When it's all said and done, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West stands as a beautifully told tale.
Straight from the beginning of the game, it was clear that Enslaved was not going to waste time setting up the major backbone that would hold the two main protagonists together throughout the journey. It was the simple words "I die, you die" uttered by the technically minded and cautious female named Trip, to the more brawny and mile tempered fighter named Monkey, that helped illuminate why two completely opposite personalities would have to rely on each other under less than ideal circumstances. You immediately got the sense that character development was being paid with a lot more thoughtfulness than the surrounding plot – a refreshing take when compared to the plethora of games that put too much stock on telling a decent back-story.
Since most readers upon finding this review likely familiarized themselves with the basic storyline, it isn't necessary to repeat information in regards to the overall story arc. However, it's the world surrounding the two fictional characters that needs recounting.
You quickly find out that the depressive locale that Trip and Monkey reside in is actually a New York City set one hundred and fifty years into the future, within a world that has gone through one too many wars to the point where near human extinction is a reality and robotic creatures are the stereotypically dominant species. Despite the all too familiar scenario, it's important to note that visually, it isn't the rusty metallic visual look we'd often come to expect from most post-apocalyptic settings, rather it's a game that sports a surprisingly lush and green aesthetic. One of the very first visual highlights you notice is a dying world that ironically seems teeming with life – Broken down buildings with rich green foliage, a sky that seemed surprisingly blue; along with some unique character design choices all brought a certain beauty to an otherwise bleak world.
It all makes traversing throughout each mission all the more easier, and you'll definitely be doing a lot of that throughout your journey. Due to the fact this is mostly an escort mission, making use of each character's unique abilities comes into play. Trip, despite her frailty, doesn't fall under the same guise that makes so many escorts a frustrating pain, in other words, she isn't completely useless. Her abilities naturally coincide with your own (that being Monkey), she can use her tech savvy gadgets to sway enemy fire in her direction, or alert you of potential traps. However, much of her skills are defensive in nature which makes her particularly vulnerable to any sort of combative danger. But this is where Monkey's natural strength and agility comes into play.
The symbiotic relationship works so well between the two characters that you often feel like it's your obligation to protect Trip rather then it feeling like a forced task. On the combat end of things, Monkey is capable of handling most of the dirty work without a sweat, which is a great thing until you realize that this trend continues throughout the game. It's just too easy.
While you're given the ability to upgrade certain moves, enemies hardly put up a challenging fight and they usually sport the same move sets per encounter. The fixed camera angle usually present during a fight also adds a welcome cinematic flare to the action and works well, most of the time. The problem comes from a view point that normally remains fixated on your character throughout the action, which ultimately hampers your view of potential sneak attacks – a big no no for an action title.
You can also be expected to perform quite a bit of traditional plat-forming as hinted by the character's nick name, Monkey. For the most part, plat-forming within Enslaved provides more eye candy than actual challenge. Much of the appeal comes from watching the wonderfully animated Monkey effortlessly traverse the environment but it's a visual flare that comes at the cost of over simplification. Simply positioning monkey in the right direction and pressing a single button will always get you where you need to go without much effort – it's literally impossible to fall to your death. This is unfortunate since so much of the game provides you with the sort of death defying moments that would normally cause your heart to skip a beat, but with the prior knowledge of invincibility; it only takes the thrill out of the plat-forming segments.
Despite these various weaknesses, Enslaved never allows the gamer to focus on one element for too long. Thanks to some great pacing, It's a game that provides the player with some clever and memorable moments throughout. At one point you may be trying to evade bullets while Trip comically attempts to handle a vehicle without knowing how to drive, or you may find yourself trying to run away from an unstoppable mechanical forty foot dog with Trip hugged onto your back. It's a great method of pacing, and it also lends itself well to the game's greatest strength, the story telling.
Now you may be surprised when it's said that the plot isn't all that original or new, in fact it's mostly based on a ancient tale, and so, much of the back story would seem derivative regardless. This isn't where its strength comes from; it's the subtly handled relationship between Monkey and Trip that sets it apart from most story driven titles.
Thanks to some cleverly handled facial animations carried on from Ninja Theory's previous title, Heavenly Sword, every nuance of emotion can be seen between the two protagonists without a single word having to be spoken. You'll notice fear, distrust, curiosity, jealousy, humor, disappointment and anger without the robotically awkward expressions that often plague other titles. The great script also lends itself well to the overall story.
When it's all said and done, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West stands as a beautifully told tale that helps it excel as a cinematic joy ride, but with a few glaring flaws that ultimately prevent it from being truly excellent as a videogame. If you're one of those gamers that gains more value in a richly told character driven plot, than you should definitely give Enslaved a try.