Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - Review

By Jonny

Monkey and Trip

Enslaved: odyssey to the West is platforming action-adventure game and also a brand new IP from developers Ninja Theory who are best known for their PS3 exclusive hack’n’slash Heavenly Sword.  The storyline for enslaved is loosely based on an ancient Chinese novel entitled “Journey to the West”. Enslaved is set 150 years in the future in a post-apocalyptic America after a global war has ravaged the Earth and robots have destroyed much of the human race, think terminator with lush green environments. You play as the main protagonist ‘Monkey’ who unfortunately becomes a slave to a young girl named ‘Trip’ by use of a special slave headband that allows her to have complete control over Monkey, the story then begins from here showing the adventures the two have together and how their relationship builds over the course of the game.

Story

The game opens with a very action packed opening mission that see’s Monkey escaping from a flying prison ship and then your soon dropped into a version of New York which may look a little different than what you would expect as it is engulfed in greenery.  This is when Monkey is first fitted with the slave headband by Trip while he is unconscious (yeah he’s angry) which allows her to command you which in turn means that if she dies, you die. As the powerful and nimble monkey you are tasked with escorting Trip to her home which is located 300 miles away, but that does not mean the game is simply just one big escort mission. Enslaved will take you across many miles of the post-apocalyptic America on a sprawling adventure. Over the course of the game the relationship between Monkey and Trip begins to develop as they each begin to rely on each other and slowly but surely start to warm to each others company.

Piggy back Ride

Gameplay

The gameplay for Enslaved basically boils down to three things Combat, Climbing and protecting/saving Trip, there are a few sequences in the game which break away from this formula slightly but will usually end being combined with them. That’s not to say this is a bad thing at all, in fact the game is so brilliantly paced that it will mix things up more often than not preventing you from becoming bored. The combat in Enslaved is definitely not one of the deepest combat systems but it does an adequate job, Monkey can perform a normal strike and a heavy strike which can be mixed together to create deadly robot destroying combos. Monkey can also block attacks or dive roll out of the way of the enemy mech’s attacks and with the purchase of the counter upgrade he will be able to counter enemy attacks if timed correctly. Which bring us nicely on to the upgrade system which is split into four main parts; shield, health, staff and combat upgrades. To purchase these upgrades you will need tech orbs which are located throughout the game and also drop of enemies, then with these (as long as Trip is in close vicinity) you can access the upgrade menu. These upgrades are nothing major but they allow the combat to become a little deeper and also more fun.

The climbing in Enslaved is very similar to that of Prince of Persia in the way it looks and feels but the truth is that it’s almost automatic. You will rarely need to do much more than point in the right direction and press jump and it will complete the jump for you which does take away some of the fun factor of these sections, but there is still fun to be had especially later on in the game. There will be many sections in the game that will involve Trip, whether you need to throw her up to a ledge she cannot reach, draw the fire of the enemy’s so she can safely pass or defend her while she hacks doors/control panels. There are many more of these types of moments in the game as well which I won’t spoil now, but it’s safe to say that these are always fun and keep the gameplay feeling fresh especially with how well the AI for Trip handles.

Graphics

Enslaved is set in a post-apocalyptic world but one the likes you have not seen before, the usual deserts and wastelands of post-apocalyptic games have been replaced with greenery. This results in the game having a very different feel for a post-apocalyptic game not to mention how good all this looks, Ninja theory really outdid themselves. Enslaved boasts some absolutely stunning Vista’s that will make you stop just to have a look around, there’s the occasional odd looking textures or slow pop in effect but nothing that could tarnish the look of this beautifully crafted game world. There’s is also some fantastic motion capture work on the characters which was directed by Andy Serkis (Gollum in Lord of the Rings). This makes the characters feel more alive and believable or more human you could say. 

Audio

The soundtrack found here is nothing special and can sometimes feel out of place but most of the time it does the job you just won’t remember much if any of it. Now the Voice acting on the other hand is where the Audio shines, each character has been voiced fantastically and with Andy Serkis (See above) also doing the voice of Monkey he does a brilliant job of bringing Monkey to life along with the other voice actors who also do a terrific job.

Lasting Appeal

The game clocks in at around 8-10 hours for a play though and there is very little reason to go back and replay Enslaved, there’s some collectibles such as the masks but there isn’t really much of a incentive to go back and collect them all if you aren’t really a completionist. There is a Downloadable content option in the main menu but there has been no word as of now to what this will be for.

That's Pigsy on the far right, Wonder why they call him that?

Closing Comments

Enslaved is more than a solid game and there is a lot of fun to be had here, with a strong narrative and brilliant characters backed up by gorgeous visuals and solid gameplay there should be a little for everyone here but some may be put off by the length and replay value.

Enslaved feels like an extremely nice surprise from a game that had hardly any hype, I was also not really interested in this game until I played the demo and I am glad I did.

Final Score – 8.5 / 10