The official 'I am in love with ENSLAVED' thread.

To start off, I am not claiming this to be a GOTY or a GOTY contender, but this is an excellent game that everyone needs to play. You should give it a try regardless of whether or not you enjoyed the demo.

To the people who played the demo: I skipped the demo because I knew I was going to be playing it anyway. Reading through the demo impressions thread, it seemed like a few people wrongly assumed that the combat or the platforming wouldn't get any deeper than it was in the demo. The combat opens up in the next few chapters (I have completed four chapters.... 2 and a half hours in) as the game starts to give you new character abilities, weapons, upgrades and even different combos. There are even shooting segments in the game. I find the combat to be very entertaining simply because they combine stuff from lot of different genres which gives it its own uniqueness. For example, you have your standard GoW Square+Triangle attacks you all played in the demo. They are upgradable, but dont expect long trees of different combos. You can use them in conjunction with your range attacks. Like your Staff which can be used to shoot or stun enemies from far away. These too can be upgraded. And finally you can control Trip to distract enemies as you sneak up on them. And that's where the platforming comes in.

Like Uncharted 2, the platforming here is used not just as breathers from action/combat sequences. Most of the platforming is done with the clock counting down as you avoid taking fire and move from one ledge to the next closing in the gap b/w you and the ever evolving enemy. (I'm very impressed by the variety in enemy design so far.) I am not a fan of how they implemented platforming. It's like Resident Evil 5 where you press a button when you get close to a ledge rather than like Uncharted 2 where your character can jump at any time. That said, it's still fun........ not as fluid as Uncharted 2's platforming, but still fun. Like Uncharted 2, these platforming/action setpieces are extremely well designed. They are not only cinematic, but also tie in well with the action/combat. Very impressed by the platforming and combat so far.

I HAVE to mention the sound effects. I must! The sound effects of Monkey's staff hitting the Robots are Transfomers esque. The metal on metal effects are loud yet oh so awesome. If you have a Surround Sound system, please i beg you to play this game on it. It's superb. The soundtrack is excellent as well. The voice work and acting is once again top notch, but that's to be expected from the guys who did Heavenly Sword. What makes this game more impressive is that unlike the over the top acting and dialogue in Heavenly Sword, both the acting and dialogue is more subdued and subtle. You can tell that they know their technology can convey emotions without the need of dialogue, and there are times where you just need to look at how Trip reacts and know exactly what she's thinking. Or look at Monkey's facial expressions and know right at that second if he meant what he said.

Lastly, I cannot believe the demo they released was the first level of the game. Yes, it's visually stunning and exciting, but it does the game or rather the gameplay no justice. Hell, you dont even know the reasoning behind the game's tagline, "If I die, you die." Because it comes right after the first chapter ends. That scene is excellent and sets up the whole game. The gameplay in chapter 2 introduces you to a couple of new abilities, the upgrade system and enemies, as well as using platforming in a couple of very interesting scenarios. I am dumbfounded that chapter 2 wasn't used as the chapter to demo the game.

P.S The opening part of Chapter 5 made me come here and make this thread. That's when I knew this game was excellent.

P.P.S I forgot to mention how disappointed I am at Ninja Theory for going with the UE3. Not because the game doesn't look good, it looks phenoemal at times especially during the realtime cutscenes. But because it could've looked soo much better without the all too fimiliar framerate stutters, screen tearing and blurry far away textures of UE3. They have created a beautiful world, but it's UE3 that calls attention to itself which is very unfortunate.

This game looks amazing, and is definately going high up on my games list. I think its some of the best combat this generation, the platforming reminds of Uncahrted 2 CH 1 (which is awesome). The story and character interaction looks awesome. The GS review made my hype go up when they showed them talking at night. That looks awesome and it be super cool to see it go from,

" Hey"

"Shutup"

To

"I love you"

"Me too"

It is not a bad game and have some epic moments. The platforming is about getting to the other place fast since you could be target by enemies. What is nice it not the BS of doing a dodge roll only to roll off the platform or being push off.

Hell, you dont even know the reasoning behind the game's tagline, "If I die, you die." Because it comes right after the first chapter ends. That scene is excellent and sets up the whole game. S0lidSnake

[QUOTE="S0lidSnake"]Hell, you dont even know the reasoning behind the game's tagline, "If I die, you die." Because it comes right after the first chapter ends. That scene is excellent and sets up the whole game. The_Pig_Hostage

Oh ok. That makes more sense then.

