To hear a guy with a lisp try to pronounce "synthesis."
Until just recently, Ninja Theory’s only game under their current name was Heavenly Sword, a decidedly average God of War clone that benefitted from a heartfelt narrative and expertly crafted cutscenes by motion capture wizard Andy Serkis. I’m not about to suggest that a good story can carry a game all by itself, but Heavenly Sword was evidence that a little heart and soul can make an otherwise unremarkable experience worth delving into.
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West isn’t an average game at all, but rather a perplexing mix of good and bad. It’s often jaw-droppingly gorgeous and sports one of the most well-implemented escort systems I’ve ever used in a game. On the other hand, it’s also incredibly unpolished, and the simplistic combat and cumbersome camera frequently drown out Enslaved’s more impressive sequences in recurrent bursts of frustration. The game is regularly entertaining but just as often a chore, and in any other case, I’d be perfectly content to say that Enslaved’s many shining moments aren’t worth the trouble.
Thing is, it’s not that simple. With cinematic direction once again helmed by Serkis and a script co-written by Alex Garland (who’s penned a couple of movies you like), Enslaved is one of the year’s most emotionally ravaging games, and provides us with two of the most complex, believable protagonists in recent memory. Set in a post-apocalyptic future in which robots have enslaved humanity, the game centers on an acrobatic man named Monkey, who escapes imprisonment but quickly falls into servitude of another kind when a woman named Trip fits him with a slave headband that controls his actions. Trip explains that she needs his help to return home, and refuses to remove the device until she gets there.
To call Enslaved a love story is inaccurate. It’s a classic “odd couple” scenario, with two very different characters in two very different positions forced to travel with one another, with Monkey having good reason to hate Trip but also being responsible for her life. What makes their interactions so fascinating is how these two people express themselves. Trip is never difficult to read, but the stoic Monkey keeps his emotions to himself. Watching their relationship blossom is engrossing is only because we’re never quite sure where Monkey stands. We know there will come a point in Enslaved when Trip finally removes Monkey’s headband, and we have a good feeling that this moment will arrive before the game is over. What we don’t know is how Monkey will react when he’s finally released, and that question hangs over the length of the game.
The connection between Monkey and Trip drives the narrative forward, and it’s what keeps the rather basic gameplay afloat, as well. At its heart, Enslaved is one of those nebulous do-all action games that combines hand-to-hand combat with Prince of Persia-style platforming and everything in between. Stealth? We’ve got that. Orb-collecting? Come get some. And as is usually the case with a game that tries to do too much at once, very few of Enslaved’s individual elements would stand on their own. The platforming, for example, feels way too assisted, since Monkey will never attempt a jump that he won’t land.
The biggest offender, however, is the hand-to-hand combat. You’re at the mercy of a wildly spastic camera system that frequently renders the action nearly incomprehensible, but even when you can see what’s going on, the combat is clunky, simplistic and boring. I made the mistake of playing Enslaved on its highest difficulty right out of the gate, and I strongly recommend not doing this, as it only exacerbates flaws like unresponsive commands and cheap enemy attacks. (What’s the point of having a dodge move if enemies will automatically home in on your position?) On the default setting, the combat is tolerable, but still the one gaping flaw that continuously holds Enslaved down.
Where Enslaved makes up for it, again, is in exploring the dynamic between its two leads. Monkey can issue a few simple context-specific orders to Trip, and the resulting cooperative play is a real treat. Trip isn’t just a liability, and that’s demonstrated often, such as when the two of you must provide distractions for each other when sneaking through areas rife with gunfire, or during a particularly memorable scene in which you must work together to solve a puzzle-centric security system designed to keep out mechs that don’t have the benefit of human intelligence.
And even when it’s “just” an escort system, Ninja Theory works that angle to their advantage by intensifying otherwise unspectacular situations. Climbing a tower as it’s falling apart isn’t a difficult task for Monkey, who is aptly named, but the complication of having to guide the far less physically capable Trip to the top adds an extra layer to the design. It’s sequences like these, of which there are many, that help Enslaved forge an identity of its own.
It certainly doesn’t hurt that the world this adventure transpires in is so richly detailed. I could never get around to finishing Fallout 3 because I found the atmosphere too off-puttingly bleak to endure for long stretches of time, and as such, it’s a sigh of relief that Ninja Theory’s post-apocalyptic landscape is bright, colorful, and exuding personality around every turn despite only a handful of speaking roles. I’ll note that Enslaved is plagued with issues like choppy animations, framerate dips and lackluster texture work, and yet despite all of that, it’s nevertheless one of the most aesthetically pleasing games I’ve played all year.
And that’s a parable for the game as a whole, really: Its often glaring technical mishaps are eclipsed by sheer artistic majesty. For as easy as the platforming is, the cinematic, almost Uncharted 2-esque set pieces nonetheless manage to create a sense of urgency. Despite the game’s relative simplicity – hell, I’ll settle for shallowness – I was frequently left in awe of the numerous instances in which the escort mechanic just clicks. And for all of those awful combat segments, the excellent narrative makes it worth the struggle. Even if they aren’t master game designers yet, Ninja Theory treats its stories with the importance of a Hollywood production, and that’s something I can get behind.
Enslaved’s ending is a bit of a letdown, unfortunately. A last-minute revelation isn’t given nearly the weight it deserves, and it bogs the story down with more complications than one short cutscene is equipped to handle. I’m not as bothered by it as you may think, though, if only because Enslaved is one of those adventures that’s less about the destination and more about the journey. It’s a brilliant testament to a certain type of interactive storytelling, where even if we have no say in the outcome, the fact that we’re taking this journey alongside these characters makes it that much easier to watch – and understand – how their relationship evolves. Enslaved has some major problems, but I hope you’re willing to put up with them, because you need to play this game regardless.
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honestgamer - March 02, 2009 (12:38 PM) She sells seashells by the seashore. |
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