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[Mdk7]

Beat it.
I was VERY impressed by the ending, it's a really cool twist to the story that makes you think.
Brilliant, really.

Spoiler

what i really hated was the use of real images. Ok, the contrast between the real world and the ideal/old one is even stronger like that, but it frankly seemed just a lame excuse to show Serkis.

 

[Amir0x]

Hm, this game is certainly one of contrasts. For every bad element, there is a good element. I'm not sure what outweighs the other yet... but I am certainly fascinated by how some of these things came together.

Fantastic art direction through and through, although the framerate is fucks with things from time to time. Nowhere near as catastrophic as Castlevania, thankfully.

 

[derFeef]

Hm, this game is certainly one of contrasts. For every bad element, there is a good element. I'm not sure what outweighs the other yet... but I am certainly fascinated by how some of these things came together.

Fantastic art direction through and through, although the framerate is fucks with things from time to time. Nowhere near as catastrophic as Castlevania, thankfully.

And I hope nowhere near as bad as Reach in some spots.
Good to hear you warm up with the game, makes me more excited for the weekend.

 

[nelsonroyale]

Now THAT is completely off base. The game world is anything but bland. It's been one of the most pleasant surprises in a long time in that regard.

I absolutely love the world presented in this game. It's one of the best worlds I've seen in a game this year.

What makes you think it's bland?


Why are you associating Enslaved with "hack'n'slash"? I suppose if you consider Beyond Good & Evil and ICO to be hack'n'slash titles as well, your post might make sense.

Okay, maybe that was inaccurate, I only played through the demo and think it was more a graphical issue than a visual design on...

Quite surprised that people are comparing this visually to U2 though...at least from the PS3 demo, on a technical level, it is not nearly as impressive as U2...on ps3 it was quite jaggy and had low res effects...as I said before my reaction might have been heightened because I have just finished GoW3

Actually, scratch my original opinion on the world design, I think it looks nice, although not as beautiful as what they created in HS...I suppose I am more disappointed with the engine they used...I believe that if they had more time with the HS engine, they could have produced more impressive visuals than this

 

[semiconscious]

Actually, scratch my original opinion on the world design, I think it looks nice, although not as beautiful as what they created in HS...I suppose I am more disappointed with the engine they used...I believe that if they had more time with the HS engine, they could have produced more impressive visuals than this

as much as i'm enjoying the game, i'm keep thinking the same thing. there's just something 'chunky' about the graphics. not a game-breaker, but it definitely detracts from things...

 

[dark10x]

I suppose an improvement on the HS engine would have been possible, but there was a lot of work to be done. It ran at a very poor framerate (similar to Castlevania, in fact). They would have had to address this while also porting to 360. The type of lighting used in HS (full precision HDR) is not easy to do on 360 either.

It also had lousy loading times. At least Enslaved uses a lot of realtime cutscenes, though they are not as elaborate as those in HS.

 

[semiconscious]

I suppose an improvement on the HS engine would have been possible, but there was a lot of work to be done. It ran at a very poor framerate (similar to Castlevania, in fact). They would have had to address this while also porting to 360. The type of lighting used in HS (full precision HDR) is not easy to do on 360 either.

It also had lousy loading times. At least Enslaved uses a lot of realtime cutscenes, though they are not as elaborate as those in HS.

yeah - not so much saying it could've been done, but that i think hs is the prettier of the 2 games in many ways...

 

[nelsonroyale]

I suppose an improvement on the HS engine would have been possible, but there was a lot of work to be done. It ran at a very poor framerate (similar to Castlevania, in fact). They would have had to address this while also porting to 360. The type of lighting used in HS (full precision HDR) is not easy to do on 360 either.

It also had lousy loading times. At least Enslaved uses a lot of realtime cutscenes, though they are not as elaborate as those in HS.

Enslaved on ps3 runs even worse than HS though... as a multi platform release I can totally understand why they went with UE3...as an early release HS was a showpiece...by all acounts this is a nice looking game, its just a pity it certainly isn't a showpiece title, as HS2 might have been... I am hoping Santa Monica do an HS sequel...now that could look insane

 

[archangelmorph]

I suppose an improvement on the HS engine would have been possible, but there was a lot of work to be done. It ran at a very poor framerate (similar to Castlevania, in fact). They would have had to address this while also porting to 360. The type of lighting used in HS (full precision HDR) is not easy to do on 360 either.

