Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, the new game from Ninja Theory, takes its place alongside Heavy Rain and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves as one of the most memorably cinematic games of this console generation.
From its scenic vistas to the lifelike eyes of its character, this is a game that wants to engage you with its story, its world and its characters rather than with its gameplay. It’s a formula that works magically for most its running time, with repetition and fatigue only start to set in as the closing credits roll.
Enslaved, a science-fiction reimagining of a classical Chinese tale called Journey to the West, is set on post-apocalyptic Earth where only a handful of humans remain. They’re mercilessly hunted by mechs, combat robots that are programmed to attack humans on sight.
Monkey, the player character, is a gruff loner who survives this hostile world through his guile and agility. After he survives an airship crash, he finds himself captured by a young woman named Trip who uses a slaver’s headband to bend him to her will.
Trip wants her to safeguard her on her journey several hundred kilometres home. If he disobeys, she can inflict enormous pain on him. If she dies, he dies too. From this odd couple relationship, the game builds a gaming partnership as memorable as Ico and Yorda or the Prince of Persia and Elika.
The interplay between the pair is subtle and ambiguous. Monkey’s initial antipathy for Trip gives way to protectiveness, with hints that he welcomes the human contact. And it soon becomes apparent that Trip’s dependence on Monkey makes her as much of a slave as he is.
The two characters are brilliantly brought to life with developer Ninja Theory’s cutting-edge motion-capture techniques.
The studio’s technology has matured since the impressive work it did with Heavenly Sword, its 2007 PlayStation 3 exclusive. The expressive eyes and animated facial expressions of the lead characters are among the best I’ve seen in a computer game to date.
Andy Serkis, best known as the man under the Gollum computer-generated imagery for the Lord of the Rings movies, provides his voice and motion-capture acting to bring Monkey to life. He is as impressive as he was in his multiple roles in Heavenly Sword – Monkey simply wouldn’t be the same without his skills.
As compelling as the characters is the world where game unfolds. Enslaved has a bold art design that favours splashes of lush greenery rather than the washed-out greys and arid browns of most post-apocalyptic games. This is a world where nature has taken back the cities by suffocating the steel and concrete of the human era with its verdant vegetation.
Alex Garland, author The Beach, was called in to finesse the writing. The pacing is snappy, the dialogue well-written and the characterisation understated. The economic and entertaining cinematics are neatly complemented by the game’s impressive environments and exciting set pieces.
Inside the game world, Monkey is able to fight off the mechs by beating them back with an energy staff that can also fire bolts at his enemies. The combat is simple and satisfying, though it could’ve done with a few more enemy variants over the basic handful of mechs it throws at Monkey during its run time.
Platforming forms another major part of Enslaved’s gameplay. The environment’s traversal gameplay sees Monkey leap nimbly between crumbling platforms and scamper up daunting edifices. As vertigo-inducing as some of the climbs look, you soon realise that platforming is a simple matter of hitting a button and direction on the analogue with little need for precise positioning or timing.
Though the player doesn’t get to control Trip directly, Monkey can give her basic orders, for example commanding her to distract enemies with an electronic beacon. Her skills lie in hacking computers and machinery, making her a perfect foil for Monkey’s physical prowess.
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West — YouTube trailer:
Gameplay mechanics are fairly one-dimensional and one sometimes feels that the controls are a little looser than they should be. But this is a game that is mostly about the storytelling, which sweeps you to Enslaved’s conclusion and leaves you with the impression that you’ve played one of the generation’s most memorable games. — Lance Harris, TechCentral
- Reviewed on PlayStation 3; also available on Xbox 360
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