The fall flood of games this year has been rather underwhelming with all the delays and postponements for a lot of games, not to mention that the majority of games that came out are sequels or prequels in a franchise, no new original games. Enslaved: Odyssey To The West is a great counter argument to that and has honestly been under my radar for a very long time. Should I have kept my eye on this?
Pros:
Post apocalypse doesn’t have to be dirty: To say the graphics and visual design in Enslaved is beautiful is an understatement. After playing so many games of a post apocalyptic world, it’s refreshing to see a new take on what the world could look like. In direct contrast to games like Fallout, the world is very lush with plant life and accentuated by bright, powerful colors. The developers did a fantastic job of blending New York City with plant life to give a very believable, vibrant world.
I could get into this: The revision of the classic “Odyssey to the East” is handled pretty well in the sense that the game draws you into the story. While the developers kept some parts the same (the protagonist is still named Monkey and they give him a scarf that can resemble a tail), modernizing it was well done into a believable sci-fi adventure. There are times the game stops to remind you that Monkey and Trip (your tech-savvy companion) are really just trying to get home and survive. The two characters will become closer as the game goes on, and you begin to appreciate the characters more as you play.
Parkour!: While Enslaved might not do parkour to the level of an Ubisoft game like Assassin’s Creed, it’s pretty cool to watch the climbing animations Monkey does as he finds his way around obstacles. It’s also nice to see another developer try to handle parkour and make gamers feel that gravity isn’t so restricting.
Cons:
Not the hardest controls ever: While it’s nice to have a non-complex game, the battle system is pretty basic. Light attack, heavy attack, try to chain them, it’s all stuff we’ve seen before and makes it a little harder for Enslaved to stand out amongst adventure games.
You’re annoying me: Your female companion, Trip, is a rather annoying character to have to deal with. While the game doesn’t restrict or frustrate you as much as other escort missions/games, it can be annoying after you’ve destroyed a group of enemies and have to wait for her to catch up so you can move on. Granted, there are moments in the game that the protagonist relationship is very similar to the Prince of Persia, I rather have Trip be more useful.
One run and you’re done: Like many games with no multiplayer, you have very little reason to keep Enslaved after you’ve beaten it. I would have really liked to have the game be co-op instead so that you can try playing the game as both Monkey and Trip, but the developers wanted to focus this as a single player adventure game. The story is a great one to play, but I wouldn’t say it should be one of your must haves in your collection.
Enslaved is a fresh face in a season of sequels. While it has its flaws, it makes a bold move into the market by being original. I can’t recommend buying the game immediately if only because the game will probably last as a week rental, but it’s definitely one of the games you should play this season.
Recommended buy price: $30
Score ratings: Horrible– Pass – Meh – Good - Epic
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