It also had lousy loading times. At least Enslaved uses a lot of realtime cutscenes, though they are not as elaborate as those in HS.

The lighting on HS was not full precision... They used a bespoke compression scheme (NAO32) to compress floating point HDR colour data into 32-bits..

You could achieve similar precision with something like FP10 for 360 albiet with higher memory/bandwidth usage...

 

[fortified_concept]

as much as i'm enjoying the game, i'm keep thinking the same thing. there's just something 'chunky' about the graphics. not a game-breaker, but it definitely detracts from things...

My opinion is that UE3 does its best to sabotage NT's wonderful art. You can see and recognize the disgusting traits of the engine even though NT are excellent in the graphics department. I can't wait for the day this horrible engine is dead.

 

[Axiom]

Didn't expect to be liking this as much as I am. It's rewarding me for giving it a chance in the same way Nier did, except by doing everything far far more competently than it ever did.

It's so very pretty being in these lush areas and the character acting especially is really drawing me in, and I enjoy this weird Gears/GodOfWar/Pop/Uncharted hybrid gameplay they have going on a whole lot.

I didn't expect that my Monkey Magic bias that led me to pre-order this over Castlevania would pay off so well.

 

[EXGN]

I'm just reading through this thread and it's funny how the posts are.

Post 1: THIS GAME IS GREAT
Post 2: WTF IS THE SHIT
Post3: Meh
Post 4: This is my GOTY
Post 5: Surprisingly good
Post 6: Anal Waste, don't play it.

I can't even get a grasp on if it's good or bad.

Downloading the demo now. I liked Heavenly Sword ( at least until Grey Fox....Fuck that guy), so i'll see where I fall.

I think a lot of it has to do with expectations. The game wasn't publicized very much, and then with the recent announcement of DmC, there was a lot of doubt toward Ninja Theory. People who thought it was just another garbage game from Namco have ended up pleasantly surprised, while those who read all the high praise have higher expectations get let down.

Additionally, because story is a subjective element, I think Enslaved's narrative has more influence over the wide swath of opinions.

 

[The Interrobanger]

I'm at the beginning of chapter 4 and I'm really not feeling this.

- Fighting with the camera 75% of the time
- Visuals are meh...I see what they're trying to achieve, but nothing has any impact due to the UE effect.
- Delay in movement/jumping. So bizarre.
- Combat is just so...boring and unsatisfying. I'm playing on hard and all the enemies take 8-10 hits. They offer no challenge other than being punching bags that take forever to take down.
- Story is super super thin thus far. Only thing other than "we need to get from point A to point B as a team" I've seen are the

Spoiler

"hallucinations"

which I'm sure will be fleshed out, but I want some more meat ASAP.
- Invisible walls, retarded "you can jump/drop down here, but not here" game logic.
- The whole scanning with dragonfly/stealth/combat room routine is so played out already...and that's 90% of the game so far.

 

[dark10x]

I'm at the beginning of chapter 4 and I'm really not feeling this.

- Fighting with the camera 75% of the time
- Visuals are meh...I see what they're trying to achieve, but nothing has any impact due to the UE effect.
- Delay in movement/jumping. So bizarre.
- Combat is just so...boring and unsatisfying. I'm playing on hard and all the enemies take 8-10 hits. They offer no challenge other than being punching bags that take forever to take down.
- Story is super super thin thus far. Only thing other than "we need to get from point A to point B as a team" I've seen are the

Spoiler

"hallucinations"

which I'm sure will be fleshed out, but I want some more meat ASAP.
- Invisible walls, retarded "you can jump/drop down here, but not here" game logic.
- The whole scanning with dragonfly/stealth/combat room routine is so played out already...and that's 90% of the game so far.

Well, it's definitely not for everyone.

 

[Prine]

Should have my copy waiting for me when i get home. Looking forward to it.

 

[jonnybryce]

Well, it's definitely not for everyone.

The controversy!

I'm up to chapter 9 I believe. The only time I've found the camera annoying is during battles where I'm surrounded by enemies and it can show odd angles trying to keep up with the action. I haven't noticed character delay.

