Welcome back to this week’s Replay! Today I’ll be covering Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. I’m presuming most of you out there do not know this game or at least haven’t played it because every time I mention it to someone they haven’t a clue about it or I get the old “Oh yeah that game…”. It is actually an amazing gaming experience and has so much to offer the player. For those who don’t know this game, it is basically a post post-apocalyptic game (yes, ypu read that right, no typos!). The first scene is two characters who have been taken slaves on a ship and are being brought somewhere unknown to do slave work in a giant pyramid.
For me, best part was the bond that both characters, Trip and Monkey, share. The game starts off with these two characters hating each other and trying to escape from a slave ship. Monkey manages to escape and tries to get off the ship using an escape pod. However, Trip catches up and enslaves Monkey with a head mount that cannot be taken off. As well as this, Monkey cannot stray too far from Trip or else he will die. If Trip dies, so does Monkey.
A little later Trip makes a deal with Monkey and asks him to get her home and she will remove the head mount. Trip is extremely tech savvy and is capable of taking the head mount off while Monkey is the muscle and the acrobat. Trip knows this, hence keeping him captive until he gets her home as she knows she couldn’t do it by herself. As the game goes on, Trip and Monkey actually become very good friends and work very well together as part of a team. This friendship is then tested when Trip reaches her homeland only to find out everything and everyone is gone. She then releases Monkey from the head mount as promised and, although both have nothing to bond them or keep them together anymore, they both decide to take down the main evil behind the enslavement of their world. The last scene is especially amazing!
So, let’s talk about the style of gaming in terms of playing it. It is very close to the likes of Assassins Creed and Uncharted; you can scale a lot of structures such as walls, buildings, bridges, ledges and plenty of other objects. That is pretty much where the comparison stops. This game is extremely unusual with its battle style. For instance, you can activate a cloud session. This is literally you surfing around the planet on a levitating shield that helps you collect orbs and pass areas that are otherwise inaccessible. You can also take up races using this skill as well as obstacle courses. This skill offers so much fun and there are parts in the game where it is vital to progress further. There are also boss battles which need this skill to be active permanently; you either complete an obstacle course while running from a boss battle or simply use the cloud session to outsmart the boss. There are many other skills in the games such as missiles, stun staff, mines and so on. Just when you think you’re done with the tough stuff, the game kicks you in the shins and reminds you there’s more to come. There is a certain section in the game where you get to control a boat while also attacking the enemies around you and you get a chance to play both skills as the characters switch around roles on the boat.
Another thing that really ropes you into the game and leaves you wanting more is the characters themselves. Their dialogue and facial reactions are so well done that it brings them to life on a whole different level. You really feel for the characters and you bond quite well yourself with them which is very hard to do in games these days. I hated Monkey at the start but by the end I genuinely loved his character. Also, I loved Trip at the start even though she was a little too wimpy. By the end of the game she was quite bad ass. This was all due to the development of the characters throughout the game. It was done so well!
Overall this game is just an amazing little unique gem that everybody should try out. I bought it on a whim and it is in my favorite game pile and it will stay there forever. Just to let you know, that’s the same pile as Final Fantasy, Uncharted, Assassins Creed, Dragon Age, Tomb Raider and Borderlands so when I say it is in my favourites pile it means it really is that good.
Have you played Enslaved? Do you agree with me? Let me know in the comments!
