Geek4ever

Enslaved for the Xbox 360 (from the creators of Heavenly Sword) is based on a ancient Chinese tale that you might better remember as a show called Monkey. Enslaved goes back to the source material, though you will recognise the names of the characters (being exactly the same).

The basic premise is that it is 150 years in the future and machines are rounding up people everywhere. You play as tough as nails Monkey who has escaped and been 'enslaved' by a young girl called Trip. The catch is that if she dies, you die, so you have to keep her out of harms way as you journey back to her home, which funnily enough has you going ... West. :-)

So the Enslaved is a platforming action game that has you climbing, jumping and running through big open levels that can be multiple stories high. The sense of scale is really well done. Graphics are solid and just about every level is outside so you see more green than you do 'standard dungeon brown'. Lots of ruined skyscrapers that are half covered in vines etc as nature takes back the land.

The jumping from platform to platform is perfect. You don't have to die 100 times to figure out the 'exact right angle' to jump at, you just have to figure out where to go and generally you have to do it quickly before the bit of building you are holding onto falls off. In practice this is 10,000 times better than the usual jump to your death every 10 seconds style of game *cough* Tomb Raider *cough*. Now there is a new sheriff in town and no more jumpy jumpy, die die for you.

Monkey is actually voiced by the guy who did Gollum and he and the other motion capture actors do a great job here of brining the story to life. The action as you go around bashing up mechs has a nice flow to it and you can take on a group of mechs and switch targets with ease. No frustrating issues anywhere to be found.

Overall:
Brilliant game that was a ton of fun to play. They got everything right. If you like platforming action games, then this one is a must play. :-)

Trailer: