Author Topic: Enslaved  (Read 3766 times)

Offline Quemaqua

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Enslaved
« on: Thursday, October 21, 2010, 07:34:20 AM »
I'd never heard of it, but took one look and said "I'll bet you anything this game is awesome even though it looks like shit".  Looked up a review on my phone, came home, enjoyed the hell out of it.  I haven't been keeping up on games lately, but apparently my ability to stop a good game without prior knowledge in the middle of the store hasn't abandoned me.

You guys should really try this one.  It's a little bit platformer, a little bit action title (ala God of War), has a little bit of a semi-puzzley element, and has some just jaw-dropping background sets to climb around on.  Post-apocalypse, but not like Fallout.  Instead of deserts, NYC is overgrown with verdant, green plant life... animals everywhere, blue skies, butterflies, and flowers.  It's really something to behold.  The game is lauded for its story as well, and just given the first couple hours I can already tell that they knew what they were doing when they put it together.  It takes you almost no time to get interested in the characters and really enjoy their interactions.

Kind of a cool concept.  You're escaped slaves, but a younger girl puts a slave helmet she hacked on you so that you have to help her get back to her home.  So there's this sort of unpleasant relationship happening even though you get the impression the relationship is going to deepen and develop as the two travel together.  You command her to help you do things, like distract enemies or scan things, even though you're essentially under her control and can't go running off to do what you want or she kills you.  It's an interesting setup and handled really well.



Anyway, try this one out for sure.  360 and PS3.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline sirean_syan

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Re: Enslaved
« Reply #1 on: Thursday, October 21, 2010, 07:43:22 AM »
I messed with the demo a couple of weekends ago and enjoyed it. You could really tell that these guys like the Uncharted games and while it's not as smooth as them, the actiony-platforming was still really enjoyable. Ultimately, I chose to buy the new Castlevania, but I'm still interested in the game. Hopefully it'll be one of those with a price drop rather than something that just decides to disappear one day.

Offline Cobra951

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Re: Enslaved
« Reply #2 on: Thursday, October 21, 2010, 08:49:08 AM »
Yeah, I mentioned this recently.  It looked very promising then.  It's one of the games that I would like to get eventually.  I'm with Sy on price drops.

Offline W7RE

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Re: Enslaved
« Reply #3 on: Thursday, October 21, 2010, 08:55:34 AM »
I decided I need to start waiting for price drops or sales for single player games, unless I just really don't want to wait. Otherwise, I would have picked this up. It looks great.

Offline TheOtherBelmont

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Re: Enslaved
« Reply #4 on: Thursday, October 21, 2010, 11:58:48 AM »
I enjoyed the demo and would like to get it sometime soon, just want to work on my backlog of other games right now before I buy anymore.

Offline Xessive

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Re: Enslaved
« Reply #5 on: Thursday, October 21, 2010, 04:49:48 PM »
I'm playing the game at the moment and I am really enjoying it. It has its flaws but it's a beautifully crafted game. Aesthetically, the game has a trashy cyberpunk look, it fits thematically, but it does kinda make the game feel like it is trashy. After playing it and really getting to terms with the style I'm seeing as an artwork now.

I think I mentioned in the other thread that I was very keen on it because of my experience with Ninja Theory's Heavenly Sword and I think Andy Serkis is a master at his many crafts.

The one thing that does kinda bug me about the game is the camera is often zoomed in way too close during combat and it doesn't lock-on to targets (there's no lock-on button either). That's only real complaint I have, aside from that it's a pretty sweet experience so far.

Offline W7RE

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Re: Enslaved
« Reply #6 on: Thursday, November 18, 2010, 05:42:24 AM »
I got the game yesterday, and was playing it on and off all afternoon/night (probably put 2-3 hours total into it, I left it paused quite a bit). I just got to chapter 5.

It's visually impressive, but technically a little rough around the edges. Light that should be static shimmers sometimes, there's artifacting on some edges (like a thick white line of pixels on the edge of the main character's hair, as if the alpha sections of the texture weren't cleaned up well). The environments look great though, with huge towering buildings and ruins. It could have used a little more visual polish to clean things up, but the basic layout and deisgn is great.

The gameplay seems pretty simple so far, with some very linear and forgiving climbing (you can't jump to your death, it will only let you jump if there's a climb point there). The combat is pretty simple, at least at first (upgrades give new moves and such), but is still sort of fun. I say sort of because of the camera, which is the only real gripe I have with the game. Incombat, the camera likes to get really close, and I often find it between an enemy and my character. That makes it a little difficult to hit the enemy. Then they throw in enemies that charge up a ranged attack, and you can't tell they're doing it unless you mess with the camera in combat, which requires the thumb you're hitting the attack buttons with.

The chatter and small interactions between the characters is great. Actually, all the interactions are. It adds a sense of depth and emotion that makes me think the game would feel stale and boring if it were just one guy running around these places alone. They (so far) do a good job of taking advantage of having two characters alway there, and making you worry about protecting the person you're escorting, but I've yet to feel like it's "That Shitty Escort Mission - The Game".

