PixlBit

It is a rare occurrence these days to come across a game that truly feels unique, and while Enslaved: Odyssey to the West definitely borrows from other games that have come before it; I feel it is safe to say Ninja Theory has definitely made something original.

Enslaved takes place in a future America devastated by a massive world war. The few patches of surviving humanity are either killed by roving combat mechs, still executing their original war programming, or captured by giant flying skyships to be made into slaves. The game starts on one such skyship where Monkey and Trip, our game’s protagonists, escape before it comes crashing to the ground. While neither character actually talks to each other during this event they will become bonded together on the ground.

Trip is a young woman who was taken from a sheltered farming community that was trying to survive in isolation. While she is technically brilliant, she is also terrified and naïve to what the world outside is truly like. Monkey on the other hand is an incredibly strong, agile and deadly loner who has survived from a young age on his own in the mech infested wilderness. Aware of her own limitation Trip has no choice but to put a slave band on an unconscious Monkey’s head, a device that links his life to hers. If she dies, he dies. Having no choice but to escort her back to her village, where she will remove the headband, the story of our game is set.

From a mechanics perspective, Enslaved is only an average game. The platforming is smooth and fairly idiot-proof, focused more on figuring out the correct path out of many possible options, with very few leading to death. The combat is simple with a focus on a strong attack, quick attack, block, and evasion. You can later upgrade your attacks as well as developing some ranged weaponry, but nothing more complicated or intense than a God of War game. The real challenge in both areas, however, is that the camera loves to randomly wander or zoom in close, causing you to get disoriented quite easily as a mech shoves a talon into your back. Luckily this issue is not something overwhelmingly prevalent as the game is relatively forgiving barring some intense boss fights. Other technical issues will sometimes rear their head, my personal favorite being the occasional clipping through a wall into dark space, forcing a reload. While these issues do exist, they are not rampant enough to break the game. It’s frustrating that Ninja Theory didn’t take the time to polish the system, especially when the rest of the experience is so great.

Thankfully the presentation of the game is absolutely perfect. In fact, it has to be one of the best made games in this era, and that I have ever played. Character design is memorable and detailed and the level of attention paid to everything, from breathing to facial expressions, is absolutely flawless. Entire cutscenes are performed with almost no talking, letting you know what the characters are thinking just by a small smile or look of wonder. The voice and body acting are perfect, Andy Serkis once again proves himself to be one of the best in this area, delivering Monkey with absolute realism. After every fight you can tell Monkey is exhausted after putting everything he has into his survival, panting and snarling as he just wants to live another day. The world itself is also visually striking, showing you a city overgrown by nature and slowly succumbing to the ravages of time.

The true defining element of the game is the evolution of the relationship between Monkey and Trip. Starting off with an angry, but resigned Monkey and a scared Trip we watch as the two slowly learn to move beyond the captor and slave role into something approaching friendship. This can be seen not only in the storytelling presented, but in the gameplay as well, as the two often are forced to work together to solve issues. Monkey handling the physical challenges and combat but relying on Trip to heal him, upgrade his equipment, and generate beneficial technical effects.

While it's my job to point out the average mechanics underlying the system, I wanted to take a moment to stress that this game is more than the sum of its parts. While the combat can become repetitive, the platforming is safe, and the camera work is sometimes working against you, those are really just transition points between the world and narrative you are partaking in. These are minor annoyances that you must deal with in order to experience one of the most enjoyable stories to appear this console generation.