Enslaved: Odyssey To The West

Easily one of the best games for xbox 360. Great story, amazing graphics and why Andy Serkis isn't used more in games for voice acting I dont understand, It has one of the best voice actiong I have heared in any game

I brought this when it came out, not knowing really what it was about, I got it based on the advertisements and thought it looked right up my street.
Every aspect of this game is enjoyable, visually stunning, nifty upgrade system that requires you to put thought into it. Good control system, especially for traversing objects. Great story line which is quite rare! its a Must Buy!

This is a good looking game. There's no doubt about that. Whatever I have to say about often frustrating gameplay, it is a testament to star studded development team that the storyline and visual splendour was enough to keep me engaged for the good 10-12 hours of gameplay this has to offer.

Let's start with what's right: Firstly, it's beautiful. It really is. Most Armageddon-esque settings painted with dingy, depressing subdued palettes and desolate wastelands - whilst those are present in Enslaved, the primary impression is that of colour. Whether escaping from slaver ships, scrounging for salvage in a giant rusty metal yard or swinging through the rubble of a lush, verdant post-apocalyptic New York - there is always an array of sharp, almost comic book vivid colour.

Secondly, the story is engaging; partly because of the element of mystery as you are dropped into the game with little or no backstory and are foreced to piece it all together as events unfold, but mostly because of the quality of the facial animation used in the frequen cut scenes to tell that story. Using motion capture techniques similar to those used to make the infamous L.A.Noire faces - the characters are real, complex and deeply engaging. Watching the dynamics between them change and shift is truly absorbing. That subtley of animaion, the slight raise of an eyebrow, the most miniscule of frowns, the half-shrug - is really really breathtaking. That level of subtley makes these characters feel truly human - and had me totally sucked in and actually caring about their story.

The geek in me could happily sit and gaze and sigh in wonder at the pretty trees, faces and sunsets all day long, but that wasn't really enough to totally blind me to the fact that the game isn't exactly perfect.

It's a standard linear platformer - as restrictive and rigid as the Prince of Persia series. It looks very impressive as you hurl yourselve from handhold to handhold but essentially all you are doing is pressing A and shoving the L stick in vaguely the right direction. Add in the "PULL THIS LEVER", "GO HERE" icons and the highlighted, shining climbable hand holds and this element starts to get pretty mindless. On top of that is a very frustrating nanny-state level of restriction - the game WILL NOT let you make a mistake! It starts off as a useful feature that stops you acidently running off a platform, but after your 72nd time teetering ontop of a 3ft box as the game refuses to let you jump down unless you are in the exact right spot, facing the exact right way...it starts to get a bit frustrating. Fortunately, just when you think you might just start to tear your hair out there are some fun elements that switch up the pace of the game nicely - running away from giant metal death rhino, shooting glowing bombs, lever based puzzles, a little "surfing" - all of which are very fun and definitely a welcome break from the tedium

The combat is again a case of looks impressive; but essentially you might as well be button mashing. Upgraded combat is more fun - providing a range of dodging, counters, special attacks which encourage you to switch up gameplay against the toughter opponents - my only complaint being these upgrades are rather numerous and you'll only really be teched up by the end chapters anyway.

So...would I recommend this game? Yes. Yes if you appreciate a good looking game and are not expected an Assassin's Creed level of freedom! It is beautiful, and it is fun. The graphics and storyline are a solid 5* in themselves, but the niggles I have with the gameplay bring it down to a 4/5 overall. Well worth it for the price!!

I never even though about buying this game, to be honest I never even saw it advertised. I purchased it recently, and I have to say, What a game! Beautiful visuals, great story and the gameplay is top notch.

A little on the short side, but I enjoyed every minute and at this price, it's an absolute steal.