I really don't want to stop playing, but I need some sleep. It's not "holy shit" amazing, but it is a lot of fun and I feel compelled to keep going.

Offline gpw11

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Re: Enslaved
« Reply #7 on: Wednesday, November 19, 2014, 03:23:19 AM »
You know, I bought the "Deluxe" version of this game on PSN for $5 or so on sale, and it could be one of my favorite games of this generation.  It has everything I slightly dislike about recent games (press this key and this direction at the same time for all platforming elements), but also highlights why gaming has evolved to include these elements (fluid, non-frustrating timed elements, show off amazing animations and cinematography).   The entire game is an escort mission from what I've seen, but they've managed to make it fun and enjoyable. Beyond that, the facial animations and characters are just really really entertaining.   I'm sad to hear that it didn't do well enough to spawn a franchise.

Offline Cobra951

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Re: Enslaved
« Reply #8 on: Wednesday, November 19, 2014, 08:33:11 AM »
It's $5 on XBL too.  I'm tempted, as I've been in the past for somewhat higher sale prices (like $10).  Maybe this time I'll bite.

Offline Xessive

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Re: Enslaved
« Reply #9 on: Wednesday, November 19, 2014, 10:25:39 AM »
It was a very cool take on the classic novel Journey to the West, the story of Sun Wukong (the Monkey King). I really enjoyed Ninja Theory's adaptation of the story.

As a game I liked it but it felt lacking in some areas. The combat was good, as expected from Ninja Theory, but it felt more limited than their other titles. Overall it was a great game and I was so grateful they brought it o the PC. Since I lost my PS3 copy (a certain "friend" borrowed it and never returned it, no one on here though :D).

Offline MysterD

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Re: Enslaved
« Reply #10 on: Wednesday, November 19, 2014, 04:37:20 PM »
I've had this for a while on the PC, just ain't felt like getting to it.

For those who do have the PC version on Steam + don't want to always deal w/ Steam...
...once you do the download from Steam (or reinstall the files from a copied back-up folder of this and put it back where it belongs), this game can be run w/out Steam going.
The Steam-version of this game is currently not saddled by CEG or any 3rd party DRM.

Like most of those games on Steam that can run w/out Steam booted - boot the game from the game-folder; or create a shortcut directly from the game-folder.
And it will save them saves locally to the PC, as well.
« Last Edit: Wednesday, November 19, 2014, 05:13:44 PM by MysterD »

Offline nickclone

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Re: Enslaved
« Reply #11 on: Thursday, November 20, 2014, 12:25:23 PM »
I played the demo and liked it a lot, it also thought it looked pretty cool. My friend has this game, I think I'll make him let me borrow it.

Offline gpw11

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Re: Enslaved
« Reply #12 on: Sunday, November 23, 2014, 03:34:02 AM »
Just finished it, I liked it a lot pretty much the whole way through.   The character interactions, animations, etc really impressed me and added a lot to the overall experience for me.  I'd  recommend it for sure.

Not sure why Ninja Theory gets their balls busted so much. I can only assume it's fans of the original DMC games who are still furious that the Ninja Theory game didn't have Dante riding through the air on a surfboard, slaying demons with his lighting powered guitars.   

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Enslaved
« Reply #13 on: Sunday, November 23, 2014, 10:19:32 AM »
I loved the original DMC games, and I still say Ninja Theory's was far and away the best of all of them.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline gpw11

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Re:
« Reply #14 on: Sunday, November 23, 2014, 05:29:51 PM »
I played the third and fourth games of the original series.  The third I found fun but got sick of the "extreme" nature of the weapons, etc.  Like I said, lightning guitars and doing kick flips off of missiles.   It just reminded me of Poochie from the Simpsons or something.   That's fine, just not my thing.   I had zero problems with the fourth though and really liked it.

From what I've seen. The reboot was by far and large the best entry and maybe its just me but I strongly disagree with any if the criticisms against it as they all seen to stem from the parts I didn't like being removed or fixed.  I think the die hard vocal fanbase of the original series just might just be one of those shitty fanbases.

Offline Cobra951

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Re: Enslaved
« Reply #15 on: Thursday, November 27, 2014, 08:27:00 AM »
Wow, the camera in this game absolutely sucks.  It jerks all over the place, and often wrests control of where it looks from the user.  That wasn't clear enough from the demo.  I'm glad I only paid $5 to have my eyeballs rattled.  Otherwise, it does hold my interest so far, in short installments to prevent headaches.

Offline gpw11

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Re:
« Reply #16 on: Thursday, November 27, 2014, 11:33:09 AM »
Really?   Shit, I totally didn't even notice that.   I'm guessing it was because I was coming off of Metal Gear Rising, which had the worst camera I've ever experienced.  Anything was a step us I guess.

Sorry I didn't catch that and mention it

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Enslaved
« Reply #17 on: Thursday, November 27, 2014, 12:32:41 PM »
I played through a good chunk of the game a while back. I had no such experience.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野