Enslaved throws you head first into a world unknown yet familiar. This is honestly one of the most interesting games I've played in 2010. An old concept of AI co-op but with a refreshing take on it (your AI partner is actually useful!).
Enslaved tells the story of Monkey, a loner with a strange hatred for wearing shirts. Through a serious of events you end up meeting your partner (and master) Trip, who puts a slave headband on you to help her get back to her home after a epic crash in the decaying ruins of New York City. What keeps you from ignoring her and stamping her out like a match of you ask? Well if her heart stops beating for any reason, the headband with deliver a lethal charge and kill you. This sets off a love/hate relationship between these two and starts probably the best forced co-op game to date. Trip is extremely useful; from distracting enemies shooting at you to opening doors to finding the way around the map for you. You do have to save her from time to time but its usually from ledges she's about to slip off or a hoard of robots ganging up on her. These situations happen less and less as the game progresses which means you wont be having to watch her all the time.
Enslaved is a highly platform oriented game with some combat elements which work well. The combat is limited however by the lack of any real combos other than the standard heavy and light attacks. This shouldn't put you off though since the combat sequences are solid and movement is fluid. One thing that I don't recommend using while in the heat of battle is the plasma shots your Staff (main and only personal weapon) emits because it switches the camera to over the shoulder and kills your speed leaving you wide open for a barrage of attacks from the more difficult enemies. The enemies in Enslaved come in the form of blade wielding, electricity flinging mechs but are somewhat lacking with only about 4 different variations. There are also 2 different mini boss mechs which prove easier than expected. They do get annoying and repetitive at times when you have to fight the same enemies over and over again but again, this should not put you off the game.
Besides the somewhat ho-hum combat and enemy types, the platforming is where this game shines. It is absolutely phenomenal. Think Prince of Persia meets Mario with a dash of Uncharted. Swinging from ledge to pipe to platform is incredibly smooth and effortless. Even maneuvering through timed jumps feels easy and never tedious or tough. The climbable ledges in the environment are thankfully highlighted in a glossy finish. Though sometimes with the camera shifts you might miss them. Speaking of environment, the backgrounds for this game are hugeeee. You feel completely submerged in your environment. There's a lot of depth and looking down from high places gives you a sense of grandeur and some fear about how hard it will hurt to fall off.
The controls for this game are pretty easy to understand and its very easy to pick up and play without much specialization on the buttons. There is a "Hey Button" which makes Monkey jump and yell "Hey!" every time its pressed. Its just for kicks at times but in reality its useful for drawing attention away from any mechs about to attack Trip. The camera for this game is really easy to control although when the game shifts angles you are sometimes left walking into the wall for a few seconds while you refocus yourself. The controls for combat are easy, your standard Y for heavy and X for fast attacks. You can't walk off low ledges in this game which forces you to press the jump button to get down but I guess its a good thing so you don't accidentally walk off a ledge. Then again Monkey does walk down certain ledges without jumping soo I guess he's just being a bitch.
The story for this game is rather simple in the beginning. After you are enslaved by Trip you both need to cross NYC and get to the other side for Trip to reunite with her father and set you free. Without giving away too much of the story it does get a bit complex near the last few hours with the addition of one highly colorful and awesome character and some obvious sexual tension between you and Trip. The ending for this game will leave you questioning your decision on it and what you perceive as correct. It is a very eye opening albeit cheesy ending with real world undertones.
There are orbs you collect through the world to upgrade your Staff, health and combat skills which actually feel like they're helping and you are not just wasting orbs on useless stuff. There are some rare collectibles in the form of "glitches" which are floating masks that when picked up flash images of locations and people before the decay of the planet.
Few quick gripes, The graphics aren't that great. Most of the time everything needs about 10 seconds for all the layers to appear making the game look muddy for awhile. The explosions are really pathetic making big explosions look like tiny firecracker pops. Also, sometimes checkpoints are right before a cutscene forcing you to sit through it if you restart or die. You can skip some with the Select button though.
All things considered though, Enslaved is a very very good game with a fresh idea, easy controls and a engrossing story. If you have been burned by other forced AI games *coughRE5cough* pick this game up and see how its really done.
Oh oh also there's a nod to Portal that made me smile so more props to you Enslaved!
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