Review: Enslaved – Odyssey to the West

Enslaved – Odyssey to the West, from what I recall, got great reviews. Unfortunately, I just don’t agree with them. I think Ninja Theory have done some great things – but ultimately the combat is what destroys it for me. I was eager to finish the game – because the storyline, dialogue and presentation got me interested, but the combat alone is what made me throw in the towel – it’s just piss poorly done.

• Cutscenes are great – Facial animations are exceptional and voice acting doesn’t seem overdone, either. This was the game company that made Heavenly Sword and it appears this company pays particular attention to facial detail. I ultimately did care for the characters at the end of my playtime.
• Platforming is enjoyable – if you know where to go, then you can easily maneuver yourself to your next location. I wish more platforming games followed their style – of course, with the idea of the main character being a primal creature, it kinda’ fits.
• The game is pretty – and it’s cool to see what appears to be city landmarks in ruins (the imagery of the two bridges in New York) come to mind.

• The combat is terrible. I didn’t care for it in the beginning but hoped it would improve. The attacks feel clunky – and when you’re being swamped with enemies, you feel like you’re just moving too slowly – which is ironic for someone who can jump around like they’re a superhuman acrobat. Each attack seems like it has a little lag before you see it executed, making this a button-mashing game when it probably didn’t have to be. When being bumrushed, unless you do a ranged sweep attack to prevent the droids from getting close to you, your [already slow] attacks will be interrupted.
• Targeting with your staff for ranged “gun” shots is also terrible. Many times I’ve pointed the crosshair right at an enemy in front of me and it just seems to pass right by them. I then get attacked and killed.
• The areas where you had to maneuver through patrols without the assistance of Trip was more of a nuisance than a challenge – especially considering the shield doesn’t last long … even when maxed out.
• I did not enjoy the jerky camerawork. The best way to describe it is that if the camera were controlled by a mouse, the sensitivity would be at around 90 out of 100. And it would often switch to a “viewpoint” style, where you could just move the camera to look around you … which is actually a bit frustrating when you’re trying to find out which platform to jump to so you can activate a switch.

Positive Points: 3  |  Negative Points: 4  |  Final Score: -1

I gave the game a few days of so that my review wasn’t based on frustrations, but ultimately in the end, I felt like it was pointless because the same problem was always there. As stated before, I found myself button mashing when I ultimately didn’t have to. And I wasn’t button mashing to continue a chain attack, I was button mashing to make sure my sweep attack hit.

I have no doubt that had the combat system been designed and executed more properly, the my review would have turned out much different and much more positive. Unfortunately, it wasn’t – so it is what it is.