Enslaved Review by Jarod Sanchez

Genre: Action, Adventure

Developer: Ninja Theory

Overall Score: 8

I Never thought, “chemistry” would be the word to describe the motivating factor in completing a game, but there is a first for everything. Enslaved: Odyssey to The West is the opportunity to play as the knight in shinning armor, but set in post-apocalyptic America with blood thirsty robots running amok. Developed by Ninja Theory, the studio paid close attention to telling a story of two characters as great resources were spent creating it. This is shown not only through cut scenes effectively, but even the other important elements of a video game. There is a point of which Enslaved crosses the line of video game to interactive entertainment that is uncommon, and might be a turn-off if Monkey’s tight pants didn’t do that already.

Bearing the weight of Enslaved are it’s characters, especially it’s stars Monkey and Trip , that were fleshed out from the writing to the voice acting. No character feels unnecessary or out of place in world, as the cast is kept lean making every character valuable. Monkey is the brute, and while being portrayed as powerful being, the poor sap looks like a Russian cyberpunk stripper. Trip is the brains, as she is a technical wiz, and  providing other intellectual strengths that Monkey lacks. Pigsy is the tension breaker. Providing comedy, help, and even chaos to even out the serious tones in the game. While all of these characters are not new; the delivery was done with care. Cut scenes are the main vehicle for this, as actors performed scenes in motion capture studios providing emotive body and facial movements. Andy Serkis is even on board, Golem from Lord of The Rings films, as Monkey and brings out much more to the character. Creating an attitude that is purely Monkey with simple gestures and even the touch of primal movement is evident. The character of Trip (Lindsey Shaw) was also developed with the same care and even more important than Monkey. What sells the chase in Enslaved is not letting her get hurt. From the start what drives my male instincts to victory was seeing the fear in Trip’s face. Executed perfectly to make my male mind want to save the damsel in distress. Pigsy’s performance is also one of note, as this character is the ice breaker. For one he looks like a pig man and acts like one giving players an honest laugh. If not by seeing the chubby guy run around, but the few quips him and Monkey trade. Though all of these characters are common rolls not once do they seem flat or redundant. Rich characters need a rich environment and Ninja Theory did not hold back.