Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is a nice game, and it is worth getting if you can get it, and its DLC, on sale.
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is a nice game, and it is worth getting if you can get it, and its DLC, on sale.
Enslaved is a above average game, it isn't going to change your views on action adventure, or make you obsess with the source material (it is a reimaging of Journey to the West). But it is a fun experience that is easy to get into. The main thing holding this title back is that for everything that it does right, it also kind of does it wrong.
Starting off the story for the game is a mix bag. On the positive side you have fun characters that play off each other fairly well. They have playful banter and the audio for them is good. On the negative the overall story is thin and never really explored. At best you'll have a vague idea of what is going on, why you are doing something, or what the point is. Which is a shame, since it seems like the story might have been interesting if they had bother to explain it.
Next the combat for the game is enjoyable, but very simple. You have two attack buttons and two ammo types for your staff gun thingy. And after the 3rd or 4th level, you pretty much know everything that you need to know about combat in the game. That isn't to imply that there aren't specialty moves like countering, but for 95% of the encounters in the game, you can get through them with a minimal amount of effort.
The game's environments looks nice, but most levels feel too long, like the developers were trying to increase the game's length without factoring in what they would do to it quality. This is a common problem that a lot of games have, since pacing is hard to do. What makes this noticeable worst is the lack of challenge on most levels. With a simple combat system, and a very simple platforming system (you push jump to pretty much do everything, and there only one correct path, so can just mindlessly push jump towards the next platform most of the time) eventually enemies and puzzles become annoyances that just slow you down.
In the end, if it was only the main game, I wouldn't recommend this title to others. But what pushes it up, is one of the original DLC pieces, Pigsy's Perfect 10, which comes standard in the steam version, so I am factoring it into the review (since it is now part of the base experience). This DLC is several hours long and focuses on the side character Pigsy. It has different gameplay (3rd person shooter), an unique story (takes place during the main game events, but before the main cast meets Pigsy), and a different overall theme from the main game (Friendship, loneness, and lost). And while the last level in it goes on for way too long, I would argue that overall it is better than the main game, and makes the ending to the main game more significant and meaningful.
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is a nice game that does some things right and some things wrong. I wouldn't say it a must play title, but if you can pick it up on sale for cheap, then you should. The overall experience from the main game and the DLC is fun, and who doesn't like having fun.
