Review: Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

[Rythe]

That was an excellent review. Enslaved *is* a game whose story and art direction transcend an otherwise pretty average game. The platforming and combat have been done elsewhere and better, but it's a rare gem of a game that pulls off all the other aspects of a modern game to such an excellent degree.

If you're complaining about Trip's actions in the demo level, then you've played way too many games where people usually don't act like people. It's a mark for this game that the three main characters are actually real, fleshed out characters as opposed to the cardboard cutouts with moving lips we usually get.

It's kinda like the argument for Heavy Rain, but where Heavy Rain looks like an extended quick time event, Enslaved is an actual game. I bought this game and would recommend that others buy it too.

As a final note, the glittery handholds were kinda necessary when all the terrain looks like a mess of things. Sometimes the sparkles were the only way I could pick out the path forward. In one of the final levels, you have the sparkle handholds and a dragonfly glitter trail leading you on, and I'm sure they added the latter in because the majority of their QA players kept getting lost in the damn thing. It also took me a while to really get the hang of combat because all the actions are mapped to odd buttons compared to most other games. I kept pushing the wrong thing in reflex even after a couple hours in.

 

[Firia]

The characterisation kinda reminds me of the style used in Heavenly Sword. It was very powerful. Is it by chance the same people?

 

[AndyFromMonday]

I played the demo and I loved it. The only annoying thing was the combat but I easily got over that and eventually just started enjoying it. Many people praise the game for its believable voice acting and animation and I'll do the same. It's amazing. I'm going to buy this game in hopes that when a sequel does roll around the corner the gameplay will be leveled to the same level as everything else.

The characterisation kinda reminds me of the style used in Heavenly Sword. It was very powerful. Is it by chance the same people?

The game is made by Ninja Theory, the same guys who made Heavenly Sword. To answer your question, yes.

 

[Mana Fiend]

If I had the cash, it would be, at the very least, rented. However, a crashed laptop meant I had to get a new one of those, so no luck there...

One day... It looks so good.

 

[Thespian]

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.

Unfortunately no co-op in this game, but I can definitely suggest a game to you. The up and coming Hunted: The Demon's Forge by Bethesda. It follows the journey of two mercenaries, a warrior and and an elf (Cadic and Elara... or something along those lines). He uses a sword and she uses a bow. It's a dark action/puzzle game where you combine the ranged and tank powers to solve puzzles and kill enemies. Co-op with someone in the room, online, or you can play alone if you have a sad life (I jest! Aren't I a hoot...) Anywho, I'm ranting because I'm quite excited about it as I love Co-Op and it sounds right for what you are describing that you want. It's Bethesda, so it should be a good story.

ANYWHO, OT:
I got this game on the European release. Very impressed so far. It accomplishes the cinematic goals very well. Sure, the gameplay is nothing new but it's also not terrible. I guess it's a "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" which I think still applies if it's just a little broken. The climbing mechanic is obvious and it tells you where to go, which might be called immersion-breaking, but it also means you know where to go right away, so you end up swinging and jumping very fast. This gives you the feeling that you are a guy who knows what he's doing and not an assassin holding onto a slight groove in the wall of a building for two minutes considering your next goal. The point is that the game is blending story-telling and gameplay. You aren't so much controlling the story as fuelling it.

Another strong point is the combat. The mechanics aren't perfect, or original, but even just fighting two or three grunts feels important. At no point does it have that tired feel of mowing down legions of faceless enemies with no sense of achievement. Each fight feels significant and tense, even though the game isn't all that difficult. The parts where you have to lift Trip up onto a ledge that she's falling from or defend her from attackers from a turret got me on the edge of my seat, even though in another context the fairly easy gameplay would leave me absent mindedly completing it.

What I don't get is this united front everyone has now against a focus on story in games. Sure, okay, a game's top priority should be gameplay, not story, but now it seems like incorporating anything more than "shoot aliens cuz ther bad" into a game is a bad point. If you want good story, no you shouldn't go and watch a movie, because movies lack interactivity and often the graphics that a game supplies. Personally, I find that blends of story and gameplay are great for entertainment, and occasionally the balance is tipped slightly in the favour of story. It shouldn't happen all the time, but it's forgivable and enjoyable now and then, such as in Enslaved, and everyone can just stop whining :|

</tired, rambling rant>

 

[MiracleOfSound]

This game is amazing, I'm falling in love with it and its story.

Sure, there are a few annoying control issues here and there but for the most part it's very playable, and my god does it look pretty.

 

[SelectivelyEvil13]

Wow, excellent and informative review! I'll have to give it a try some time.

The characters sound very compelling and you've convinced me that I can handle listening to a character called "Monkey," despite how annoying I initially thought that would be (don't ask me why). The high light though was how those visuals looked fantastic! I would love to see more of these post-apocalyptic games have a more lush environment that is actually worth exploring. My biggest peeve has been those ubiquitous deserted wastelands, so Enslaved is a breath of fresh, non-radioactive air.

 

[Durananrananrananran]

This game looks interesting - how does it compare to Ico?

Also, I can't be the only one reading this thread with this going through my head: http://youtu.be/5iUMWy4hqAg

 

[Woodsey]

Enjoyed the game, but the ending was very odd - it didn't fit the tone of the rest of the story particularly well.

I also think that - whilst he was hilarious at times - Pigsy provided some rather unnecessary comic relief and took away from the purity of Monkey and Trip needing each other.

