of no surprise that the main characters are based upon this ancient text (Monkey, Trip & Pigsy, but somehow Sandy got missed out).The game is primarily concerned about getting from A to B without letting anything happen to Monkey or Trip. This works well, and you can see the bond of friendship and respect forming as the game progresses. The game-play is platform/puzzle based, with some mech mashing thrown in for good measure. Like all good magicians there is a good measure of humorous banter and it is all presented with imaginative graphics and cut scenes.On the downside,

28.6.2011

If you are looking for a game to fill the gigantic void left after completeing both current Uncharted games then here it is!! This is the only game other than those two titles that i have not been able to put down and completed in one sitting :)I shouldn't really compare this game to any other though as it is fairly unique in itself but does borrow a lot from Uncharted... The gameplay is very similar although combat is more hand to hand using a staff as opposed to with guns! The graffics are stunning and the post-apocalyptic world is so colourful and vibrant it's just beautiful! The story is very engaging and the characters are acted perfectly,

12.10.2010

UPDATE:Ok, I finished the game yesterday and I must say it is sad that it's finished.If you like a good story with increasing suspense, combat action against sometimes really huge enemies, then Enslaved is definitely for you!!The storyline, level and character design compensate the sometimes really lame controls and the Epiloge ist really awesome (in my opinion).So if you're bored from first person shooters... buy it!ok, and now my first Impression:Admitting that I've just started (actual i'm in chapter two) there's somthing that ist really getting on my nerves:the controls!Sometimes you really need to find the correct position / pixel to jump or roll.

2.8.2011

Only played this a little, but first impressions as Amazon asked for a review:1. Looks great, beautifully crafted.2. Controls etc very easy to understand, usability good.3. Play very linear, and not a lot of scope for doing anything other than the immediate task at hand. No backtracking or anything like that, though the points of no return are very clear and this isn't an RPG. Some nice puzzles and stuff to work out as well, which I'm sure will get more challenging.4. I like the back story, the Monkey legend has always been a favourite (too many wasted hours in the 80s watching chinese TV imports)Don't be put off by three stars, a game has to be really good to get 4, and truly exceptional to get 5 from me.

4.1.2011

I was looking forward to this game after reading several good reviews, and it certainly didn't disappoint. First of all it looks beautiful. All of the environments are green and lovely, and at times I would stop what I was doing just to look at the scenery.Combat is pretty easy, but fun. There aren't too many enemies -- I am often annoyed when playing games that keep churning out a neverending stream of enemies. Quite a few times you have the option of sneaking past the mechs, but doing this will not get you experience points.The characters are among the most realistic looking I have seen in a game, and the voice acting is far better than in most games like this.The story is compelling,

12.10.2010

I pre-ordered Enslaved from Amazon months and months ago thinking that this game would be another Uncharted masterpiece! Although Enslaved is pretty to look at in some areas, the pixel pop ups are too often and makes the game feel rushed. I recieved mine early Friday morning and had completed it TWICE on normal and hard difficulty by the end of the day! (I do hammer my games though) I feel that they could have made the game much longer considering the title.The combat and gameplay is pretty samey from beginning to end, and like other reviewers have said, you are constricted from freedom by the strict path that the developers have laid out for you. Saying all that though I still think you should give Enslaved a chance,

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (PS3) - Reviews

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