Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Enslaved for PC, X360 and PS3 is an action-adventure game set in a post-apocalyptic world. It was developed by Ninja Theory – the developer of the famous adventures of Nariko – the main protagonist of Heavenly Sword. Japanese syndicate Namco Bandai is the publisher. The product is a modern adaptation of a famous epic Journey to the West, a part of Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.

The action of Enslaved takes place in XXII century, after the third and the fourth World War. One of the locales is the ruined New York, overgrown with lush vegetation. The player assumes the role of Monkey, a loner forced to escape from the machines. They are the remnants of the forgotten war, which they continue to wage even after the most humans had died out.

Unfortunately, Monkey gets caught, and lands onboard a fly ship along with a woman named Trip. They both run away, but following a fall, Monkey loses consciousness. When he wakes up, he has a band on his head, given to him by Trip. As it turns out, Trip needs his help in order to return home. She is aware that Monkey is a loner, and it would be hard to force him to cooperate, so she lets him know that the band will crush his head the moment he won’t listen to her. This creates a very tense relationship between two people, who are ready to kill each other, but at the same time they must stick together to survive.

The gameplay focuses on peculiar relations between two characters, who at first acutely hate each other. In the course of next levels, we notice the Monkey’s transformation, which manifests itself not only in his relation to Trip, but also through his movements, gestures and facial expressions.

Unlike games like Prince of Persia, in Enslaved, only Monkey is capable of being a warrior. Trip is essentially a defenseless woman; she can only confront her attackers for a short amount of time. However, the red-headed woman is useful in situations requiring cleverness and intelligence. We will take advantage of her abilities while solving puzzles, or when we will need to hack a computer. Trip can also use narrow passages, which cannot be used by a bigger Monkey. We can give simple commands to Trip through a special menu (for example, “hide”, or “use an item”)

In Enslaved for PC, X360 and PS3, fighting is especially essential, having the same importance as the exploration. Emerging victorious from the clashes with robots requires significant effort and utilization of special tactics, based largely on dodging and counter-attacks. Thoughtless combat in Ninja Theory’s game can quickly result in the heroes’ losing their health or even dying. Therefore, one has to continually search for opponents’ weaknesses. Utilizing Trip’s mechanical dragonfly can often be a help in this matter.

It is worth noting that the game lacks QTE (Quick Time Event) sequences. The main character is voiced by Andy Serkis, known as Gollum from The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. The scenario was written by Alex Garland, responsible for, among others, the horror movie 28 Days Later

Last updated on 11 October 2013