Enslaved: Odyssey To The West

[Renegade_Turner]

Just played the XBox 360 demo for Enslaved: Odyssey To The West and it looks f'ing awesome. Really strange art direction. The first chapter of the game is pretty epic looking. Can't wait to see how it does when it comes out.

[Zhukov]

I've heard some vaguely interesting things about that game.

Sadly, I've also heard that it isn't coming out for PC, which puts it beyond my reach.

Oh well, hopefully it turns out good.

[Renegade_Turner]

Yeah only on XBox 360 and PS3.

I honestly only heard about it just yesterday. Apparently it's the same development company that made Heavenly Sword, which was apparently awful, so hopefully it's better. It certainly looks better.

One gripe, however. The climbing and platforming system is far too easy. There's always only one way to go, it requires no precision, your jumps from one handhold to the next are pretty much made for you. I suppose every game can't be Assassin's Creed, but it's set a standard for games which involve climbing and sadly from what I've seen in the demo Enslaved falls horribly short. However, it was only the first level, and I imagine the first level was more of a tutorial disguised as a cinematic spectacle, so maybe there'll be more challenging climbs in later levels. Here's hoping there is.

[zoidberg rules]

Whatever happened to Mirror's Edge 2?

[Renegade_Turner]

...I don't know? What does that have to do with anything?

[zoidberg rules]

You mentioned something about the climbing system in the game not being that good, then you said that AC set the benchmark for free running in a game...

[Renegade_Turner]

Well, what would I do, compare a third-person action game to another third-person action game, or one third-person action game to a first-person action game that had altogether different mechanics and was also quite underwhelming and poorly reviewed. Mirror's Edge hasn't had anyone try to copy it, Assassin's Creed has had a number of titles already try to mimic it. The Saboteur? I'd consider Assassin's Creed a much stronger benchmark for free-running gameplay.

Anyway, I never said free-running. I said climbing. There's not really any climbing buildings in Mirror's Edge, except up pipes and so on.

[Ragdollmaster]

Yeah, and Mirror's Edge 2 is being developed by DICE, not Namco, silly. What does it have to do with anything?

Anyways, cool. I'll have to peruse the PSN store and see if there's a demo available for this. Looks a bit like God Of War meets the future in terms of basic gameplay, although the aesthetics are totally different.

[Untadaike]

In that video, are all the movements and grapples actually combat elements? Cause that would be freakin sweet.

[Zhukov]

In that video, are all the movements and grapples actually combat elements?

Not quite. More like the finishing moves from God of War.

[TadMod]

On Topic:

Whilst the game looks okay (doesn't look that spectacular), I don't like what it claims to be derived from. As a HUGE fan of Journey to the West, I grind my teeth when I hear that this is an "appropriation" of it.

I pray that this appropriation turns out closer to "O Brother Where art though" rather than "Clueless".

Still, this is only after watching gameplay videos, hopefully they prove me wrong...

[Renegade_Turner]

I've played it. It's pretty intense stuff.

And O Brother Where Art Thou was a great adaptation and Clueless wasn't that bad. I thought it was funny at times.

It's normal for a fanboy to be defensive of what he sees as sacred or whatever. Same with all the Watchmen nerds when they made the film. I'm reading Watchmen now, it's quite good, but I haven't seen the film yet.

[TadMod]

I've played it. It's pretty intense stuff.

And O Brother Where Art Thou was a great adaptation and Clueless wasn't that bad. I thought it was funny at times.

It's normal for a fanboy to be defensive of what he sees as sacred or whatever. Same with all the Watchmen nerds when they made the film. I'm reading Watchmen now, it's quite good, but I haven't seen the film yet.

I'll admit to being a fanboy, but honestly, I can't see any way in which this game is going to be on the "O Brother Where Art though" end of the spectrum... It just seems to turn a good story into a cliched one...

I'll reserve my judgement until it gets released.

[Renegade_Turner]

Take the game on its own merits, not on its source material.

[Grayswandir]

The Enslaved demo was pretty fun, I loved the set pieces and the design of the architecture and characters. Although, I ended up buying Castlevania: Lord of Shadows first. What can I say, artbooks and soundtracks tempt me. I'll get to Enslaved, it looks awesome.