19.10.2010

Enslaved is a complex game to pin down. Its a dystopia, but the environments are so beautifully realized that it never feels like one. Its main focus is the development of a relationship through adversity, a premise so clichéd as to be almost painful to read. However due to some subtle writing, brilliant voice acting (read ACTING) and superb motion capture it never feels that way. Gameplay is an equally tricky beast to identify. Platforming, combat, hoverboards and various boss battles and vehicle sections all play a role. However none of it feels tacked on. Everything is important and the various elements all work together to make a brilliant, unique,if occasionally flawed experience.Based upon elements of the Chinese myth Odyssey to the West, The Game is set 150 years in the future. Humanity is a rarity and nature has overridden the urban environment. lush trees and jungles cover the remains of skyscrapers and cars. You take the role of Monkey, a tough and apparently brutish man (he can deform steel with his bare hands). Through a series of (Explosive) circumstances he escapes a slaver ship only to lose consciousness. He awakes to find a slave headband has been placed on his head by a fellow former captive called Tripitaka, a redhaired and frankly beautiful girl (yes i'm aware she's made of pixels) The headband forces Monkey to obey her commands and links their fates. If she dies. He dies. Trip wishes Monkey to help her traverse the robot infested, hazard littered but extremely pretty 300 miles to her home. Monkey is initially angry but ultimately agrees.It is a testament to the acting abilities of Andy Serkis and Lindsey Shaw that you can know nothing about the two protagonists yet almost instantly feel the connection they build. Monkey is initially uninterested in his captor and the world around him, but Trip takes such an interest in the world and its history that it is very difficult for both Monkey and by extension the player not to become drawn in. Monkey starts of as your typical Stoic brute but ultimately is revealed to be insightful and tactically skilled. Trip could have been very one dimensional as an escort character. While she does lack confidence and spends much of the game scared for her life, its rarely irritating, more lovable.Lindsey Shaw plays Trip as emotional, sweet and bright which make her occasional ruthless actions surprising and fresh. As they face the various obstacles of the game the two grow closer, but its not the clichéd hate to love dynamic of so many games. It is subtle and layered. Monkey goes from someone forced to help someone to wanting to help her, as does the player. My only criticism is that Monkey seems to forget his anger at trip for enslaving him rather quickly. The two grow closer naturally however.The story is told through conversations and brief but lovely cutscenes. The motion capture is astounding. I firmly believe it would be possible to play the game with no audio track and still be able to tell exactly what the characters were thinking and feeling. Given that Andy Serkis (who has played Gollum and King Kong through motion capture) had a heavy influence on the direction this is unsurprising. One of the best examples of this is when we see Trip at the start of the second chapter before we see that she has captured Monkey. She hugs her knees and her expression seems a subtle combination of guilt, fear, shame and resolution. We can tell before seeing Monkey that she has done something out of necessity but that it is extremely questionableGameplay is based around platforming and combat primarily. Monkey traverses the environments much like his namesake, evoking Prince of Persia, but with the focus more on organic movement than style. The correct route flashes as you climb making it easy to see. With a few button presses you can vault across gaps and shimmying up pipes. You can leap around with ease, with ranged mechs and occasionally unstable climbing hazards ramping up the tension. You help trip across gaps and find ways for her to navigate the environment. This never feels like a chore and becomes instinctive for the player. You are even capable of carrying trip on your back in a style reminiscent of banjo kazooie. Unfortunately, easy as it is the platforming can also occasionally feel gummy and unresponsive. In a high pressure situation monkey may roll instead of jump for example.Trip provides support with a hologram that can distract ranged enemies allowing you to move without being shot at. She also handles the future tech of the various devices that you encounter, opening security doors and activating machinery. Trip can survey environments using a robot dragonfly which can pinpoint enemies, hazards and other points of interests. She can also heal you if you collect vials. There are some parts of the game where you solve puzzles by issuing trip commands. This works fine most of the time but one puzzle involving a windmill can be extremely buggy and frustrating.Combat is simple but never feels boring or cheap. All enemies are robotic, allowing for the developers to do very visceral combat at times, much in the same vein as Samurai Jack. Monkey can use light and heavy attacks with his staff. Certain enemies allow you to perform takedowns on them. These are brutal finishers that normally allow you to turn the tide of the battle. For example Monkey can rip the arm of a Demolition mech and stab him through the chest, then push him in the path of other enemies. He will then detonate, taking them out. The staff is also capable of ranged attacks like stunning and plasma blasts. As the game progresses you can collect tech orbs that Trip can use to upgrade your Combat abilities as well as your health, shield and ranged attacks. The boss encounters are intense, normally against giant animal themed mechs. There are also sections in which monkey can travel with his "Cloud" a kind of personal hoverboard to navigate puzzles and defeat bosses. Chasing down a robot rhino on a hoverboard is an intense experience.My only real criticism is that you spend much of the game saving the girl. Trip often seems to be the damsel in distress when she isn't tech girl and as someone who grew up with strong female characters like Buffy the Vampire Slayer it jars me that she cant take more of a part in combat or traverse the environments without Monkey's help.Ultimately the game is fantastic in its set pieces and storyline (attacking a giant robot scorpion on the back of an even bigger robot warthog with a stick that shoots lasers! OMFG!!) but the emotions and realism of the characters feelings on their journey keeps it grounded. You care about them very much by the end, and the amazing visuals and superb presentation adds to the experience. These make up for the occasional bug or plot hole. The game is a journey in the end, one which I highly recommend you take

