Review: Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

[SaberSpellSword]

To avoid spoilers (getting spoilers for this game is a crime) I've been playing the video reviews but minimizing the windows so I can't actually see whats going on but still hear what they're saying. then I mute the computer during the cut-scene demonstrations to avoid hearing the awesome voice acting out of context, turning the mute off every second or so, so that I know when the reviewer comes back in but still having no idea what the characters are saying.

of coarse you can always just read the written reviews and skip over the parts that are sounding like their leading to spoilers but reading reviews isn't as enjoyable as listening to them.

 

[TOGSolid]

The real reason to play Enslaved, though, is for the sheer pleasure of watching Andy Serkis and Lindsey Shaw as Monkey and Trip. The voice acting and motion capture of Enslaved set a new benchmark for characterization. The relationship between Monkey and Trip could've been very one-note and obvious, with her the beautiful yet terrified genius and him the gruff but reluctant hero. It would've been easy to make them into a comfortable and expected pair; instead, their relationship is subtle and imbued with genuine emotion. These digital actors are remarkably deft storytellers; their performance guarantees you'll remember Monkey and Trip long after you've finished the game

If I wanted to watch a movie, I'd watch a god damn movie. A game with shit gameplay is a shit game no matter how you slice it.

I played the demo and was pretty much instantly hating how garbage the actual mechanics are. The glowing piping was instant immersion breakage and smacked of incompetent game design. I've played Uncharted 2, and you sir, are no Uncharted 2. The melee combat, what little of it there was, was very yawn inducing.

It doesn't help that I just wanted Monkey to grab what's her face and throttle her, slave collar be damned. She fucks this guy over ultra hard on the airship, collars him, and then starts talking like some innocent waif "Oh woe is me, I need help!" Well if you need help, you fucking ****, then maybe you shouldn't have tried to kill Monkey repeatedly back there. Maybe, JUST MAYBE, you could have tried helping to save his life.

Considering how god awful Heavenly Sword is, and how lackluster the demo is, I've got no reason to want to give Enslaved a rent.

 

[gphjr14]

had high hopes considering the source material for the game, but after the demo I was underwhelmed. I might get it later on when its down to the $20 range. But from the demo I'll commend the voice acting and the animation. However the combat wasn't all that exciting and the platforming was smooth but I've been playing Uncharted2 for almost and year and just wasn't that wowed by it.

 

[Jaebird]

I so want this game for it's story. Damn you, dental bill that has higher priority!!

 

[Josh Kurber]

Funny... in almost every DmC thread, people said Enslaved sucked and was shit gameplay and everything... now everyone is saying it's good... Wow, just wow...

But to be honest, this video makes me think the new DmC game may actually turn out pretty good.

 

[Fidelias]

AARRGH!!! I can't make up my mind! I'm sensing another Alpha Protocol here, but everyone keeps saying how good the characters are, and that's what I love about games/books/movies.

Fuck it, I'm just gonna go out and buy it.

 

[samsonguy920]

Hearing the words Escort Quest make me shudder from my time on WoW. But this game does look spectacular. Maybe the controls are less gimped on the PS3? Anybody know?

So, fellow Escapists, help me out here... I am sure I read/heard this somewhere but I was under the impression this game could be played by two people, one controlling Monkey and one Trip.

Or am I just making this up?

If I am - why the hell are there not more games where I *can* do that. Surely my g/f and I are not the only couple who'd love to play a deep, story driven game together in front of the telly. That would get me away from my darling PC and onto the evil box under the telly for, oh, at least a few hours.

Coop play is still finding walls for developers. Publishers still think everyone v everyone is the way to go for multiplayer, unless it is team deathmatch.
In this case I am not so sure it would work. Yes it could have been employed but it would have been Heavy&Medic through the entire game. I doubt anybody wants to be the tagalong for an entire game.

 

[Soushi]

Journey to the West... that story has been used, resused, changed and then used again.
I haven;t played the game yet, but it will have to work pretty hard to uproot "Sai Yuki, Journey to the West" as my favourite and change this version of the story into my favourite. Still it,' neat to nee Goku back with his headband, and staff.

ON another note, I am very happy to finally see a post-apocolyptic game where it isn't brown and grey, and rather looks like it might even be beautiful. It is a route so rarely taken that i wanna give this game a big hug just for doing it.

 

[Kenko]

My dads decription of the game after playing it was. "Nothing new gameplaywise. But the setting, story and characters + gorgeous surroundings are great." I myself havent played it yet though.

