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Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Enslaved

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Déjà vu can be a pain. Times when you're sure you've seen or heard something already. These moments, usually magic and mysterious, in arts - from cinema to music and, of course, in games - are generally considered negative. Déjà vu in these cases takes on its literal meaning: already seen, old, stale, repetitious. But sometimes, this french word can be a positive, giving sense to some aspects once insignificant.

This is what I found in Enslaved: Odyssey To The West, Ninja Theory's latest game that in many ways continues what was started with their previous title, Heavenly Sword. Loosely based on the epic Chinese novel "Journey to the West", a masterpiece that inspired hundreds of works such as Dragon Ball, Enslaved can be classified as a typical action-adventure game. Nevertheless the game takes the best of this overly familiar genre and gives us some interesting points.

The version I tested is still in development: full of graphical glitches and with some nippletwisting loading times. Anyway, the game is already playable, giving us a taste of what we're going to enjoy in the final version. The first interesting element is seen in Enslaved's very odd setting. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic scenario, but one far from the nuclear wastelands of Mad Max and Fallout 3. In this world, nature takes its toll on a deceased planet, invading the asphalt ruins and concrete vestiges. Extraordinary panoramas, wide and green, create stark contrast with hyper-technologic enemies, some mechanised robots ready to assault. On the opposite side, the main character Monkey uses a stick to fight the bad nerdy guys, a basic weapon compared to the positronic lasers of the mechs.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
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The same kind of contrast is found in the two main characters of the story: Monkey is an adult, athletic, lonely, courageous and tough man, while Trip is a skinny, timid, insecure girl. This contraries game, finally, refects on the gameplay that alternates action sequences with exploring and puzzle solving elements.

Controls are very simple. On the 360 version (the only one available to test), you attack with X while Y dishes out a stronger attack. Holding X delivers a charge attack, while X + A makes a wide attack to push enemies away (very useful, especially during some chaotic fights). Finally X + B makes a focus attack and RT is for parry.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

While gameplay can be classified as pure action, there are some interesting pseudo-tactical moments when you need to figure out which enemy has to be attacked first. Some "duck and cover" moments are also included: in these particular circumstances you need to call Trip and ask her to distract enemies, while you rush toward them to make an ambush. Lastly, as I said before, a good two thirds of the game is based on level exploration - very funny, due to the Prince of Persia-style moves of Monkey - and puzzle solving sequences.

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Cloud-mode is also interesting. Just like the main character of the original Chinese novel (and like Son Goku), Monkey is able to drive a little cloud, in this game a vehicle quite similar to the hovering skateboard in Back to the Future II. With this cloud you can fly few inches from the water, gain a lot of speed and reach higher places.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Talking about the graphics, Enslaved is still in development and so in the version I tested I can do nothing but notice a lot of bad glitches. Hopefully these issues will be solved in the final version of the game. Otherwise the game looks good, thanks to a huge amount of artistic research and effort that made a post-apocalyptic scenario looking like a colourful jungle. The artist behind this tried to make something like "Caravaggio meets a comic book", and I can say he's succeeded.

Music is completely orchestrated, composed by Nithin Sawhney that we appreciated in Heavenly Sword. In Enslaved he tried to give the music a unique, futuristic-Indian sound. When Enslaved hits the shops on October 8th - and if Ninja Theory can iron out the glitches and bugs evident in the time we had with the game - we might be looking at one of the best action games of the year. Those rough edges, should they stand, would be enough to condemn this beautiful game - but that's one apocalyptic scenario we'll try to forget about.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the WestEnslaved: Odyssey to the WestEnslaved: Odyssey to the WestEnslaved: Odyssey to the West

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