All in all, the game loses it's way a little bit after the halfway mark but it was still very enjoyable.

 

[TheArma]

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.

Unfortunately no co-op in this game, but I can definitely suggest a game to you. The up and coming Hunted: The Demon's Forge by Bethesda. It follows the journey of two mercenaries, a warrior and and an elf (Cadic and Elara... or something along those lines). He uses a sword and she uses a bow. It's a dark action/puzzle game where you combine the ranged and tank powers to solve puzzles and kill enemies. Co-op with someone in the room, online, or you can play alone if you have a sad life (I jest! Aren't I a hoot...) Anywho, I'm ranting because I'm quite excited about it as I love Co-Op and it sounds right for what you are describing that you want. It's Bethesda, so it should be a good story.

ANYWHO, OT:
I got this game on the European release. Very impressed so far. It accomplishes the cinematic goals very well. Sure, the gameplay is nothing new but it's also not terrible. I guess it's a "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" which I think still applies if it's just a little broken. The climbing mechanic is obvious and it tells you where to go, which might be called immersion-breaking, but it also means you know where to go right away, so you end up swinging and jumping very fast. This gives you the feeling that you are a guy who knows what he's doing and not an assassin holding onto a slight groove in the wall of a building for two minutes considering your next goal. The point is that the game is blending story-telling and gameplay. You aren't so much controlling the story as fuelling it.

Another strong point is the combat. The mechanics aren't perfect, or original, but even just fighting two or three grunts feels important. At no point does it have that tired feel of mowing down legions of faceless enemies with no sense of achievement. Each fight feels significant and tense, even though the game isn't all that difficult. The parts where you have to lift Trip up onto a ledge that she's falling from or defend her from attackers from a turret got me on the edge of my seat, even though in another context the fairly easy gameplay would leave me absent mindedly completing it.

What I don't get is this united front everyone has now against a focus on story in games. Sure, okay, a game's top priority should be gameplay, not story, but now it seems like incorporating anything more than "shoot aliens cuz ther bad" into a game is a bad point. If you want good story, no you shouldn't go and watch a movie, because movies lack interactivity and often the graphics that a game supplies. Personally, I find that blends of story and gameplay are great for entertainment, and occasionally the balance is tipped slightly in the favour of story. It shouldn't happen all the time, but it's forgivable and enjoyable now and then, such as in Enslaved, and everyone can just stop whining :|

</tired, rambling rant>

Thank you! That was the game I was thinking of - I got it mixed up with Enslaved somewhere along the way.

Still might pick up Enslaved though, looks good.

 

[Ignatz_Zwakh]

I want it so badly....but not badly enough to spend 60+ dollars for 8 to 10 hours of fun. :/

 

[OtherSideofSky]

My one complaint about this review is that the wording makes it sound as if the story actually in some way resembles the original Chinese classic (which is not true outside of purely aesthetic elements). This is especially true of the video review.

 

[just ban me]

Will most likely get this later when I got nothing else I want coming out or goes down in price, looks like a fun game for sure but got so much other stuff I want, damn you fable 3 and WoW

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

This makes me want to go watch the old TV show so bad!

 

[teknoarcanist]

I was charmed by this game to an extent that I haven't been since the original Prince of Persia, and was all set to file it away into my top ten favorites . . . until the last few hours came along. And they were just absolutely godawful.

Without getting specific, Enslaved suffers from one of the most blatantly horrible 'we ran out of money and/or the deadline is approaching' endgame enemy slogs that I've ever seen -- and that's not even touching on the bizarre, jarring, out-of-place final cut-scene which has almost nothing to do with the rest of the game. I'm now completely disgusted with the game as a whole, and on the verge of returning it.

It was like reaching the end of a fantastic novel and finding someone had smeared shit all over the last page.

 

[Susan Arendt]

I'm kind of puzzled by folks who say the ending was out of step with the rest of the game. I thought it was very moving, answered all the main questions, and finished it off very well.

As for the game sort of spiraling down in the last few hours, I will say that it definitely suffers from artificial inflation via making you repeat the same task numerous times. Instead of having to destroy one lock, you have to destroy three, etc. It was a bit disappointing, but I took it in much the same way I took the iffy platforming controls - not ideal, but adequate.

 

[Herr Wozzeck]

I bought this game on Friday, and let me tell you, I'm really enjoying it even despite the gummy platforming controls. (Although most of the time I can do the platforming pretty fluidly, and I typically suck at platformers.) Andy Serkis and Lindsey Shaw are awesome at what they do in this game, and it's incredibly enjoyable to sit through the cutscenes and see how they interact with each other.

So in other words, I'm really enjoying it. I think I'm at a high point for story in gaming right now, too, given that I'm also playing through Mass Effect 2 at the moment.

And no, I haven't gotten to the ending yet. But we'll see what happens.

 

[HBaskerville]

Thanks for the review. It convinced me to pick up this game and I've enjoyed it. I would agree that it feels a bit on the short side, but them I'm used to playing games like Mass Effect where you can go off wave hopping and avoid the main story for hours and hours. That said, I liked the pace of the game. It feels like you are really on a mission and there is no time to faff about. One more stage/setting would have been good though. The scenery and acting are awesome.

So, thanks for the good review.

 

[DustyDrB]

Playing through it now, absolutely loving it so far. Everyone says it's short, but this seems like the type of game I love to play again and again.

 

[ShadowCoH316]

You are that much more entertaining than Yahtzee, and I'll sticking around to see what comes next.