1.3.2011

Enslaved casts you in the role of Monkey, escaping from a slave ship in a post-apocalyptic America only to find out that Trip, a girl who escaped at the same time (and probably caused the ship to malfunction) has put a slave band on you. She demands that you escort her to her village 300 miles away under punishment of death if you try to leave her. Oh, and if she dies you die. Got to love them slave bands.Thus begins a journey tied to the golden rule of simple plot and complex characters where the narrative and dialogue develops a bond between these two characters, founded on mistrust, throughout their journey. The skill in the writing (co-penned by author Alex Garland) comes not so much from the use of dialogue,but from its conservative use of language. Expect no Shakespearian sonnets or Ghost in the Shell styled philosophical musing, but matter of fact conversations with even occasional moments of humour thrown in,. The development of both characters is accompanied by strong voice talent and well acted character models that betray emotions far more subtly than what is usually seen in the videogame medium. Whilst the character models don't have the same level of detail and polygon count as character focussed games such as Heavy Rain, the facial animations are done well offering up plenty of sub-text to the dialogue.All this is set to a vibrant and green post-apocalyptic world where plant life is well into the process of taking over that starting point of New York City. The juxtaposition of beauty and decay combine with the threat of human hunting mechs to provide an uneasy disquiet atmosphere where downtime is never guaranteed. What happened and how it happened is never explained, neither is much of Monkey's history other than being orphaned but there is enough in the scenery and interactions for the player to craft their own take of previous events.With most games narrative and setting are the backdrop to the gameplay but for Enslaved it works better to see the gameplay as the backing for the adventure. That's not to say the gameplay is flawed, it's certainly serviceable and ticks all the boxes it needs to tick but there is not as much depth to the various aspects as gamers have been treated to in other genre examples. Climbing and platforming takes the Uncharted route but provides very linear routes from A to B with only the chance of death or taking damage later in the game. This removes any challenge from these sections although does prevent having to play "hunt for the flashing ledge" as the game never lets you jump the wrong way.Combat is fairly straightforward, Monkey wont be performing any massive combos but there is a good focus on evading, blocking and countering. Monkey's weaponry and available attacks can be unlocked and upgraded by spending orbs found throughout the game but there are never sections too challenging that the basics can't take care of most of your attackers. Smart play will ensure that seasoned gamers will likely not face a game over screen outside of some impressive boss encounters but the player is required to stay focussed as a lapse in concentration can cause Monkey's limited health bar to diminish rapidly. You're rarely going to be swamped by legions of enemies, three at a time tends to be the norm but this is probably a good thing as Monkey's attacks focus mostly on a single enemy with only a couple of moves that can hit more than one at a time.Exploration and environment based puzzles are done fairly well, although the solutions are easy to find without the fear of frustration kicking in. The best parts usually come from having to work together with Trip, whether having her help in solving puzzles or taking on a mech turret whilst guiding Trip safely around a series of cover points, trying to flank enemy turret positions. Monkey and Trip can both use decoys to help the other move unhindered by the threat of fire. However these sections are underused throughout the adventure and there are very few moments outside of cut-scenes and set-pieces where Trip is in any real danger. It's good that the game is not one giant escort mission but taking a page out of Ico's book regarding partnerships would have helped.There is only one major bugbear in the game and it is something that rears its ugly head all too often in narrative focussed games. That is collectables, or in this case orange glowing orbs. They're the games currency for upgrading your weapons with Trip so there is a real impetus for the player to seek them out (and achievements for the OCD among us.) However as is usual, the lions share of these are usually down side paths and in some cases the opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going. Like Alan Wake they constantly threaten to take the player out of the immersive world. When a character is requiring you to move forward post-haste (for fear of more mechs finding you) and the game encouraging you to run the other way, fluffing about looking for orbs (and there are always orbs) it really drags you out of the experience and into the realisation of "yep, I'm playing a videogame". Games are becoming more cinematic and this is a good thing but when did you last see a film character constantly head into danger for a couple of glowing trinkets every five seconds? It also takes away from the brilliant job done with the scenery. I found myself looking at the ground for orange flashes more often than taking in the view. Most games have this sort of approach and it doesn't destroy the experience here but it's about time developers steered away from it if they are looking to craft deeper more immersive experiences.The game is relatively short with about 8-12 hours of playtime, with reasonable game mechanics but a well told adventure your appreciation for this game will boil down to how much value you put on a good story and atmosphere.