 

[UtopiaV1]

I would've let this game pass me by if it weren't for this review. Now I can't wait to get my hands on it! Thanks Susan, it looks great. Haven't played a good platformer in years, I hope this one gets me back into the 'swing' of things!

 

[Susan Arendt]

The real reason to play Enslaved, though, is for the sheer pleasure of watching Andy Serkis and Lindsey Shaw as Monkey and Trip. The voice acting and motion capture of Enslaved set a new benchmark for characterization. The relationship between Monkey and Trip could've been very one-note and obvious, with her the beautiful yet terrified genius and him the gruff but reluctant hero. It would've been easy to make them into a comfortable and expected pair; instead, their relationship is subtle and imbued with genuine emotion. These digital actors are remarkably deft storytellers; their performance guarantees you'll remember Monkey and Trip long after you've finished the game

If I wanted to watch a movie, I'd watch a god damn movie. A game with shit gameplay is a shit game no matter how you slice it.

I played the demo and was pretty much instantly hating how garbage the actual mechanics are. The glowing piping was instant immersion breakage and smacked of incompetent game design. I've played Uncharted 2, and you sir, are no Uncharted 2. The melee combat, what little of it there was, was very yawn inducing.

It doesn't help that I just wanted Monkey to grab what's her face and throttle her, slave collar be damned. She fucks this guy over ultra hard on the airship, collars him, and then starts talking like some innocent waif "Oh woe is me, I need help!" Well if you need help, you fucking ****, then maybe you shouldn't have tried to kill Monkey repeatedly back there. Maybe, JUST MAYBE, you could have tried helping to save his life.

Considering how god awful Heavenly Sword is, and how lackluster the demo is, I've got no reason to want to give Enslaved a rent.

Interesting perspective you have. What you see as "trying to kill Monkey" I see as simply not helping to save him - or, more accurately, saving herself instead. She doesn't actively do anything to harm him, she simply doesn't help. And why should she? She had no idea what Monkey was like, and he could easily snap her like a twig. Or worse. Why should she assume that, if she left the pod door open for him, he wouldn't simply toss her aside to die?

You are, however, completely on point when it comes to the gameplay. I certainly wouldn't call it shit, but it's nowhere near as silky as Uncharted, and the glowing handholds are a tradeoff. Yes, they prevent the frustration of not knowing where you can move next (particularly necessary, given the controls) but they completely break immersion. An option to turn off the glow would've provided the best solution.

The combat was pretty shallow, but I still enjoyed it right up until the end. Your mileage may vary, depending on what you enjoy most in games.

 

[Grahav]

Review: Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Enslaved rises above its flaws to deliver a grand adventure.

Read Full Article

I am curious about this game. But I worry that I may have a surge of hate and anger if the main characters have a sugary hook-up towards the end.

Because I would really be pissed off if I was enslaved by anyone in spite of the reasons. I think anyone would.

 

[theSovietConnection]

Nice to see a true post-apocalyptic Earth, where nature is slowly beginning to take back the landscape. Made me think of Life After People. I'll have to pick this up once I'm done with Call of Pripyat.

 

[Agayek]

How so? it doesn't matter what monkey would say or how he feels about it all. He has no choice. Whether or not he is willing to go along with this is irrelevant, he doesn't get to have any say.

I think the guy you quoted was angling for the "Trip is a colossal *****" thing because she enslaved him without even attempting to just ask him for help. And he would have a point, except for what happens in the first/tutorial level, which explains why Monkey wouldn't be exactly eager to help her.

 

[Agayek]

I am curious about this game. But I worry that I may have a surge of hate and anger if the main characters have a sugary hook-up towards the end.

Because I would really be pissed off if I was enslaved by anyone in spite of the reasons. I think anyone would.

They don't. There's a fairly realistic, in my opinion, relationship development between the two. It's more of a strong friendship with the implication that it will probably eventually develop further.

 

[Macgyvercas]

Excellent review Susan.

I will definitely have to pick this game up at some point.

 

[NicolasMarinus]

Wow, that cutscene at the end was really amazing. Full of nuance and credibility.

 

[Trifixion]

Picked it up for PS3, playing it, enjoying the hell out of it so far - largely because of the characters, but I am having no trouble at all with the gameplay controls and the combat is simplistic and fun enough for my limited skill level to manage. Andy Serkis is awesome in the role of Monkey - even in the first level I was loving his running commentary, especially when he started saying the same sort of things I was saying at the time.