Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

During many moments in Enslaved, it’s easy to forget that you are playing a game. The performances, story and art direction of the Ninja Theory's epic are among the best its generation had to offer.

Enslaved is a sci-fi retelling of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en, telling the story of two prisoners trying to find their way home. Between screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine) and actor Andy Serkis, who brought Gollum to life in the The Lord of the Rings films, there is some noteworthy Hollywood talent behind this title, and it shows. The exchanges between the game’s characters are alive and natural. They capture a nuance that has always been amiss in video game performances. The world feels equally inspired. Players climb and run through a post-apocalyptic United States full of bright green and red flora under a cool, blue sky.

Unfortunately, playing the game isn’t nearly as enticing as uncovering the secrets of the plot. Enslaved is a jack of all trades, but master of none. You sneak, shoot, fight, solve puzzles and climb stuff. All these elements are equally superficial and contrived in their execution. Nearly every battle and obstacle feels like filler in between memorable set pieces and cutscenes, but the game delivers when it counts. Enslaved opens with one of the most intense, awe-inspiring introductions in some time. You escape from an airborne prison ship, jumping across wings as the ship squeezes between weathered New York skyscrapers covered in weeds. It’s in these great moments of spectacle, when the tight leash of its gameplay goes unnoticed, that Enslaved succeeds.