I liked the platforming, it's simple and fluid. I don't really understand the appeal of plummeting to your death if you happen to misjudge a jump. It's one of the dumbest and archaic concepts in gaming, in my opinion. The combat was alright. The camera wasn't very good and the omission of a lock-on is a critical mistake considering how close-up the camera gets. You simply can't see where your enemies are. I liked the premise and both of the characters.

Overall, I enjoyed the demo and wouldn't mind picking it up if I ever see it real cheap.

My copy arrived today. I'm torn between playing this, Dead Rising 2, Just Cause 2 or Gow of War 3. So many great games, so little time! :cry:

I liked the platforming, it's simple and fluid. I don't really understand the appeal of plummeting to your death if you happen to misjudge a jump. It's one of the dumbest and archaic concepts in gaming, in my opinion. The combat was alright. The camera wasn't very good and the omission of a lock-on is a critical mistake considering how close-up the camera gets. You simply can't see where your enemies are. I liked the premise and both of the characters.

Overall, I enjoyed the demo and wouldn't mind picking it up if I ever see it real cheap.

UpInFlames

I dont mind some assistance in jumps, but it shouldn't be automatic which is what Enslaved is. The Uncharted games get a lot of criticism for the so called 'automatic platforming', but in Uncharted you have full control of your character and the jumps he makes. Not the case in Enslaved. You only jump when the game wants you to jump, you only hop over cover, if the game wants you to hop over it. It's anything but fluid.

I couldn't agree more aout the cameraduring combat. I dont like how it locks on to the enemy you are attacking disregarding everyone else around you. That makes it impossible to block and extremely tough to avoid any attacks because your enemies are off screen at the moment. I dont mind the free roam camera, but there is no need to go for a cinematic angle in the middle of a fight. In Heavenly Sword they would only cut to these cinematic angles when you were down to your last enemy soldier.

Still thanks to evade and range attacks, i dont mind it that much. It'sa minor annoyance just like the automatic platforming. not a big deal.

I meant to pick this up on the way home from work but there was a huge queue in GAME and I was too tired to wait. :cry:

This game just keeps getting better and better. The combat doesnt improve much after the first few chapters, but they are doing a really good job of keeping things fresh. Boss battles have been great, very original or rather different than boss battles you see in other games. LOVE the Cloud! :D You also get a nice mix of shooting galleries and regular combat seqeunces, and the chase sequences have been fun. I also like how they slow things down after a big fight, you get a nice slow platforming section. It gives you time to relax and take in this beautiful world. One thing about Ninja Theory, they know how to make pretty locales.

One thing I dont like is that the framerate stutters a lot on occassions, completely pulls you out of the game. When it happens during a chase sequence or major fight scene, it affects the gameplay as well. So far my only major complaint on the game. Games like Gears of War and Mirror's Edge maintain a rock steady 30fps on UE3, this should be a standard this late in the generation.

I love it! It reminds me of the first time I played Jak and Daxter. It's beautiful, there's a nice variation in the gameplay, the boss battles are amazing and the combat can get tough at times. Also, the characters are incredible to watch, and there are some genuine laugh out loud moments. Pigsy is... in a league of his own. Having to keep an eye on Trip is also well done. It's not like an annoying escort mission... it's more like Ico and Yorda. To begin, I tended to leave her to walk behind me, but later on I grew so attached to her that I started to carry her whenever possible, just to make sure she was alright! There are a few graphical inconsistencies such as texture pop-in and frame rate issues, but when you're experiencing the story all that doesn't seem to matter. HellsAngel2c

Pigsy didnt do anything for me. :P

But yeah, i really like how we dont have to worry about Trip too much. She's actually pretty helpful creating diversion so I actually liked having her beside me. I HATED Ico having to rescue Yorda all those times, that game actually felt like an annoying escort mission.

I do love the boss battles, quite incredible.

So i beat Enslaved today. The game lasted me a good 8-9 hours i think. So definitely not a short game. I am disappointed at there not being ANY extra content whatsoever. Just like Heavenly Sword the game is effectively over after you beat it. Having achivements is the only thing seperating it from a similarly shallow Heavenly Sword package.