11.11.2010

to me, video games have gone really down hill latly swapping single player fun, story, challange, gameplay and graphics for very short single player games that are more of small training levels for the online multiplayer. while single player has died over the last few years making way for online multiplayer, a thing that used to be a side add on to the main game to have some fun with friends. now it is the main part of games, getting rid of the main things video games are about, and nearly forcing me to stick with the older consolesbut here is the saviourthe story is loosly based on the old chinese book Monkey:Journey to the West, although it is only loosly based (the 3 main characters, Cloud,a few other things) it still manages to be quite origional. Being possibly the best story since online multiplayer took over, its probably been around 5-10 years ago when Final Fantasy X was released that a story has made me love a game. small twists, jokes, anger, peril, heroisem, and of course, an epic journy that keeps you wanting to know what happens every chapter of the game. its been a long time since i have thought to myself "just 5 more minuets, i wanna know what happens next"the graphics are brilliant, some of the best for the current generation consoles. even though xbox and ps3 were apparently going to be super graphicly advance pretty much every game i have seen on them would of been technicly possible to put on the PS2. since i got it 2 years ago ive been gutted with a sense of waste that i spent £200 on something that was graphicly on par with an older system (ps2) the enviroments are beautiful and are not far of the design you would expect from a big budget film, but the most impressive thing is the characters. movement is outstanding, clothing and hair moving in realistic ways, but the thing that gets me giddy is the facial expressions. i have never seen expressions so good in a game before, the mouth moves perfectly, the entire face moves with what emotion the person is trying to portray, but most of all the eyes. in every other game ive played the eyes stay there stationary with the brow not moving, portraying no emotion at all. the eyes move perfectly in this game and really adds a new level to the game and storytelling. it dosnt sound important, but ive realised how important just the eyes are in a game thanks to thisthere is one con though, gameplaythey lack here a bit, the fighting system is more of a button masher. it takes a small amount of time to work out how to defete certian enemys, but then its spam the B button. all the jumps are predetermind and there is no exploration, only where the game designers want you to go. no choices in path, its just a straight line throughout the game. the jumping around is really easy aswell, aside from the "you HAVE to go this way" gameplay there is no challange to it, all you do is look for the shiny red part of a wall/tree/pipe/whatever.overall, this is a seriously under-rated game that as far as i know has had not much advertisement from any game site i have been on or TV and in my opinion is a must buy. it is possibly the best single player game that you are going to see in a long time now, and has no multiplayer witch means single player is where ALL the effort has gone.if single player isnt your thing, take your small mind and play call of duty. single player games and story isnt for you, you need a game that is exactly the same as the last with a new map. Waste your money on the new COD with no new guns, gameplay features or real improvement or industry changing inovation, but know this, you are missing out

