This post has not been edited by the GamesBeat staff. Opinions by GamesBeat community writers do not necessarily reflect those of the staff.
If I judged Enslaved solely by its appearance, I never would have touched it. Right or wrong, the cover art just screamed, “Generic Action Game #47” to me. Enslaved’s high praise however reverberated loud enough that it drowned out my preconceptions, and I decided to give the game a shot. What I was treated to was a delightful action-adventure game that followed the quest of two very enjoyable characters.
In fact, as I sit here putting my impressions of Enslaved down, its the duo of protagonists, Monkey & Trip, that stick out above all else the game had to offer. Sure, the combat was decent, the ‘no-fail’ platforming was fun, and the story, although vague, was adequate enough – but it was the back and forth between the burly Monkey and the tech-savy Trip that compelled me to press on.
From the frantic beginning to the head-scratching finale, following their budding relationship was the catalyst that drove the game forward. Amazingly enough, this was all handled with a bare minimum of dialog & cutscenes. It’s tough to put my finger on it, but there is an undeniable charm behind Enslaved that makes it anything but ‘Generic Action Game #47’.
It’s not all perfect in Enslaved-land however. First, while the third-person camera works for 98% of the game, there is 2% of the time where it locks to a specific perspective and threw the controls on their head. Second, the game offered way more hand-holding than I’m comfortable with – exacerbated by the lack of variety in it’s ‘go here, do this’ delivery.
Neither of those issues however were game breaking, just annoying quirks for a game that I otherwise have no complaints about. Well, maybe just one more – I would have liked to learn a bit more about the backstory in Enslaved. Instead, after the ending I was left with more questions than answers. That perhaps isn’t as much a complaint as it is a compliment to the game’s design & writing, but I was disappointed at the lack of ‘Enslaved Lore’ for me to chew on.
Enslaved can be had for a song these days, and it’s well worth checking out if you haven’t already. It’s a nice break from the ‘glut of the same’ and an enjoyable, dare I say romantic, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi romp. Hopefully we haven’t seen the end of Monkey & Trip, as I would certainly like to meet up with them again to continue their adventure.
Price Paid: $25 (new from Amazon.com)
Completed campaign 1 time on HARD difficulty + additional achievement hunting (15hrs according to Raptr.com)
Behind the scenes:
Thanks to AiAi (the only Monkey I could find in the house) for standing in for this photo. He bravely let me hang him over the table (courtesy of a microphone stand) to snap the shot:
