Enslaved [PS3/360]

[spagmasterswift]

This one has totally flown under my radar - is it Monkey as in *sings* "Monkey Magic, Phunky Magic, Monkey Magic, Monkey Magic Coooool" that old TV show? Does he talk the same too? This sounds amazing, throw in a modern Platinum Games style combat system and how could it fail? Does he have a pink cloud? Is Pigsy in it?

[Neon Ignition]

Decent reviews have started coming in. I'm generally quite looking forward to this Friday now, not doing much this weekend so might as well pick C:LOS up too. I love that some peeps/sites are starting to bill the two as going head to head when they aren't even in competition and aren't even similar games.

[Charlie]

I'm guilty of comparing this with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow too, primarily because I only ever buy one game at a time and tend to rinse it before moving onto/buying the next, but also because they're both third person adventures.

[Robster]

Loved the demo on 360, looking at picking this up. Previsou comment about nicking parts form other games is spot on and in a kind of way similar to Darksiders in that respect.

[teddymeow]

Is it worth changing this to the thread for the full game once it comes out Friday? If so, I'll post my impressions of the full PS3 game here.

The demo is the very beginning of the game and, as I said previously, it starts a bit "wonky" with the insides of the airship looking "over-textured" and a bit too busy. Once you get outside, though, things improve dramatically and there are some stunning looking vistas.

If you've played the demo then you'll know if the combat and setting are for you. What the demo doesn't give any indication of is the interplay between Trip and your character, Monkey. It's cool to be facing a turret which will rip you to pieces in seconds if you're not careful and getting Trip to distract it while you clamber up another section of the level to get closer to it / get past it. You can also distract the turret by shouting to let Trip get to cover. The to and fro so that you both survive is really cool.

Trip is a bit of a techno whizz and cooks up some cool items to help you get past minefields and the, pretty evil looking, mechs that roam the landscape.

My only gripes so far are that very occasionally Monkey refuses to jump off of ledges to the ground below which can frustrate and, possibly due to the Unreal Engine (why Ninja Theory didn't use their Heavenly Sword engine), the tearing that accompanies the panning shots that introduce new areas.

So far, I'd agree with the positive reviews that I've seen. Hopefully it'll attract enough people but I fear that there's a danger it'll get missed among the upcoming Christmas rush.

[EvilBoris]

I thought the demo was a mixed bag, the animation ranged from outstanding to godawful and I didn't find it very comfortable controlling the character.

The ship interior visuals were a mixed bag too, sometimes looking beautiful and other times looking uninspired and super plain.

I liked the setting and the look of the story, makes me wish hollywood made more fantasy films.

[Eight Rooks]

I'm pretty sure Sony own everything (IP, tech, the lot) to do with Heavenly Sword - Tameem Antoniades has talked about that in interviews.

[teddymeow]

I'm pretty sure Sony own everything (IP, tech, the lot) to do with Heavenly Sword - Tameem Antoniades has talked about that in interviews.

I thought the engine was Team Ninja's? He used to have a column in Edge talking about how they had great tech and no-one wanted to publish HS.

Maybe it was part of the deal?

[SuperBeatBoy]

Enslaved uses unreal 3. I always thought they wanted to use their own tech too. But maybe because it's multiplatform they went this route instead. They originally wanted make feature film using unreal 3.... Nutters.

[teddymeow]

This just keeps getting better and better! I think I'm about 50% through it now.

Stunning vistas, boss fights that aren't annoying, cutscenes that are just the right length and some assured and confident platforming sections coupled with fun and, slightly, tactical combat.

It's like playing Uncharted 2 in a Asian mythology / US fusion setting!!

Absolute gold, this is!!

EDIT: When the poll goes up this is totally a 9.

[Arashikage]

It's like playing Uncharted 2 in a Asian mythology / US fusion setting!!

I'm sold. That's all I needed to know

[SuperBeatBoy]

It plays nothing like uncharted in terms of combat. But what makes them almost identical is the scripted setpieces you come across. In terms of platforming/combat it plays more like Prince of Persia (2008).

[teddymeow]

I find it more like Uncharted in terms of the scaling buildings via rails and handholds. There's no PoP style wall running or anything like that.

Played on after my post last night and

->Open Spoiler<-

it's getting a bit trippy

.

[Charlie]

Played on after my post last night and

->Open Spoiler<-

it's getting a bit trippy

.

That's always a good thing.

[ShadowDancer]

The Demo(PS3) froze on me twice...anyone else had this? I'm begining to think it might be my PS3...