The battles have gotten harder.

Spoiler

Especially in the last chapter I completed where it was so much damn fighting against so many damn enemies.

I have a habit of not evading or blocking effectively, if at all, which has lead to many a death.

Some of the bigger enemies aren't too much of a challenge though.

Spoiler

Like dogs. They look badass and T&R are so scared of them but they're the simplest kill. Shoot stun plasma, hit, shoot stun plasma, hit. Chase. Repeat. He never has a chance to hurt me.

I agree with the earlier poster; Enslaved fails to innovate on any level but it still comes together to be an enjoyable experience. I can definitely see why some people aren't impressed, but then I can see why its a solid 81 on Metacritic with a lot of impressed, refreshing and GOTY comments.

 

[SlasherJPC]

Finished it last night... yeah just going to say the ending had me say... WTF!? and definetly left me wanting more... (very much so like Beyond Good and Evil).

Overall, loved it. The game seems to get a bit clunkier towards the end though. I seemed to have more framerate problems towards the end.

Overall I'd personally rate it about a 8.5. Love the world Ninja Theory made, its just unfortunate that like many games, we probably will never see this world again due to no sequel being made. Least I have the DLC to look forward to.

 

[mjc]

The combat definitely works better with less amounts of enemies. Towards the end of the game when more enemies get thrown at you, the camera starts freaking out more and the combat itself doesn't flow nearly as well IMO.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

At Chapter 11 now... love everything about the game... but the Camera during battles? no no NO!!

It's one of the worse camera during battle in this generation... it gave me a nightmare at Chapter 6 Hard mode :\

anyway... I can't believe I was planning to skip this game, it has so much soul in it <3

can't wait till I reach the ending and see what all this talk is about

but seriously... good Job NT... Heavenly Sword than Enslaved, you are becoming one of my favorite developers... but you need to learn a little more about polishing your games so they can become an AAA titles .

 

[dark10x]

Overall, loved it. The game seems to get a bit clunkier towards the end though. I seemed to have more framerate problems towards the end.

Yeah, it definitely starts to chug a lot harder as you progress.

 

[SlasherJPC]

Yeah, it definitely starts to chug a lot harder as you progress.

Which is a shame, though the final level I highly enjoyed!

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

Yeah, it definitely starts to chug a lot harder as you progress.

Oh, so that wasn't just me. Pitty, because that really killed my 'buzz' for the game.

The game is excellent in it's first half though. Could have easily gained "9 out of 10" status. The second half of the game kills it though. The ending

Spoiler

did not change that for me at all.

 

[Mithos]

Just finished the game....

And WUT!!!!

Did they just pull that ending on me? LOVE IT!!!! AWESOME!!

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

at the start of the game, the imprecision in controls bugged the shit out of me.... i actually got used to it by the end and didn't mind it at all. but yeah the camera in battles sometimes is fucking atrocious.

 

[Gowans]

Just picked this up, looking forward to getting stuck into this tonight.

Just the type of game I want to play at the mo.

 

[jonnybryce]

Chapter 12, this puzzle is a mind fuck of confusion.

Spoiler

i dont even understand the goal, im finding routes by accident. let this 18 part train puzzle be over already please.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

Chapter 12, this puzzle is a mind fuck of confusion.

Spoiler

i dont even understand the goal, im finding routes by accident. let this 18 part train puzzle be over already please.

Dude, it's like, simple trail & error. :\

However, there is the part

Spoiler

where she point to the catwalk and you wouldn't how to reach it. Instead, you need to get on the train, reverse and get on the climbing section from the train in the back end.

 

[jonnybryce]

Dude, it's like, simple trail & error. :\

However, there is the part

Spoiler

where she point to the catwalk and you wouldn't how to reach it. Instead, you need to get on the train, reverse and get on the climbing section from the train in the back end.

I did it!

Spoiler

Just a little confusing so I did random shit instead of getting what had to happen. I turned one switch and then road the train to a dead end, tried to go to the other side but there was no climb route. Just ran around flicking switches and giving back,fwd commands and shit randomly, chapter end. The combat while Piggy hung was intense and fun chaos, much needed after that train shit.

edit: I forgot all about my Ninja Monkey dlc. Trying it out.
edit2: No I'm not, only active at completion of the game. Roar.

