Synopsis
Writing books based on a game universe is becoming more and more common these days, they can usually benefit from the extra detail brought in by the novels which games are unable to convey. Less common is a book forming the basis of the game to begin with and Enslaved: Journey to the West is surely one of the only games other than Dante's Inferno to boast a literary source as old as the 16th century.

One of the four classic novels in Chinese literature; Journey to the West has been adapted multiple times for TV, film and stage. Ninja Theory's interpretation catapults the story 150 years into the future; in a world which has been ravaged by nuclear war, mankind is being hunted and enslaved by machines. Whilst attempting to escape one of their slave ships Monkey meets Trip, a resourceful young girl who is trying to make her way home and forcibly enlists Monkey to get her there.

There's wasteland fashion, then there's just weird dude!

Presentation

Once the opening level finishes running you through the controls in a confined space they open up the environment with an excellent intro sequence which sets the tone and introduces the world nicely. Post apocalyptic settings are possibly reaching thier saturation point this generation with endless wastlelands coated in grey and brown becoming as common as they are uninspired. It's nice to know someone has a more colourful view on the end of our civilisation. Apart from the hoards of mechanical monsters roaming the land and giving out nifty headbands which fry your brain if you leave the toilet seat up, Enslaved's vision of a post nuclear landscape is in many ways quite appealing.


Someone's been putting off mowing the lawn

Rather than just a desert with the occasional structure hinting at its past, this version of New York remains largely populated with buildings which were partially destroyed by man and recently reclaimed by the Earth. Vines and trees infest the city creating an urban jungle complete with the occasional animal bounding past, alluding to the life that once thrived instead of merely just surviving. With Monkey's climbing skills you are given great opportunities to see some breathtaking views which are only slightly marred by that trademark Unreal engine pop in.

I'm not quite sure how Andy Serkis and his motion capture wizards did it but just as Gollum was a step forward for performance captured CGI, Enslaved is equally as ground breaking for gaming. The level of emotion conveyed in the facial animations is in places remarkable, it breathes life into the characters and allows them to create more realistic personalities by incorporating human traits. Games have a habit of forming their characters mainly through their speech, leading to them exaggerating or simply out right stating their feelings making them seem less geniune. Enslaved enables the characters to get thier message across in a much more subtle manner, eyes dart with life, brows lift and mouths contort, combined with some great full body motion capture it gives a much greater degree of believability.


Oh Hi!

Alex Garland provides some decent dialogue, which is capabaly delivered by Serkis and his co star Lindsay Shaw. Although the game has few characters the dynamic between the two is an interesting one and is well portrayed. The music flows nicely with the action escalating appropriately when the situation dictates, i can't say any of it was particularly memorable but it certainly fits the tone well.