Have only been playing this game for a short while and immediately fell in love with the environments/characters which are all graphically awesome.
The story line isn't up to much at the moment but I imagine that'll pick up.
Despite the overall greatness; this game fails when it comes to the control system/camera angles. At times it's so frustrating I just want to launch my controller at the TV and swear at thin air. It's nothing a little more time spent developing the game couldn't have fixed. So 4 out of 5 due to those flaws.

Very good game absolutely worth the money if you like fast moving action and a good story this is the game for you

I really urge anyone to get this game to anyone who may be a bit disheartened by the decrease in original games in recent years. The game has a good story (based on the Chinese folk take "Journey to the West") and wonderfully realised characters. The work of the motion-capture actors is brilliant, especially that of Andy Serkis. It makes the characters really feel like believable people and they are a lot more expressive than most game characters in their movements and facial expressions. The dialogue between characters is also very good. It carries real weight to it and is so much better at building the story and characters than in most other games as well.

The story itself is a bit hard to come to a decision about. It tells the tale of a girl named Trip who is trying to get back home after being kidnapped by slavers. She realises that she cannot do this alone, so uses a slave control device to force the player character, Monkey, to act as her bodyguard on her journey. At first it seems a bit odd to make the player character a slave, but not long in to the story it becomes apparent that Monkey is the one who has to tell Trip what to do because she is unfamiliar with the dangerous world outside her village, oppose to Monkey who has lived there his whole life. The plot continues in standard video game fashion, you journey across the land fighting robots until you finally reach your goal. But the there is a twist in the middle of the story (which I won't spoil) and a brilliant, if slightly odd ending which is totally unexpected and throws up similar issues as are raised in The Matrix, which leaves the story open for a sequel (which is supposed to be on the way). Even though the story doesn't really feel complete in itself it is still a decent story. It's nothing that amazing (apart from the end), but the way the characters interact with each other and how their relationships evolve over the story are wonderfully crafted.

The game itself is gorgeous. It is set in a post-apocalyptic America. Although the post-apocalyptic setting has become a bit of a tired cliche in modern video games, in this game it is done in a whole different way to others. Instead of the usual grey/brown rubble you are immersed in a wonderful lush, rich world full of different colours and wonderful detail. There is overgrown green foliage of the destroyed New York and the red rust and green waters of the junk yard area to name but a few.

Where the game does lose a star is, unfortunately, in the gameplay. It's not bad or broken, but is not the most spectacular. It's still very fun but not among the greatest of games out there. The gameplay mostly consists of combo based combat and some light platforming. The combos are great to look at. They are acrobatic and flamboyant, but the controls are sometimes a bit sluggish to respond. It's not anywhere as bad as to break the game, but is noticeable and can be frustrating in fights when you get surrounded by many enemies. The platforming also suffers from the same problem. Although you aren't required to do much that requires a huge amount of precision the sluggish controls can sometimes be annoying. Again, it's not enough to make the game not enjoyable but still falls short of the standard of a 5 star game. But these problems are relatively minor. Most of the time it's easy to compensate for the sluggishness, it's no less responsive than GTA4 for example. It can become a problem in situations when you really need to be extremely fast and precise, but these occasions are rare.

Overall, even though this game is not perfect it is still well worth playing, particularly if you want to try something different than the norm.

I enjoyed this game! The world you operate in is amazing, and the story is terrific. The relationship the two main characters develop is believable, and the way they work out the puzzles together is great. It also got some originality to it! Had a lot of fun playing Enslaved! It's worth every pound!

I played the demo not knowing much about the game, and then had to get it straight away! The graphics are stunning and so are the locations, the gameplay keeps you attached to the game and the connection between the 2 characters is great. cannot fault it at all!

I was a little hesitant about buying this game. My brother bought it for the PS3 and told me it wasn't all that great. How very wrong he was

The gameplay is brilliant, the storyline is phenominal, the battles (providing you play the game on the hard difficulty) are genuinely challenging and difficult, and the characters themselves are brilliant.
How this game isn't up there with the very best selling xbox360 games, is beyond me. I promise you won't be disappointed if you buy this game