23.1.2011

I really enjoyed this game. I mostly play single player games (or split-screen games) and it's quite rare to find a game nowadays which has been designed primarily as a single player game - well, this is one of them. (I do tend to play a lot of Live Arcade games, because those are more my thing that 'CoD 56', or whatever the latest multiplayer frag-fest is)The graphics are amazing, and the story is really good (OK, the female sidekick is a bit wimpy, but if you saw the 'Monkey' TV series back in the 70s (which is based on the same Chinese story), the priest Tripitaka was also a bit wimpy, so it's sticking to the story there). There are some other homages played to the Journey to the West story - such as the hoverboard called 'Cloud',where we're told 'that doesn't look much like a cloud' - you'll probably ignore those comments if you haven't seen that story, but it made me have a little chuckle.I actually liked the gameplay, unlike many here. Yes, it wasn't that intellectually challenging, but I don't always play games to be intellectually challenged. There was enough variation in what you had to do that it didn't get boring (to me) - unlike some other games I've played recently (FF XIII, I'm looking at you). Sometimes you'd have to some melee fighting with your staff. Sometimes, you'd do distant shooting. Sometimes you'll be climbing around all over the place, sometimes you'll be racing, and sometimes you'll be solving a (not difficult) puzzle. It wasn't too difficult (on 'Normal' level), so you don't die too many times, which I like.The game IS linear, so if you don't like linear games, it might not be for you. But, while they're not 'popular' nowadays, there's nothing wrong with a linear game. It takes you through a well thought out story, and you don't get distracted with doing side-quests. I actually enjoy this. If there are too many side quests, I tend to get bogged down in them, and sometimes I worry that I'm missing out on some of them, so I'm missing part of the game. If the game is linear, then, as long as I progress, I know I'm getting everything out of the game that the designers wanted.The game might be called 'short'. I reckon it took me about 12 hours to do. But, again that doesn't bother me. I only get chance to play for a few hours a week (having a family, and social life), so I could get through this one in a reasonable time. If a game takes 50+ hours, then I normally get bored before I've finished, so it leaves me frustrated rather than happy. This one, I finished and enjoyed, and can look back on the experience as fun.I can understand some people's other complaints - you can't max out all your upgrades at once - but that's intentional, not a 'flaw' - you don't 'need' any particular upgrades to finish (you do to get achievements, but those aren't necessary). In some levels Trip is unavailable so you can't do upgrades - again, that's intentional, as it makes the level a bit frustrating, deliberately - it adds to the story. And so on.I'd recommend it. It's not expensive now.

