This game has become my new favourite to watch, but unfortunately it is not charming my boyfriend as much in playing it.
It's got nice graphics and cartoonish action. Unlike the handsome and dashing main character from Drake's Fortune, the action hero of Enslaved is a hulk-like cranky-pants called Monkey whose sprightly nimble antics defy the limits of physics implied by his size. His companion and enslaver is a cute skin-flauting chick who calmly orders Monkey around.
I like this game perhaps because it has a nice story line and the settings and scenery are pleasant to watch. It's designed to be easy so the paths and puzzles are not mentally strenuous but necessitate Monkey bounding around the place like a, well, monkey.
The game sports the necessary amount of action and fighting, mostly at close quarters, but also with opportunities to shoot a few big guns.
The Monkey Magic analogy also gives the game charm. People with fond memories of the Japanese TV show will quickly realise that the game is based closely on the original Chinese legend of Monkey and his unlikely band of misfits. The enslaved Monkey even fights with a staff and has a magic 'cloud'. But the analogy quickly loses momentum. Trip doesn't exactly invoke the image of a young, pure and exasperated monk and the original Monkey was arrogant, mischievous and crafty whereas the Enslaved version of Monkey is a brooding, reluctant loner. Both Monkey's do go through the difficult transition from enjoying personal freedom to accepting and preferring the responsibilities and rewards of friendship. But initially they act like unwilling victims of a relationship with a person on a determined and frivilous mission. The Monkey analogy is furthered by the addition to the team of Pigsy, an obese cyber-enhanced, bomb toting, sleaze. Pigsy hits on Trip, which is pretty creepy, since Trip's initial introduction to him is as a friend of her fathers that she hasn't seen since she was kid. But I think this angle of the story is simply to give a little substance to the suggestion of a growing bond between Trip and Monkey. Thankfully the relationship doesn't materialise because that would be a bit like a romance between a gorilla and a monkey.
Although I really enjoy watching this game, my boyfriend isn't often in the mood to play it. This is mostly because when Monkey occasionally dies he has had to replay a fairly long section. Because Monkey has to collect 'orbs' from all over the damn place the game is lengthened by the amount of time spent exploring every walkable inch of the game world.
I just like following the action and keeping one step ahead with an online walkthrough to make sure that all the masks are found and that I can be all-knowing when my boyfriend gets stuck and isn't sure which way to go.
The game has a surprising ending. Collecting the last mask was a disappointment because nothing happened, but the ending revealed the point of including them in the game.
My biggest objection to this game, as a spectator of course, is that there just isn't enough tricky mystery. Aside from the masks there isn't much that a player would miss on their first run through the game. It's extremely straightforward and easy, as and such I found I couldn't participate with a walkthrough as much as I would have liked.
But, hey, I guess they didn't design the game with girlfriend spectators in mind.
It's got nice graphics and cartoonish action. Unlike the handsome and dashing main character from Drake's Fortune, the action hero of Enslaved is a hulk-like cranky-pants called Monkey whose sprightly nimble antics defy the limits of physics implied by his size. His companion and enslaver is a cute skin-flauting chick who calmly orders Monkey around.
I like this game perhaps because it has a nice story line and the settings and scenery are pleasant to watch. It's designed to be easy so the paths and puzzles are not mentally strenuous but necessitate Monkey bounding around the place like a, well, monkey.
The game sports the necessary amount of action and fighting, mostly at close quarters, but also with opportunities to shoot a few big guns.
The Monkey Magic analogy also gives the game charm. People with fond memories of the Japanese TV show will quickly realise that the game is based closely on the original Chinese legend of Monkey and his unlikely band of misfits. The enslaved Monkey even fights with a staff and has a magic 'cloud'. But the analogy quickly loses momentum. Trip doesn't exactly invoke the image of a young, pure and exasperated monk and the original Monkey was arrogant, mischievous and crafty whereas the Enslaved version of Monkey is a brooding, reluctant loner. Both Monkey's do go through the difficult transition from enjoying personal freedom to accepting and preferring the responsibilities and rewards of friendship. But initially they act like unwilling victims of a relationship with a person on a determined and frivilous mission. The Monkey analogy is furthered by the addition to the team of Pigsy, an obese cyber-enhanced, bomb toting, sleaze. Pigsy hits on Trip, which is pretty creepy, since Trip's initial introduction to him is as a friend of her fathers that she hasn't seen since she was kid. But I think this angle of the story is simply to give a little substance to the suggestion of a growing bond between Trip and Monkey. Thankfully the relationship doesn't materialise because that would be a bit like a romance between a gorilla and a monkey.
Although I really enjoy watching this game, my boyfriend isn't often in the mood to play it. This is mostly because when Monkey occasionally dies he has had to replay a fairly long section. Because Monkey has to collect 'orbs' from all over the damn place the game is lengthened by the amount of time spent exploring every walkable inch of the game world.
I just like following the action and keeping one step ahead with an online walkthrough to make sure that all the masks are found and that I can be all-knowing when my boyfriend gets stuck and isn't sure which way to go.
The game has a surprising ending. Collecting the last mask was a disappointment because nothing happened, but the ending revealed the point of including them in the game.
My biggest objection to this game, as a spectator of course, is that there just isn't enough tricky mystery. Aside from the masks there isn't much that a player would miss on their first run through the game. It's extremely straightforward and easy, as and such I found I couldn't participate with a walkthrough as much as I would have liked.
But, hey, I guess they didn't design the game with girlfriend spectators in mind.
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