Enslaved has the potential to be a real sleeper hit this holiday season. If you haven’t heard about it, you aren’t alone. The developer behind this week’s pick is Ninja Theory, the studio behind Heavenly Sword. Heavenly Sword was an early PS3 game that suffered from the low install base and a mixed reaction to its implementation of motion controls. Their latest game will appear on both the PS3 and 360 and looks to retain the strong story telling and character design of their first game.
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West loosely follows the story of an ancient Chinese novel entitled Journey to the West. The main characters, Monkey and Trip, are slaves who have escaped their imprisonment on an airship and are making their way home. The world is in shambles after an ancient war, and it is inhabited by combat mechs who still are still seeking the destruction of humans.
The player controls Monkey, by far the stronger of the pair. While escaping from the airship, Monkey was knocked unconscious, giving Trip the opportunity to attach a slaver’s headband onto Monkey. This allows her to deliver jolts of pain to him if she wants, and if Trip is killed, then the headband will kill Monkey as well. This compels Monkey to assist Trip on her way back to her village.
The uneasy and evolving relationship is the main drive for Enslaved. Monkey uses his martial arts and climbing abilities to combat mechs while Trip uses her savvy tech skills when the situation presents itself. Working together with the person who has enslaved you leads to some interesting team dynamics.
Don’t expect Enslaved to be your run-of-the-mill God of War clone. While God of War focuses on button mashing and grunting, Enslaved uses story telling as the main drive for the game. While early reports are mentioning some bugs and minor glitches, the story more than makes this a worthwhile gaming experience. Enslaved: Odyssey of the West could be an experience gamers will talk about for years to come.
Popularity: unranked [?]