9.10.2010

This started out as a concept for an animated movie created using the unreal graphics engine, but ended up being an interactive gaming experience. The reason this info is important to the prospective buyer, is that the story, and the FMV cut scenes that tell it, are clearly the focus of the project. Andy Serkis provides the likeness, voice, and motion capture for the lead character, and once again proves himself to be the premier actor for being able to convey emotion through the CGI medium.The story is a very clever and well adapted version of 'Journey to the West' (anyone over 30 years old may know this story from 'Monkey', or 'Monkey Magic' the popular dubbed chinese show of the late 70's),and the quality of the script and story mean that the use of Alex Garland's name is not just for hype, he has clearly spent some time and effort bringing a quality seldom seen in these elements of a video game.The gameplay is, at first glance, and from the demo level, very much a god of war derivative, but as the game expands, it quickly becomes apparent that this comparison is not accurate. The game it most resembles in game play is the reboot of 'Prince of Persia' that was released a couple of years ago. You control an athletic physical character, who has to help a largely AI female character through physical obstacles, whilst she in turn, uses her special abilities to help your character solve various puzzles/traps and fight certain big bosses. There are even similar energy orbs to collect in order to unlock and purchase upgraded weapons/abilities. The gameplay and combat is, by its nature, very forgiving - you cannot fall off structures, you dont really have to time or aim jumps/leaps very specificaly, and combat is basic 2 button combo's that create a flash range of animations on screen. This will mean that for a lot of 'hardcore' gamers, this will feel too easy and linear, which is probably a fair argument, but again, this game is more concerned in telling its story and showing you the future-earth that the team have created, and as such, the gaming remains fun, and pitched just right to maintain the games cinematic flow.Whilst I am of a forgiving nature towards this game's quirks, I do wish that there had been more work done to polish the camera control, as the angles it tracks can be terrible, and controlling it with the analogue stick can be jerky and unresponsive, and I would have liked the platforming elements to have been more skill dependant, so its far from perfect or refined in some respects.But it is something to be judged as a whole, and that whole is something more than a game. It is a beautiful, engaging and utterly charming interactive adventure through a unique and exciting world. The boldness of vision, Imagery and quality of storytelling is to be applauded and enjoyed, and the gameplay is solid, if not earth-shattering. I love it, and think it would take a real killjoy not to find it a great way to spend a weekend's gaming.

1.6.2011

On the face of things this game should be boring with its gameplay being so repetitive. It simply feels like a series of sections to get passed doing very similar things. Yet, somehow I have not got bored of it after several hours.It may be simple in design, but as the game progresses it steadily adds more and more concepts to make it less so and add a bit of variety to it.The gameplay at its best however is still nothing mind blowing. The star of the show is definately the story and character development. I am constantly hoping to get to the next cutscene/chat between the two characters because the story is very interesting and so are their characters. When I first started the game,

11.10.2010

I've played Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake, Bayonetta, most sports games this year, Mafia 2, Super Street Fighter 4, GOW 3, some games from last year and it is my second favourite game this year and it debateably tells the greatest story this gen, for that alone I say buy it.Regarding gameplay, one thing people who haven't played the whole game can't understand is that whilst gameplay can be simplistic, you are never stuck doing one thing for too long, so it always remains fresh a testament to the expertise and tact applied in the games design.At one moment you are platforming, then next you are in a tactical battle field setup, next up your fighting mechs, then you're on a hover board (some self contained open worldish sections),

18.10.2010

I have been playing games a long time and know that I am a bit old school in my tastes as much as I love a good FPS I am not interested in multi player I understand its appeal but its just not for me. One of my favourite games recently was Arkham asylum because it was designed to be a single player game with no tacked on multi player to waste any of the games development time. Enslaved is another great (gasp) single player game with a story and that's where the strengths of this game lie and also the kind of game I love.Set two hundred years in the future of our world the story brings together two characters who must embark on a journey together through a destroyed city over run by machines

19.11.2010

Enslaved Odyssey To The West is from Ninja Theory the same studio behind Heavenly Sword back in 2007. Can Enslaved follow on and deliver a story and more importantly gameplay that's up to scratch?When you start up the game you will find yourself on a slavers ship where you have to escape. The first level sort of acts as a tutorial which comes in handy considering the bare bones nature of the manual. Here you will meet Trip another of the main characters in the story. The story is excellent with great cut-scenes, voice acting and a plot that will have you interested.One of the main drawbacks with the game is the camera which can be disorientating at times.