 

[Phthisis]

Please enlighten me. Cause to me, it just came out of no where and concluded nothing.

Yes, storywise it is a little convenient. But to me

Spoiler

it's much more of a commentary/critique on being controlled as a player of games (i.e., who is actually being enslaved here, me or Monkey? Or both?)

I could literally write like 3000 words on what I think about the ending, but I'll just keep it short and sum it up with: think about the ending not as the concluding plot of a game, but as Ninja Theory creating Enslaved as

Spoiler

a beautiful world far more vibrant and pleasant than real life could ever be.

There are some interesting thought processes around that idea, in my opinion, and what it says about a developer communicating with a player using only a game as the medium of that communication.

 

[Ninja Moomin]

i just got to the wasteland.... can't wait to see where the story goes.


this game, while not perfect, is enchanting on every level.

Beautiful.


thank you so much team ninja



also.... monkey, i would.... is that wrong?

 

[jonnybryce]

Can we be a bit more spoiler with our ending discussions? It's a fine line and the comments about what kind of ending it is/reactions/whatever should be covered up.

 

[derFeef]

Finished the first 3 chapters and really like it so far. Characters are really great and there were some interesting scenes alredy, love them.

There is something with the camera or movement that I do not like, but I am warming up on it. Maybe because I rarely play such kind of games, but its not a big issue.

 

[V_Arnold]

as much as i'm enjoying the game, i'm keep thinking the same thing. there's just something 'chunky' about the graphics. not a game-breaker, but it definitely detracts from things...

Only if you let it. Really, I think this "OMG, it uses Unreal 3" is WAAY overblown by now. The game looks gorgeous. Texture popups, slowdowns at here and there, and some glittering is the only problem - popups are only "bad" in scene changes, ofc.

I still do not get what the problem is with U3, Arkham Asylum, Mirrors Edge, Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey and of course Gears of War 2 all are gorgeous games in their own ways, with totally different colors and atmospheres. And now we can add the Enslaved to this list easily, HS or not HS.

 

[Ninja Moomin]

Only if you let it. Really, I think this "OMG, it uses Unreal 3" is WAAY overblown by now. The game looks gorgeous. Texture popups, slowdowns at here and there, and some glittering is the only problem - popups are only "bad" in scene changes, ofc.

I still do not get what the problem is with U3, Arkham Asylum, Mirrors Edge, Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey and of course Gears of War 2 all are gorgeous games in their own ways, with totally different colors and atmospheres. And now we can add the Enslaved to this list easily, HS or not HS.

i dunno.... i love how enslaved looks... buts there's no denying unreal 3 casts a shadow over the game somewhat.


i wouldn;t have said that earlier on.... but then i played some castlevania and the IQ is so much higher and the lighting so different to unreal that i couln't help but think what enslaved would looks like on a different engine.

not that i think it looks bad by any means.... it's fantastic looking.

 

[xxracerxx]

this game, while not perfect, is enchanting on every level.

Beautiful.


thank you so much team ninja

Ninja Theory, not Team Ninja.

 

[cjtiger300]

finished the game last night and the Ending was fantastic! Overall I would rate the game about a 8 out of 10. Just a very solid overall experience! Andy Serkis is the man, but I really felt like Trip stole the show on many occasions which is really impressive!

Honestly, I would say that her model is the best looking female in a game ever! She was simply gorgeous! Maybe that is my love of Redheads talking, but seriously they did a great job with here!!!!

 

[Urban Scholar]

I'm played to chapter six at this point. Thus far I'm satisfied by the game its an enjoyable adventure title so far. Something I've been looking for for sometime now.

 

[bubnbob]

garharrrrr the Rhino achievement for not being hit was frustrating. But finally did it.

 

[MrMephistoX]

Enslaved on ps3 runs even worse than HS though... as a multi platform release I can totally understand why they went with UE3...as an early release HS was a showpiece...by all acounts this is a nice looking game, its just a pity it certainly isn't a showpiece title, as HS2 might have been... I am hoping Santa Monica do an HS sequel...now that could look insane

The mo-cap work and facial expressions kind of make up for any graphical definiciencies in my book though. As far as a HS sequel I wouldn't be surprised to see one if this and DMC sell decently. Hell I enjoyed the demo so much (haven't played full retail yet) that I'm even willing to give Ninja Theory some more slack on Emo Dante.

