Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

The first hours are a bit too rocky and the controls are not very precise, the camera sometimes get stuck and the character Trip is an irritating wuss. The atmosphere, the characters, the design and the story is really nice though and the game deserves a play-through.

With the gameplay being such an unwanted distraction, the story is the only attraction. The plot delivers a cool science fiction twist in its final moments, but ultimately serves as a slave to mediocre gameplay for eight to nine hours.

The game, though, stumbles throughout. The combat is at best serviceable, as are the puzzles. [Dec 2010, p.84]

Enslaved takes players 150 years into the future, in a world where both creation and destruction flourish. Its overwhelming beauty of nature entangled with machinery requires a moment to digest. Sadly, the game rarely allows for such sightseeing. Instead players are forcibly dragged through every scene of the game, which then comes to an abrupt close. Ultimately they are left with a very convincing movie, without the gameplay to back it up.

Quotation forthcoming.

Plagued by small but numerous issues, Enslaved still has a lot to offer... but maybe not for the full price of a new game. If you let yourself be charmed by its lush world and its well portrayed characters, you may tolerate its flaws in order to follow its narrative, and the various sequences. They are mostly enjoyable despite some loose gameplay mechanics. But for others, the frame rate issues, the terrible ending, and the lack of polish will obfuscate the qualities of the game. Once again, it seems Ninja Theory focused too much on the form and less on the substance.