Despite some technical flaws, Enslaved provides an epic journey with memorable characters.
GAMEPLAY - Trip and Monkey work as a team, with Monkey using his combat and platforming abilities and Trip being more of the thinker and the ability to use advanced gadgets. Combat plays like an average beat em' up action game, with a few variations on enemies and attacks. Monkey is more of a hand-to-hand basher, which is fun, but a little repetitive. His main weapon is a electrical staff that has the ability to crush and stun mechanical opponents, or shoot two types of projectiles that stun or do damage. Since he will almost always be fighting a large group of mechanical enemies, stunning is important since they have shields and different abilities. They also have the ability to call in reinforcements, so Monkey needs to take them out quickly. The same technique works for almost every enemy with a few sub-bosses and boss characters that require unique tactics. Enslaved isn't too hard, but it has some intense moments to fight through when Monkey is outnumbered.
Along with the combat is a very healthy dose of environment platforming, using everyday objects as a mode for moving upwards and forwards in the various areas Monkey and Trip explore. There's a lot of auto assist in the platforming, one can't really miss a jump because the game will toss up invisible walls on a frequent basis to prevent Monkey from plummeting to his death. Some may not like this but it eliminates a lot of unneeded frustration and keeps the game moving forward. There are urgent instances that require some quick movement though, so it's not entirely impossible to die while jumping from ledge to crumbling ledge.
GRAPHICS - Enslaved is a great-looking game, with a unique, artistic vision of the future that is a nice change from games such as Borderlands and Fallout. This isn't an apocalyptic looking scenario, instead it's more of a nature reclamation type of look, with lots of bright colors, flowers, deep greens, blue skies, etc, wrapping themselves around crumbling skyscrapers and abandoned technology. Character animations are outstanding and the expressive facial cues are incredible. They really deliver emotion well, and help the player to develop an attachment to the characters. There were a few glitches, such as an occasional stuttering to the framerate and what was more frustrating, some instances where the camera does not react well in tight spaces which prevents the player from seeing the enemies that are beating down on Monkey. Fortunately this was not a major problem, it just created a few situations where Monkey had to consume an extra healthpack when it shouldn't have been necessary.
SOUND - Outstanding voice work contributed by Andy Serkis as Monkey and Lindsay Shaw as Trip help to create realistic personas of the two heroes. The soundtrack if fine, if not particularly memorable. The sound effects are impressive with great environmental sounds, creepy mech noises, and weapon fire effects that take full advantage of surround sound.
VALUE - Enslaved should take most gamers about ten to twelve hours to finish. Trophies/achievements are stackable for playing at the three difficulty levels and there are the obligatory collectibles to search for as well. While the game itself does not have replay value, upon completing a chapter the player can enter the chapter select in the main menu, see what collectibles he's missing and then replay the level.
SUMMARY - The relationship between Monkey and Trip becomes the most interesting part of the story, and the growth between the characters is what will keep most gamers intrigued, actually more so than the pursuit of the villian. The pacing is great and there's enough variety that it doesn't get stale. I had a hard time putting the game down due to its story and wanting to know what happens next to Monkey and Trip. One of the better action games of 2010, highly recommended.