Preview: Enslaved: Odyssey To The West
UK retailer GAME sent our very own Tom Wallis to get his hands on a near-finished version of Enslaved, the upcoming title from Namco-Bandai. Read on to see what he thought…
I should admit that until now, Enslaved has been flying below my radar. Whilst I briefly saw the booth on the show floor at Gamescom, I didn’t brave the queues to check it out. Part of me now wishes I had done, because previewing this third person action-adventure game has certainly opened my eyes.
The first half of the game is certainly marked with mystery. Enslaved opens in suitably cinematic style as we are thrown into a crashing prison ship carrying our eponymous hero, trapped in a pod-like cell. It seems luck is on your side however, as a large explosion creates an opportunity to escape and the first playable parts of the game begin. Unsure of why you’re on the ship or indeed why it seems to be rapidly falling apart, there’s nothing to do but move onward.
The game starts with a BANG
The title is drawn from the fact that your sidekick has placed a kind of psychic headband on you, linking the two characters mortality to force the bulky, physical protagonist to his more meagre follower, Trip. Whilst it’s clear from the outset that you’re wearing the headband against your will, it’s surprising how quickly this treachery is forgiven. You can be sure some kind of relationship blossoms between these two, but I can’t help but feel that the immediate dissolution of that initial ill will is a bit of a missed opportunity in terms of character development.
Having said that, it’s important to note that there is more to the main character than there meets the eye. A specific embargo forbids me from stating what that plot devise is, lest I have my typing fingers surgically removed, but needless to say it is an interesting and original way to develop the plot and has definitely got me wanting to play through the full game.
Gameplay is split fairly equally between platforming and combat. Taking each in turn, the platforming sections are fairly prescriptive, but that doesn’t prohibit the fun to be had. These sections feel vaguely reminiscent of Prince of Persia or certain sections in the Assassin’s Creed series. Obstacles that can be gripped to advance to the next ledge glisten and make it obvious what to do next.
Whilst this can increase the feeling of linearity felt within games of this trope, often the impending doom of things falling apart around you means you have little time to stop and explore as you would with a regular adventure game or RPG. If you let yourself be drawn into the game, the choreographed explosions as the ship falls apart really creates a sense of urgency and drives you forward.
Combat isn’t as in depth as other titles in recent memory, such as Bayonetta, but it is entertaining. Your primary weapons consist of some UFC style boxing gloves and a telescopic staff that can be drawn at speed from its sheath on your right forearm. Combos can involve the staff, gloves or a combination of both as you slam your opponents around the levels. Every once in a while you’re also treated to a slow motion finishing blow against smaller enemies. Particular highlights include using your staff to cleave a mech in two or simply punching their heads clean off.
Larger enemies require a different tactic because beating them mercilessly, however hard you try, won’t get them down alone. Instead you have to harness the environment and, at times, some especially enjoyable take down manoeuvres to dispense with aggressors. These takedowns are determined by enemy, rather than any combination of button presses, but I was able to rip off protective shoulder plating and use a mechs gattling gun to blast it in the face; an engaging set piece that admittedly made me crack a smile.
It’s also important to note that whilst there might not be many different takedowns, they are placed some way apart from each other to avoid the God of War syndrome of seeing the same animation time and time again.
Enemies in the game are, for the part that I was shown, exclusively comprised of mechs. Despite this fact, there is some variation, with the standard weaker enemies towards the beginning of the game, meeting more and more powerful variants as you progress.
This prologue, before you crash, acts as a kind of tutorial mission. However unlike tutorial missions you may have seen in games of this genre, or indeed almost any game that begins with a tutorial, the speed at which Enslaved pushes you along guards against any boredom setting in. Whilst playing the game for a second time might make this section a little tedious, for a first time through it lets you get to grips with the controls in a satisfying way. Note to self: email Namco-Bandai and ask for my save file.
Visually the game is stunning, if a little strange. For a post-apocalyptic dystopia I found the colour palette a little bright, and would have expected something along the lines of the dinginess of Fallout 3. That being said, looking past the context and considering the visuals alone; your surroundings look excellent. It’s also important to remember the developers of this game; the majority of Namco-Bandai’s output displays the vibrant and vivid Japanese style to a tee, and this is no exception.
Whilst the locations do look great, the character models are what makes the aesthetics really stand out. Arguably, Enslaved has more Japanified caricatures than realistic portrayals of people, but the facial animations within the cut scenes and the game itself are astounding. Clearly a lot of time has gone into making facial ticks and nuances look realistic, even on these more fantastical faces. This is perhaps not surprising when you consider Mr Golem and King Kong himself, Andy Serkis, voices the main character.
Overall, Enslaved is looking like an entertaining change from the wealth of FPS titles we seem to have seen of late. The gameplay mechanics are a touch light but fun, and the unexplained plot points has left me with questions I can only have answered when I get my hands on the full game. Whilst Enslaved perhaps won’t be an instant classic, it’ll definitely be worth a look when it is released in October. I wonder how much better it’s going to look with a few months polish…
- Tom Wallis
I am definitely getting this game. One of the only upcoming games I can say that about right now.
Add me to the list, I really liked their last game Heavenly Sword. It has some of the best in game acting of all time.
Great preview Tom….you lucky ba***rd getting an early play! Cant wait for it to come out – seen several clips online and the gameplay looks great, including some cooperative puzzle solving using in combination the abilities of both the main character and his ‘tag-a-long’!
Keep up the good work guys!