One Hour In -- Episode #5
By ssj4raditz 2 Comments
Ah, welcome friends. Please, enter. Have a seat. Comfortable? Would you like some refreshments? So, here we are again. As I begin this, the fifth installment of my little blog here, I trust you are settled in. Well, if you're good and ready, let us start, shall we? We have a ways to go in the sci-fi action adventure game that is Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. Well, not much of a ways, as it's just an hour in, right?
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Man, this game takes no time getting right into the thick of it. Monkey awakens on a slave transport ship on it's way to the "Pyramid". While trying to decipher his surroundings in the pod he's in, Monkey notices another pod across the way opening, and a teenage girl jumping out of it. Before he can react, the girl sets of an explosion that topples the pod Monkey's in. He bust the door open as the slave ship starts to explode and break apart around him. Monkey makes his way forward, as the ship rumbles and bounces due to the explosions. A mech bars the way forward, and Monkey can go after it until he has his gear. He confronts a guard, who tells him where to find his stuff. But, unfortunately, the guy is zapped by a headband for assisting the escaping Monkey. Make his way down to the cargo hold, Monkey reacquires his gauntlets, shield, and staff. Now, to take on the mech, Beating it with ease, Monkey proceeds into the next two rooms, confronting more mechs. Unfortunately, the way forward is block by the girl, who lock the only door into the next section of the ship. Monkey's got to clamber around on the hull and wings of the ship to get to the forward section and to and escape pod, since this thing is going to go down. More mechs pop out, but are easily destroyed. As Monkey gets to the port side of the ship, avoiding the backdraft of a jet engine, the ship clips the torch of the Statue of Liberty (!). Monkey finds his way to a loose panel, ripping it off; but accidentally flinging it into one of the engines! It explodes, causing the ship to tilt violently. Monkey has to climb up the wing quickly before he's scraped off on an incoming building! Making it up, he finally gets to the last escape pod. But, Trip (the girl) is already inside it. She decides to launch with poor Monkey hanging onto the outside! The slave ship careens and smashes into the ground as the escape pod with Trip in it and Monkey on it falls into some nearby ruins.
A groaning Monkey awakens slowly. Trip explains why his head hurts so much. She's placed a slave headband on him, and wired it to respond to her vocal commands. She says that she'll only remove it when Monkey guides her safely back to her home, some 300 miles to the west. Having no choice, Monkey agrees to escort Trip out of danger. The two start exploring the ruins they've crashed in. "Missing" posters adorn the crumbling, moss covered walls. (Looks like Grand Central Terminal's seen better days...) A drawbridge blocks the path. Trip lowers it part way, but Monkey needs to find a way across the hole to lower the other half. He does so, but is attacked by a pair of mechs. He takes care of business, and the two travels proceed out of the building. A beautifully ruined New York City skyline greets them outside. Trip wonders how many people used to live here. Thousands? Monkey surmises probably even more than that. The smoke rising in the distance indicates where the two need to go. Monkey thinks that his ride (a motorcycle, by the way he describes it) might have survived the slave ships crash, and he can't think of a faster way to go the distance to Trip's home. A few more mechs to destroy, and more ruins to explore. The pair come across some mechs that need distracting to get past. Trip whips up a Decoy at this point to help Monkey deal with the enemy. It works effectively, and they continue on. Entering the next area, Monkey notices mechs littering the way forward. Mined, he deduces. Trip notices some mechanical dragonflys around, and asks Money to catch one. After a short chase, he nabs the little guy. Trip quickly modifies the bug to help detect the mines. Monkey carries Trip through two short minefields. They come to a larger minefield, with a sentry gun at the far end. Using the dragonfly, Trip detects metal fatigue in the billboard above the sentry gun. If Monkey can make his way around, he can take out the turret by toppling the board. Using the dragonfly once again, Trip detects a few "sleeping" mechs that Monkey needs to sneak around. Not waking a one, he makes it to the building behind the turret gun. Gather the plasma shot for his staff, he blasts the supports for the billboard, crush the sentry gun below. A few more mechs rush in to attack Trip and Monkey, and are made quick work of. Trip says the she can download the schematics of the enemies, making it easier for Monkey to exploit their weaknesses. Sounds like a good idea.
Whew! That's it for the first hour of Enslaved. Man, that first chapter on the slave ship was straight up intense. There were a couple of instances that I didn't think Monkey would make it! And man, is this game really nice looking. Especially the characters. I'm looking forward to see how the relationship between Monkey and Trip evolves, and if they end up meeting anyone else interesting.
Thanks for reading, everyone. It is my sincere hope that you enjoyed this entry of my blog. Please to come back next week, when I'll be relaying the first hour of my experience with the shooter Vanquish, which I'm told is pretty awesome. And again, if you would like to request a certain game for me to cover, don't hesitate to shoot me a PM and let me know! Again, thanks for giving this a look, and we'll see you next time, on One Hour In.