Enslaved is a world full of heartache and struggle as most of mankind has been wiped out by an ever-evolving race of robots. The game starts with the main character in the story ‘Monkey’ locked inside a slave ship where he runs into his future counterpart ‘Trip’ as she sets her plans into motion. As you make your way through the game Monkey, being the big brute that he is, ends up working side by side with Trip in one of the better ‘buddy cop’ tales to reach video game shelves in quite some time. Without going too much the storyline between our two ‘heroes’ leaves the player wanting more at each step of the game. The beauty with the story of Enslaved is there are very few characters in the game that could potentially lead to story overflow. Alex Garland (28 Days later) writes a story that keeps you engaged in the small cast of characters through the entire game and keeps the player focused on the relationships between each one.
GAMEPLAY:
Enslaved puts the player in the role of Monkey which players like your typical third-person action game. Part shooter and part platformer Monkey can wield a pulse staff to bash his opponents or swing from buildings like an actual monkey. For novice players Enslaved is very easy to pick up and jump right in. The action starts right from the beginning in breathtaking fashion. Not since Uncharted 2 have I found myself slack jawed at what the situation the developers have put my character inn.
Monkey is able to swing from poles and climb various structures using handholds with the click of a button. Rapid fire platform jumping is the best thing to do when playing Enslaved as there are several scripted moments that can hurt those that are too slow. The acrobatics are really fun and fluid with little to no bugs. Throw in the amazing environments and you have some great fun ahead of you.
The fighting portions of Enslaved can get a bit repetitive at times. Enslaved is a true to the heart button masher that allows you to just demolish anything in your way. The twist is that your staff can also be used as a pulse cannon for some long range shooting if you have the ammo. Thankfully ammo is pretty plentiful around the world as are the orbs you need to upgrade your stats/weaponry. Enslaved boasts a robust upgrade system that can do things like increase your health or power up your staff attacks. Using the upgrade system is easy and can make Monkey a powerhouse to deal with. Also adding to the gameplay experience are a couple of sections where Monkey can use his ‘cloud’ which is pretty much a tron hover disc. While these levels were short, they offered some great fun. Watch out for the dog or rhino!
The enemies of Enslaved are pretty boring until you run into the larger boss-type robots. There are three or four types of robots that you will always run into and most of them have a weakness icon above your head. The weakness will tell you to attack that one first as it will result in a finishing move which you can sue to destroy the other opponents around you. Overall, gameplay is pretty simple and, while repetitive at times, fits great with the story. The only constant problem I found as with most third-person games is the camera, at times, can really hinder your view.
GRAPHICS AND SOUND:
Enslaved is beautiful and Ninja Theory should be taken out for a round of beers for their efforts. The landscapes are vast and the colors really make your mind think you are in a lost world full of struggle. Again, what it needs to be compared to is the cinematic quality of Uncharted 2. The in-game visuals match right up to the cut-scenes and were a pleasure to play through. I simply cannot tell you how beautiful this game is – a true work of art.
The sound in Enslaved matches well with the graphics. Most famous amongst the voice cast is Monkey, who is played by Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, King Kong). When you have a great story, bad voice acting can ruin the experience and, thankfully, that is not the case here. The entire cast is very solid in their performances. Ambient sounds and effects suffered from no type of bugs or artifacts and wrapped up the entire package with a nice little bow.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Enslaved is the sleeper hit of the fall season in the video game world. I was not expecting this game to be the smack to my brain that it was and was surprised the whole way. This one is no rental, run out and pick up a new copy of the game as soon as possible.
