One of my favorite games so far at E3 would have to be Namco’s Enslaved, being developed by Ninja Theory. Back in 07, Ninja Theory did a great job with Heavenly Sword, and this is their first new game since then. If the E3 demo is anything to go by, this will be an outstanding game.
So Enslaved is set 150 years into the future, on Earth. Mechs have enslaved humanity, but one saavy human, Tripp, has managed to set herself free. The only problem is, while technologically astute, she isn’t a warrior, so she doesn’t stand a chance to survive. To help save herself, she manages to take control of one of the human slaves named Monkey. A brute, Monkey isn’t happy that he has been enslaved and must help Tripp survive.
The E3 demo doesn’t show these details, but they were explained to me by a rep. The playable demo starts after the prison ship carrying both Tripp and Monkey crashes. Tripp forces Monkey to lead them both to survival. The relationship between Tripp and Monkey will be a very interesting point to the story because Monkey doesn’t like Tripp for what she has done to him. I would expect this relationship to change as the game goes on, but you can tell from the dialogue and the detailed facial animations that its not off to a good start.
With two characters, you might expect the ability to control both characters, something like Heavenly Sword had with that weird, crossbow wielding character, for example. However, in Enslaved, the player controls Monkey, but can use Tripp’s abilities to help him keep them both alive. You can also control where Tripp goes, and Monkey can even toss her on his back to help get her to places she couldn’t otherwise go, or with more speed than she could have done alone. In one case in the demo, Monkey throws Tripp up so that she can unlock a ladder for Monkey to use.
Moving Tripp is sometimes key to a combat sequence so that you can better use her abilities, like a decoy. This rechargeable ability, executed by pressing LB and moving left on the left stick, has Tripp emitting a holographic image that will distract any mechs in the area. The hologram doesn’t last long, but in the demo it was just enough time to allow Monkey to reposition so that he could flank the gun wielding mechs. Tripp can also use an EMP that temporarily disables some of the weaker mechs for a short period of time.
At the relatively early point in the game the demo takes place, Monkey can only utilize melee attacks, but I was told that he would later have ranged attacks, too. For melee, Monkey uses a staff that reminded me a lot of Kilik’s staff from another Namco game, Soul Calibur. Monkey has light (fast) and strong (slow) attacks that make for some powerful and great looking combos. Finishing enemies off certain ways can sometimes seamlessly put you into an animation which focuses the camera on Monkey as he puts on the finishing blow.
One collectible was revealed in the demo too. Floating orange orbs give you points to further upgrade different abilities.
I think this one will be a big winner for Namco — stay tuned over the next several months as we continue to cover this game.
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