 

[Ninja Moomin]

Ninja Theory, not Team Ninja.

lol.

i meant team ninja in the 'team X' sense.... but now realise my mistake in that. doh.

 

[bubnbob]

Ending question:

Spoiler

Who was that guy at the end? I mean, the actor.

 

[ezekial45]

Ending question:

Spoiler

Who was that guy at the end? I mean, the actor.

Spoiler

Andy Serkis. He also did the voice work and mo-cap for Monkey.

 

[jonnybryce]

I just beat it!

:'(

Last chapter:

Spoiler

That mech battle was EXHAUSTING. Went on longer than it should have imo, but it was a good final battle I suppose.

Ending:

Spoiler

First, cannot say I was expecting that at all. I'm not sure what I think, but I'm not disappointed. I'm not a huge fan of the human mix with CGI Enslaved does but that was one creepy/crazy/touching ending. I need it to marinate before I decide. It was definitely interesting and slightly emotional; with Trip ripping him apart.

edit: So after thinking about it...

Spoiler

I think it's a really great ending. It's a lot deeper than I expected and at first I thought it was contradictory - was this man simply crazy? Mechs are killing people, enslaving people, and he says it's for a better life? I could probably think about it for a while but I like how focus was lost - in his quest to bring peace, he's brought war and fear and he captures the people he gives a better life to as slaves. Then again, Monkey was enslaved by Trip and stayed that way willingly - so simply being enslaved doesn't mean you're not happy (in the game that is).

A corrupt paradise and king - destroying the real world to preserve the peaceful world of yesteryear...I like it a lot.

 

[Rated-Rsuperstar]

I'm up to chapter 5. It's a visually amazing game but it's still held back by the Unreal 3 engine.

 

[Brandon F]

Up to chapter 9 and my opinion has dipped overall. I'm enjoying it enough to finish, but thecombat still remains middling at best and I truly fear for dmc moreso now than when I first started. Camera woes all around, extremely clunky boss fights, and playing simultaneously with the amazing castlevania combat isn't helping matters.

Though it has some nice setpieces, nothing has stood out as well as chapter 1 in terms of quality. Visually if is one of the weaker efforts using the ue3 engine I would argue.

 

[cuyahoga]

This game is pretty misogynist, eh?

Spoiler

Even her final decision of disconnecting the orchestrator of Pyramid is portrayed in a questionable light.

 

[WrenchNinja]

This game is pretty misogynist, eh?

Spoiler

Even her final decision of disconnecting the orchestrator of Pyramid is portrayed in a questionable light.

That's because the decision is questionable. I'm not seeing how it's misogynistic. It would be questionable even if

Spoiler

Monkey did it or some guy

.

 

[cuyahoga]

That's because the decision is questionable. I'm not seeing how it's misogynistic. It would be questionable even if

Spoiler

Monkey did it or some guy

.

Spoiler

She's never portrayed as terribly competent and is typically reliant on Monkey to do anything successfully, and the ending is just consistent with that characterization.

 

[Adam J.]

Since my local Kmart failed to stock this game, I went ahead and rented it.

Played for a couple of hours and enjoyed it, despite a few quibbles. The gameplay is pretty crummy, for the most part. It'll get you through the story and isn't bad enough to get in the way of the wonderful characters and dialog. Didn't really bother me until I got to the first boss, which requires precise evasion--something that is a bit unfair to ask of in a game that has so much delay on inputs.

The graphics are nice, and I haven't noticed any of the usual trappings of Unreal yet. Overall the art direction is cool, but I hate all the propaganda posters/graffiti that is scattered everywhere. Does every western game have to include this? I'm really going to be pissed if I start finding audio logs...

It's a very charming game and it's apparent that there's some talent at Ninja Theory. Looking forward to spending more time with it.

 

[surly]

Spoiler

She's never portrayed as terribly competent and is typically reliant on Monkey to do anything successfully, and the ending is just consistent with that characterization.

Spoiler

I didn't really get that feeling. It's more like she's the brains and he's the muscle. She hacks into computers, she hacks doors open, she modded that mech dragonfly so it could be used to scope out areas and so on.