I've just finished Enslaved: Odyssey to the West on Steam, letting me mark off another game from my Steam "Backlog of Shame". It's a 2013 PC port of a game from 2010, originally on Xbox 360/PS3.Being a port, it definitely had its issues. Crashes and lock-ups for some of the cut scenes, especially late in the game. But it was definitely worth the frustration to push past these and finish the game.
In the game, you play as Monkey, a loner surviving in a world set 150 years in the future and overrun with an army of killer robots. You quickly meet up with Trip: a young woman who traps Monkey with a slaver's headband in order to get what she needs. Her deal for Monkey: get her home and she'll set him free. Oh, and if she dies (or he tries to leave) he dies too. He'll have to help her cross 300+ miles through the wasteland, avoiding death at the hands of mechs and slavers along the way.
The story centers on the relationship between Monkey and Trip. She has complete control over what he does, but is completely dependent on him in order to survive. The power dynamic goes back and forth until they finally start to trust and care for each other.
The game play folds out in a series of platformer puzzles and combat set pieces in between scenes pushing the story forward. Monkey fights with a bo staff that doubles as a ranged energy weapon. Most of the time Trip is out of the way for combat, but she does support Monkey by providing upgrades for his equipment, scouting the way forward with a small drone, providing distractions for the ranged turrets and mechs and acting as a second person for some of the puzzles. She doesn't fight or climb and she can't jump quite as far as Monkey can, so more often than not the puzzles are you trying to find a way for her to move forward. The slave headband also lets Trip see and hear what Monkey does and allows her to overlay information as an augmented reality display in Monkey's vision, allowing him to see hidden mines and the detection range of powered down mechs.
Combat is mostly fun and not too difficult or frustrating (with a few exceptions). The camera is over-the-shoulder and sometimes makes it a bit hard to see what's going on, but that doesn't usually get too much in the way of a good brawl. You'll find yourself using a mixture of cover/stealth to get around enemies or to get into position, and Trip's support features help out with this a lot. The game will usually put a helpful "flaw" in some enemies, giving you an advantage if you care to exploit it, and making sure that the combat doesn't get stale and repetitive. The only real punishing fights are the boss battles, where a single mistake can mean starting the encounter over from the beginning. The puzzle aren't too challenging, and are kind of standard fare, in the line of games like Tomb Raider and the Uncharted games.
In addition to Monkey's bo staff, another item in Monkey's tool set is the Cloud. It is an energy based "hoverboard" that is only activated in a few areas of the game, allowing Monkey to hover over water, travel at high speeds and jump across gaps that he normally wouldn't be able to clear. I really wish that this was available for more of the game rather than just the few areas that you could activate it, but I was just happy to have it. The Cloud is a lot of fun to get around on, and always felt like something that I wanted to use rather than just another puzzle mechanic.In addition to the puzzles and combat, the game encourages exploration (to the extent that Trip doesn't think that Monkey is abandoning her and kills him) in the form of Tech Orbs and strange floating Masks. The Tech Orbs unlock upgrades for Monkey and are well worth the effort of tracking down (aside from just achievement hunting). The Masks tie into the story and are related to Monkey's slave headband. Each shows a set of images from before the war, lasting only for a few seconds. They are interesting, but not necessary unless you are an achievement hunter.
Late into the game, you are introduced to a third character: Pigsy. He helps Trip and Monkey on the last stage of their journey together and he's ridiculous and crude and completely full of himself, all of which makes him an amazing character. Pigsy is also the focus of his own DLC (included in the Steam version of the game), set before he meets up with Trip and Monkey, which is definitely worth playing.
By the end of the game, I felt emotionally invested in the characters, They felt like fully fleshed out beings rather than two-dimensional fantasy archetypes that you usually get with games. They had depth and had grown. I understood their motivations and their actions made sense, and the ending wasn't one of those "and they lived happily ever after" endings. It made you think about what was next for the characters and the (spoilers) army of freed slaves released from the Pyramid, and if they did the right thing. It was very satisfying. I'd love to see Ninja Theory do another game set in this universe again.
