Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - Game Review

Again another game I had not planned to play but after a friend from work suggested I give it a playthough, I decided why not. After reading more about this game and coming to learn that the plot was inspired by the Chinese novel Journey to the West, I was greatly intrigued as I have read the English translated version of this novel before. Having liked the story of Journey to the West I figured this game was well worth a review after having peaked my interested. The story of Enslaved is not quite the same as the ancient novel; however thats not necessarily a bad thing as the story is a very strong positive aspect of this game and one of the things I loved about it. Enslaved is set sometime in the future in an post-apocalyptic world where most humans have either been killed by mechs, become enslaved or live in small villages/communities. As the protagonist Monkey you make your way through this mech filled world, fighting for survival as you are accompanied by Trip a fellow survivor who has forced you into helping her return home. In the opening chapter you discover that Monkey has been captured by slavers, he is freed by accident and then tries to make his escape from the slaver ship before it crashes. Long story short...the slaver ship crashes and after recovering from unconsciousness you find yourself enslaved by a headband that has been put on you by Trip. This "selfish" action on her part has single handedly connected your fates as your life is dependent on yours. If her heart stops beating you will die and therefore you get the whole thing I said earlier about being forced to help her. With no other choice but help Trip to return home..the Odyssey to the West begins.

I will be honest at the beginning I found Trip to be useless and quite frankly very annoying. She doesn't really fight and can barely climb but she eventually becomes of some use. It took sometime for me to warm up to her character but it might just have been the fact that I disliked that she enslaved another person in order to get what she wanted. Trip is clearly the brains of this duo not saying that Monkey is dumb but as you will learn Trip is very tech savvy. Throughout your journey she shows off her skills by helping you see mechs that are up ahead, opening doors and even hacking power sources. She provides useful advice and the more you learn about her the more likable her character becomes. Monkey on the other hand is very likable from the start of this game and is the muscle in this relationship However, he also has a softer side which will become more evident through the game as he starts to genuinely care for Trip and vice versa. Monkey's major skill is that which her name implies...he can climb like no one's business. These two characters actually play off each other very well once the story gets going. The dynamics of the relationship and story develop very well and is one of the best parts of this game.