Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

[Lukehi]

I'm getting pretty hyped for this and am thinking about acquiring it.

me too, the video on the dashboard was good too

[GamerMan316]

Enslaved writer was 'sick' of PS3
Alex Garland only played Heavenly Sword after meeting Ninja Theory

Alex Garland, writer of The Beach, 28 Days Later and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, admits to originally missing out on Heavenly Sword - after becoming "f***ing sick" of his PS3.

Garland has revealed that when he first met Tameem Antoniades - the boss of Heavenly Sword and Enslaved dev Ninja Theory - he owned both PS3 and Xbox 360, but he had largely discarded Sony's console.

"Well, typically in interviews, what one does is kind of lie about certain things, so I'll try to avoid doing that, he told Edge. "I had not played Heavenly Sword at the moment I met Tameem, then I went and bought it. The reason I hadn't played it is because I'd bought a PlayStation 3 along with an Xbox 360, and by the time I met Tameem I'd already stopped playing on the PlayStation 3 because I was so f*cking sick of it."

He added: "There weren't any original games that really blew me away. I was really into Xbox Live; I was much more into playing Call Of Duty 4 on Xbox Live. So Xbox really had its claws into me, and I just never bought Heavenly Sword."

However, after meeting with Ninja Theory Garland took the time to play Heavenly Sword - and was impressed enough that he signed on with the studio to write Enslaved.

Edge recently reviewed Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and awarded Ninja Theory's latest an 8/10 score - as well as notable praise.

[Jaynestown]

I know I shouldn't have, 'cos I haven't actually got the money, but I bought this today (on my credit card). I've played the first 3 chapters and it's really good, it looks really nice and the controls are quite easy to understand. My only complaint so far is the camera angles are a bit confusing at times.

[Lukehi]

nice one JT...cant decide wether to get this or DR2 when I get paid on the 15th.

be sure to post your overall impressions once you get further into the game.

[Jaynestown]

Will do Luke, I'm playing both this and DR2 (which I've almost finished my first playthrough of) so I can give you my thoughts on both

[Lukehi]

nice one JT...

[GamerMan316]

Eurogamer Review

[nCogNeato]

In case no one is following the 1000G thread ...

I put down Fable III and Spiderman to play Enslaved.  I could probably 100% Enslaved, but not sure if it's worth my time when there are so many other games piling up on me.

Is it amazing, i sooooo wanna play it!!

It's very good, but has flaws.  I think reviewers have been unfairly harsh because it fall short of expectations.  It's sort of like Prince of Persia for dummies.  I heard it was really easy, so I played it on Hard (stackable achievements) and really enjoyed it.  I think Hard is just right.  I've been sweeping up achievements on Easy and it is stupidly easy.

It is very reminiscent of Beyond Good & Evil, perhaps intentionally.  The characters and humor are perfect.  The story is pretty good, minus the craptastic ending.  The gameplay is mediocre but acceptable.  It would have made a better movie than game.

If nothing else, at least play through it for the great little subtle humor that is rare to find in videogames.  The game is full of great little candid moments like ...

(There are funnier ones but I can't find them on Youtube)

[Lukehi]

looking forward to this...once I've finished AC2 and 3 i'll pick it up.

[sambo]

Enslaved: Odyssey To The West, Ninja Theory's re-imagining of the ancient Chinese story, Journey To The West, has reportedly sold fewer than 500,000 units worldwide since launch. Despite a respectable marketing effort from publisher Namco Bandai.

Generally, retail games are considered to have been successful if they break the million unit threshold, so it's heartbreaking to see that Enslaved has fallen so far short. Namco Bandai's financial report states the game sold around 460,000 units.

Enslaved ends on a pretty interesting cliffhanger, so it's sad to think that we may never see a continuation of the story. You never know, maybe Namco Bandai will recognise the quality of the original and stick with the franchise despite lacklustre sales

[Legion]

I hope not. Enslave ended well enough. They answered the important questions and I'm more than content to let my imagination fill in any blanks.

[GamerMan316]

More on Enslaved's poor sales

Enslaved Couldn't Beat Heavenly Sword Despite Having a Multiplatform Audience

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West was the second game from Ninja Theory. Its first game, Heavenly Sword, was a launch title for the PS3, and performed well on the sales front. Ninja Theory decided that in order to accrue more sales, it would need to make Enslaved  multiplatform. However, the wider audience didn't do much.

Today, Namco-Bandai released that Enslaved: Odyssey to the West has sold 460,000 in the time between the game's release and December 31, 2010. According to VG Chartz, Enslaved sold 138,000 copies during its first 10 weeks on the PS3. By comparison, Heavenly Sword sold 533,000 copies during its first 10 weeks, and 1.4 million in total sales. Lee Kirton, director of Namco-Bandai had this so say about the sales:

    It didn't perform as well as we hoped it would, but we're very proud of how it was received by both the media and the gamers who have experienced it. I can't discuss where we are in terms of a sequel, but we're looking at reviews and feedback from the press and because of the gameplay and quality that Enslaved delivered, we see it as a great catalogue title going forward.

It is good to know that Namco-Bandai is taking review scores into account when deciding on whether they will make a sequel. Gamers always appreciate it when publishers take the quality of a game into account and not just sales, which usually turn out to be a popularity contest about older IPs.

[nCogNeato]

It is good to know that Namco-Bandai is taking review scores into account when deciding on whether they will make a sequel. Gamers always appreciate it when publishers take the quality of a game into account and not just sales, which usually turn out to be a popularity contest about older IPs.

Agreed.  If more publishers took critic reception in account, we would probably already have Beyond Good & Evil 2 and Psychonauts 2.  

[Failed]

I bought Enslaved, it's what i wanted for xmas and it's what i got!

I will also be buying Deadly Premonition and EDF4 ensuring developers gets my moneyz and make more games of superior qualities.

[citatscEellE]

i hope there isnt a Enslaved 2, theres literally no need for it.
Enslaved was good, some parts were kinda funny. The storyline was amazing. Character dialogue was impressive.
Only thing(s) was that it kinda helped you too much. Like where to jump/grasp/swing etc. would be highlighted, and i just feel like i want SOME independance. I mean like falling to my death 1023890 times ill eventually figure out where to jump to.... (but then again im a lazy gamer so maybe it was for the best..) The camera angles were like bleh. sometimes in all the wrong places.. Also i felt confined. like the scenery was SOOO pretty, i just wish i couldve explored it :< sheesh i mean i CAN take tripp with me, i can carry her..
Enslaved is one of those games that you play when theres nothing else to do and you DONT want to feel like you wasted your time playing it when youre done.
just how i feel :/