Review time, I thought I would switch things up a little this week and rather than give you all a recap of the news I would put my thoughts to you about the game I have been currently playing.
The game in question is Enslaved Odyssey to the West.
Plot
Created by developers Ninja Theory, the minds behind Heavenly Sword and the upcoming reboot of Devil May Cry, comes the tale of Monkey and Trip. 2 survivors who escape a slave ship bound for the mysterious location known only as Pyramid. Set in the distant future in a land that has been ravaged by war, where only scrap metal robots known as mechs and small pockets of humanity are able to survive. These 2 companions must work together if they are to overcome the crumbling dystopia and get back to their homes. Along the way they meet with a friend of Trip’s called Pigsy who joins them in their adventure.
The story is loosely based on the ancient Chinese novel ‘Journey to the West’ and was written by Alex Garland. Who notably also wrote the films 28 Days Later, Sunshine and The Beach. Returning to work with Ninja Theory was Andy Serkis, who not only directed the game he also performed the motion capture for Monkey.
Game play
As this game is an action adventure there are 2 core game play elements to Enslaved, these are combat and platforming. Both of which you will be doing a lot of on your play through of the game. You will take control of Monkey for the entirety of the story and Trip will accompany you as more of an advisor and at times a useful resource due to the baby sitting parts of the game play but I shall get onto that later.
The combat mechanics in Enslaved are very simple; there are no huge button combinations to remember and most enemies can be taken down with a few mashes of the strong attack. Add to this Monkey’s ranged and stun attacks and you will be dispatching a mountain of mechs in no time. I found the combat to be fluid and engaging for the most part, the only downfall as with many games in this genre was the camera. It would fixate itself on the most imminent danger, which is useful at times, however if you then try to move it with the right analogue stick to get a better view on the enemies that are circling around you it will constantly try to snap back to where it thinks you should be looking. This caused a to and fro argument between me and the control scheme with me telling it where I wanted to look and it telling me where I should be looking. Personally I think games like this require the player to have complete control over the camera allowing them to pick and choose which enemies to focus on and not have the game dictate or overrule the player’s choice.
Now to a much more enjoyable part of the game....the platforming. Anyone who has played the Uncharted games will be immediately comfortable and at home with how Monkey can move around his environment. Leaping huge gaps and finding hand holds on the tiniest of ledges, Monkey is able to scale complex structures with ease. The game will highlight each area that the player will need to move to next and Monkey will grab onto it with an almost magnetic grip. It is near impossible for the player to be killed whilst climbing and this works as a strength for the user. I have played many games in my time where jumps have been misjudged or invisible walls have been in areas that look to be reachable but turn out to be deadly. The fact that the game compensates for this is a satisfying experience and allows you to enjoy the sights and not have to become angered or agitated by unresponsive controls or deceiving level design.
I kind of have a love hate relationship with babysitting mechanics in games. At times the AI can be perfect and will be able to fend for itself while you take on some of the harder enemies in a game, and then there are times where the AI will blindly run in to all sorts of danger and then demand that you save them. Luckily Enslaved is not the latter. As stated before you play as Monkey and you are burdened with the task to look out for Trip, fortunately she has a number of skills to aid you in your quest together. Early on in the game Trip will hack a robotic dragon fly and use it to survey the path ahead. This information will then be displayed to Monkey showing hidden mines, active mechs and other dangers in the vicinity.
She is also able to point out mechs that have special attachments that Monkey can tear off and utilise for himself. When both Trip and Monkey are caught in a difficult position and are being hailed with gun fire, Trip is able to perform a distraction that will cause the mechs to shift target and allow Monkey to sneak in for the kill. Without a doubt this one of the better companion AI’s I have seen in games.
Graphics
Enslaved was built in the Unreal engine and as such has the classic Unreal feel to it and apart from a few slow loading textures and graphical glitches the games artwork is engrossingly beautiful. The environments that you will get to explore are particularly noteworthy ranging from huge American cities that have been overrun with vegetation and colourful organic life to vast scrap metal junk yards of old decaying mechs. The character models in the game complement their personality; Monkey has a huge upper body figure that strongly resembles that of a gorilla his scars show he is a battle hardened man just trying to survive in the wilderness. Trip is lean and nimble and in comparison to Monkey it is clear to see she is in need of care and then Pigsy.....well what can you say, he is a pig.
The mech character models are a steam punk’s wet dream. They comprise of lots of moving parts to form bipedal robot. The latter enemies are simply breathtaking but I won’t go into detail as it is best you experience it for yourself.
Final thoughts
Overall Enslaved is a thoroughly enjoyable game. The simplistic game play design never deters from the story allowing you to become involved with the characters and form a connection with the 2 main protagonists. Aside from the slight issues with the camera controls and loading times with the Unreal engine, the game, in my eyes, is a definite purchase. If you want a game that has a well written story, stunningly beautiful set pieces and some superb characters and voice acting then Enslaved is the game for you.
I’ll give Enslaved an 8 out of 10.
Thanks for reading this week folks. As always please comment, subscribe and share with friends. I'd love to hear back from you and hear your opinions. See ya next time.
