Game of the Year Awards 2010 Day 2

Coming in at 9 in my Game of the Year Awards 2010 is the diamond in the rough from Ninja Theory Enslaved.

Enslaved (PS3, 360):

To be really honest Enslaved never entered in my most anticipated games of 2010. I just watched the first trailer which came out back then only out of curiosity and dismissed it as a run of the mill action game forgetting Ninja Theory's previous title, Heavenly Sword. Even when the demo came out I did not download and on top of that I had heard my friend really disliking the demo which justified my lack of interest in the game. Just imagine my shock when most of the top video games sites where praising the game's plot and the characters. As I started to comb each and every written and video reviews (Thank God for Metacritics and Gamerankings) it become abundantly clear that Enslaved was a game which was worth my time.

What got my attention in the early sections of the game was the realistic symbiotic relationship of the main character Monkey and the 'damsel in distress' Trip. There was almost a Hollywood like quality of how the relationship was being treated by the developers. Sure Enslaved isn't the first game which has such a setup, games like ICO instantly comes to mind. But the motion capture and the acting really took the game to an amazing high. Andy Serkis, Lindsey Shaw and Richard Ridings really took a liking to their virtual counterparts and gave wonderful performances.

Hell even the game play was really solid but without really setting the world on fire. The action and platforming game play in Enslaved did come off as 'being there done that' but still what ever was presented was pretty neat. The world of Enslaved was also a star as most of post apocalyptic setting are usually bleak and desolate. Here the game world was bursting from its seam with color and hence made the exploring new areas a joy. But Enslaved would had placed much higher on my list if it weren't for inept ending which left me really frustrated. Without ruining the ending I will just like say that Ninja Theory could had ended the game on an epic note like they did with Heavenly Sword but in my opinion they did not.

Anyways Enslaved was a really good game as there were many points in the adventure which were really memorable and the relationship of the characters was done in a very believable fashion. Hence I cant wait to see what sort of game Ninja Theory comes out with.

Come back for more tomorrow as I make my way to number 8 on my Game of the Year Awards 2010.

Enslaved by Enslaved...

So yesterday I started Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, a game which was virtually shunned by a lot of people due to its demo, but has managed to garner some high marks on sites like Gamespot and IGN. Not having played the demo I relied solely on game reviews and boy this game has just knocked my blocks off. The game is frigging fantastic!

The story of Enslaved revolves around the meek and fragile Trip and her captive hulk of a man, Monkey and their journey across a perilous wasteland. The game's plot has been inspired by a 400 year old Chinese novel filled with Monkey Gods, divine princess, demons, mythical beasts and such called Journey to the West, but the game has put its own spin on things, making the world a post-apocalyptic wasteland. That in it self had got my interest piqued. Oh by the way this isnt the first time the classic novel has been used as inspirtation in games as one look on the wikipedia might attest too.

So anyways yesterday after booting up the game, I have not been able to put the game down. 5 hours in the game, the pacing and the tense situations are top notch. But by far till now the best aspect of the game is the symbiotic relationship of Trip and Monkey due to the fact as Trip is the weak character and its up Monkey to do all the heavy lifting and fighting as the pair struggle for survival. The way both the characters interact in the face adversity is quite splendid, as many a times the captor has to be the one to be saved by the captive and this opens up some great exposition between the two.

The more I play the game, the more I am reminded by a couple of games which has the same symbiotic theme between two characters. One being 2008's Prince of Persia and other being ICO. Enslaved too has the same set up but still ends up holding it own identity and that in itself is an achievement.

The end of the game is quite far away but the amount of work Ninja Theory has put in the game is really awesome and for me they are the up and coming development house esp after creating the epic Heavenly Sword and now Enslaved. Hence this makes for interesting times as Ninja Theory is handling the reboot of Devil May Cry and it may well be really good as well, emo Dante and all.