1.7.2013

This game contains the best playable (if highly scripted) introductions to a game it teaches you the ropes in an incredibly action packed, cinematic way, stunning is too poor a word to describe it, never has it been so exiting to escape a crash before.Graphically speaking Enslaved is beautiful thanks to the almost Nintendo like brightness and its wonderful sense of scale, everything feels so big that you are a bit worried that you might get lost in the sheer magnitude of everything, even if the truth is that the game is actually quite linear.The game reminds me a lot of Devil May Cry but with mechs instead of demons, but there are enough little game play nuances to help it to distinguish itself and makes a perfect complimentary game to that one.

13.10.2010

This game looks great. The earlier levels in particular are bright and verdant, with amazing blue skies and long views over beautiful landscapes; later levels start to get metallic and rusty and are less impressive, although still a visual treat.The acting in the cut scenes is fantastic, and you develop a real empathy for the principal characters. The story is somewhat blah, but not too bad.The gameplay... well, there are three aspects to it: combat, puzzles, and climbing.The combat is frantic but repetitive; there are only a few combos to learn, and you learn them early on. From then on it's just button mashing.The puzzles aren't really head-scratchers,

25.1.2011

This game is beautiful, enrapturing, well written, and frankly one of the top games of 2010 by far!When the demo came out last year, I replayed it numerous times. It was great fun, but not only that it was stunningly beautiful, and really well voiced and modelled.The characters draw you in perfectly, and the voice talent do such a fine job that they should be awarded oscars!The level design is gorgeous! Considering this is set in a post-apocalyptic world that has been ravaged by war, the scenery is stunning, and that doesn't affect the bleakness you feel from the devastation in the slightest. It's a nice refreshing look at the wastelands of this theme,

21.10.2010

There are a decent proportion of gamers who don't really care about having a story as they play. This is clear in slurry of mindless action games that make it to the store shelves. This is not me, as I am a gamer who grew up with the cerebral and story filled games of Lucasarts et al. I like my action heroes to have a reason to want to pull the trigger, and this is exactly what Ninja Theory does with Enslaved. You play as Monkey in this third person action platformer. You are attached to a girl named Trip who holds a device that means if she dies you die. The relationship starts of tensely with captor and captive, but as the game progresses their relationship blossoms.Enslaved has some of the best character development I have seen since `Heavy Rain',

28.10.2010

A beautiful game with true emotion portrayed by the characters, their facial expressions show so much that there could be no dialogue and i'd understand. I blame this game for my disrupted sleeping pattern because I was up until 5 in the morning playing it two days in a row, it's just too good to stop playing. Although battles can become repetitive, if you're inventive with your methods then combat can seem more intelligent, but even then it is limited. Climbing is a bit too easy and puzzles are pretty simple to work out so don't expect hair tugging frustration.The graphic's for surroundings in the travel cutscenes seems like it could have been on the original xbox but in-game graphics are considerably better especially the detail in the characters.The story is just...

11.10.2011

I found this game as a "people who bought Castlevania bought this" kind of recommendation on Amazon. I bought both games, and to be honest, I didn't much like Castlevania at all. Having read reviews of this I decided that I would give it a try.I think it's an outstanding game with a bit of everything thrown in.When the visuals started and showed the blue skies etc, it reminded me of the excellent Bulletstorm and to be fair, it has a lot of that kind of humour thrown in.The acting is good, and I was surprised to find out the main character Monkey's voice was that of Andy Serkis, but fair do's, he does a very good job.The combat sequences have all been discussed in detail by other reviewers,

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (Xbox 360) - Reviews

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