I kinda fell out of love with this game 2/3rds of the way through. While i wasn't bored and was certainly kept interested through out the campaign, the last few chapters didn't do much to keep the gameplay fresh. Where as the first 6 to 7 chapters kept introducing you to new enemies, new weapons and abilities, the last half of the game just simply lets you play with the arsenal you've already required. That's not neccessarily bad but felt like a missed opportunity for me.

The setpieces especially didnt resonate with me after the first 6-7 chapters. While it's nice to have variety in locales, going from lush green enviorments to swamps and factories left me wanting more of the green/scenic envionrments. Story also suffers after the half way mark when it stops being about Monkey and Trip and starts to have a "plot". If you have seen a summer hollywood movie, you know exactly what i am talking about. A hollywood movie starts and spends the first third of the game setting up its characters then it forgets about those characters and then puts these characters through a rollocoster ride that ulitmately goes nowhere. It's not bad by any means and the acting and dialogue remains FLAWLESS through out, but it was disappointing to see Trip and Monkey hardly talk to each other after the half way mark. Did like the ending though, very impressive.

The framerate became a major issue for towards the end of the game. Okay, more of an annoyance than a gameplay issue. While the last level reminded me of GoW3 in it's sheer epicness, the smoothness just wasn't there. Same with other Uncharted 2 inspired chase sequences, after matching them in the first half of the game, these chase sequences in the later half dont run as smooth and fall short of U2's benchmark.

The fact that i am comparing this to GoW3 and U2 means something. The game is fantastic, and is probably the best written/acted "serious" game this generation. I think U2 has better writing but U2 doesn't really tackle serious dramatic situations so it doesn't count. I would love to see a sequel to this game this gen. U2 was great because ND learned from U1, and I sincerely believe that Ninja Theory will learn from their minor mistakes in this game, improve their engine to make it run smoother, add a few more weapons and they will have a serious GOTY contender.

The first half of the game is phenomenal while the last half is just really good.

8.9.

I've got it on my Gamefly Q, so I should hopefully get it soon. I mostly liked Heavenly Sword....it was short and had flaws but it felt like Ninja Theory could keep improving and start making some really great games. So I'm definitely looking forward to Enslaved.

So i beat Enslaved today. The game lasted me a good 8-9 hours i think. So definitely not a short game. I am disappointed at there not being ANY extra content whatsoever. Just like Heavenly Sword the game is effectively over after you beat it. Having achivements is the only thing seperating it from a similarly shallow Heavenly Sword package.

I kinda fell out of love with this game 2/3rds of the way through. While i wasn't bored and was certainly kept interested through out the campaign, the last few chapters didn't do much to keep the gameplay fresh. Where as the first 6 to 7 chapters kept introducing you to new enemies, new weapons and abilities, the last half of the game just simply lets you play with the arsenal you've already required. That's not neccessarily bad but felt like a missed opportunity for me.

The setpieces especially didnt resonate with me after the first 6-7 chapters. While it's nice to have variety in locales, going from lush green enviorments to swamps and factories left me wanting more of the green/scenic envionrments. Story also suffers after the half way mark when it stops being about Monkey and Trip and starts to have a "plot". If you have seen a summer hollywood movie, you know exactly what i am talking about. A hollywood movie starts and spends the first third of the game setting up its characters then it forgets about those characters and then puts these characters through a rollocoster ride that ulitmately goes nowhere. It's not bad by any means and the acting and dialogue remains FLAWLESS through out, but it was disappointing to see Trip and Monkey hardly talk to each other after the half way mark. Did like the ending though, very impressive.

The framerate became a major issue for towards the end of the game. Okay, more of an annoyance than a gameplay issue. While the last level reminded me of GoW3 in it's sheer epicness, the smoothness just wasn't there. Same with other Uncharted 2 inspired chase sequences, after matching them in the first half of the game, these chase sequences in the later half dont run as smooth and fall short of U2's benchmark.

The fact that i am comparing this to GoW3 and U2 means something. The game is fantastic, and is probably the best written/acted "serious" game this generation. I think U2 has better writing but U2 doesn't really tackle serious dramatic situations so it doesn't count. I would love to see a sequel to this game this gen. U2 was great because ND learned from U1, and I sincerely believe that Ninja Theory will learn from their minor mistakes in this game, improve their engine to make it run smoother, add a few more weapons and they will have a serious GOTY contender.

The first half of the game is phenomenal while the last half is just really good.

8.9.

S0lidSnake

Thanks for your honesty. I think I'll wait for a pricecut.