Review: Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Two Lives. Two Fates. One legendary Journey

Story

The post-apocalyptic world of Enslaved has slept in silence for over a century. Once bustling human cities now stand desolate and deserted with no signs of life. The only things that roam these lands are the Mechs. These deathly AI machines know only to give pain and suffering to anything or anyone they hunt down to be used as a slave.

In this violent and lone world, you play as the main protagonist, Monkey, voiced by the great Andy Serkis who plays the strong and silent type of guy who always finds himself to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This time however, his troubles have only just begun. This brings us unto the second character of the story, Trip, the tech-smart red head who unfortunately for Monkey, knows exactly what must be done to escape to her village hundreds of miles away.

Gamplay

The game literally starts you of with bang as you find yourself captured aboard a slaver sky-ship which thanks to Trip, is about to make its dramatic arrival in New York City very soon. The beginning of the game is chaotic as it is loud as Monkey’s first task is to escape the erupting vessel while fighting off combat mechs before all the escape pods are used up and more importantly, before the ship makes its catastrophic impact with the eroding city.

Before long, Monkey finds out that he has unfortunately become almost inseparable to Trip as he realises after his painful awakening that she has planted a slaver headband on him to use for her own selfish desire to get home in one piece. Once you find your bearings,  most of the game is pretty much laid out in front of you as you must move through the city using a compilation of Monkey’s stunning acrobatics and metal crushing melee skills followed by Trip’s technical know-how, bypassing mechs and creating bright and beautiful distractions to help herself and Monkey escape the steel demons and ultimately get Trip back to her village.

An interesting factor within the game is the use of the command menu which in a game like this, is essential. The use of the menu within the game is very effective when playing along side an AI character because instead of them just following you around like alot of games on the shelves today, Trip will make the smart decision and wait for you to tell what her to do but will also make her own way around the game when the coast is clear or when freely manoeuvring through or around large obstacles like buildings which will often be the case.

Design

The game’s visual design is a real high point throughout, as the moment you awake in the city, you are immediately greeted with the stunningly beautiful and decayed ruins of New York. Alot of the time you will find yourself moving through large areas of the city which have largely been taken back by nature which give a huge boost in realism if you ever think to stop and take a look. The world’s current state also enhances the mood substantially as it feels strangely eerie but tranquil to wonder the silent ruins of a city that once was overflowing with life.

The character design is also a great factor when playing through the game as they seem to fit in perfectly within the tribal-like world in terms of personal look and detail. The voice acting is also a definite high point within the game as the lip syncing is seamless tied in with the colourful voices of Andy Serkis and Lindsey Shaw which always helps the overall character naturalism, especially during certain emotional cut-scenes.

Overall

The creative minds up at Ninja Theory have really outdone themselves this time, with Enslaved providing an epic journey tied-in with an equally great story that is bound to keep you on the edge of your seat the whole way through. The only slight faults I found whilst playing where the sometimes touchy camera that might not always do what you tell it to do and slight clunky control system. However, despite these tiny mishaps, the game still provides an overflowing amount of innovation and creativity which is always a prime factor when dealing with today’s top games.

The game flows very fluently while progressing through the story as you watch the two protagonists grow closer together through the hardship of the viscous world around them, you yourself grow closer to their unique and compelling story’s.

This resurrection of the classic Chinese novel ‘Journey to the West’ has definitely proven it’s self as one of the best games of 2010 and so I would recommend it to any gamer looking for something with emotional depth and hugely engrossing storyline.