Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Immersive"

For me enslaved really hits the sweet spot. Great characters, good story and fun gameplay. While it's true that it's a very linear game, this comes as something of a relief to me these days. I don't have to worry about spending hours and hours doing menial fetch quests for lazy villagers, or grinding away to level up or to buy the next best in an endless line of upgradeable weapons. It's action packed and it kept me thoroughly entertained the entire time. There was never a dull moment.

You inhabit the role of "Monkey", who is your basic athletic kick-ass cynical anti-hero type. Monkey is "Enslaved" by an intellectually gifted but physically vulnerable young woman called "Trip". It is your mission to protect her from the dangers of a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by murderous "Mechs" and to get her home.

First and foremost, the character design and animation/motion capture/acting and voice acting is just sensational. My empathy for the characters is really what sets this game apart. I genuinely liked the main protagonists in this game, Monkey and Trip. The dynamic relationship between the two develops fantastically. A light hearted good humoured scene can change to a serious and brutal life threatening drama in the blink of an eye. The two characters become very co-dependent and in many instances you will need to work together to advance. When Trip was in trouble, I actually found that I was genuinely anxious to save her. As opposed to some other games when you are hoping that one of your companion experience a particularly gruesome and torturous death (Vanille from FF13!). The character development and story really give this game an edge. The story emerses you and you want to complete the platforming not only because it's fun in itself, but to advance the story. I personally found myself rushing through the gameplay just to get to the next cut-scene to see what would happen next.

The post apocalyptic New York is stunning. This is one of those games when you occasionally just stop and say "wow" as you look around the environment. The art direction is just sensational. There are a few dull points, the motorbike cutscenes spring to mind, but overall the game environment is both beautiful and interesting.

The gameplay is pretty simplistic, but still exciting and challenging enough to be satisfying. There are a number of puzzles that you need to solve, usually with the help of your companion Trip. The boss battles involve the use of "cloud" which is every boy's post Back to the Future 2's dream, a hoverboard! It's great fun to use and the battles are challenging, but at the same time very rewarding when you successfully execute the winning technique. The combat system is pretty minimalist, but again very rewarding. You have a staff that can shoot plasma energy as a ranged attack and of course, whack things up close and personal. There isn't a great diversity of enemies, but you do need to employ some basic strategy in the method of your attack. Apart from this the other main part of the gameplay is through straightforward platforming. It's main appeal is simply the beauty of it, Monkey can scramble up poles and jump amazing distances with style. It's free-running, minus the freedom. It's essentially sexed up platforming and very rewarding.

Another thing that I feel I should mention is the constant interaction with Trip during gameplay, really well done. You can piggy back her around and throw her up to high ledges. She can distract ranged enemies with a decoy, drawing their fire so you can run around behind them and open a can of whoop ass on them. There will be some instances where she needs protecting, but she's such a likeable character that this is a rewarding experience and not a chore. The way that you interact with her during gameplay really helps to build on and extend the story portrayed in the cut-scenes.

There are a few quirks with the camera at times, but on the whole it's really pretty good. The platforming is very controlled, certainly nothing like Assassin's Creed. But it fits the style of the game, it's enjoyable and looks great. The combat can be frustrating at times, the camera can get zoomed in too close and you can't see the enemies properly. But it's nothing major.

Overall this is just a fantastic game. I picked it up for $30 the other day brand new, you really can't go wrong at that kind of price. I hope there is a follow up. I have the sensation that I just finished a great book and I want to know what happens next! This is really the kind of game that I most enjoy playing and if you like action/adventure games you should definitely try this. And finally, one last thing to say, TRIP IS SEXY!