Coming in 10th place in our Top Ten of 2010 is the gorgeous and completely memorable Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. To us, this underrated hidden gem was well worth knowing hardly anything about until it was released, because otherwise we would have been far too eager to play it for a long, long time.
Matt:
I was gutted when Enslaved came to an end. I wasn’t ready to leave its beautiful, desolate yet vibrant post-apocalyptic world. Monkey and Trip proved to be one of my favourite gaming duo’s, and their story was both engaging and entertainingly told. A superb performance from Andy Serkis who donned his motion-capture suit once again and provided the voice for Monkey meant the game’s character animation and voice acting were among the best of the year’s offerings.
Sandwiched between the game’s explosive opening level and the climatic final battle is a really memorable journey, and it deserves its place as one of the best games of the year. It’s plummeted in price since it came out, so go download the demo, be blown away, then buy it. Yes.
Monkey and Trip - One of the most likeable and visually stunning video game duos ever
Paul:
This was one stunning game, specifically in terms of visuals and concept, and I had a total blast playing from start to finish. Many people have commented on it being quite a samey experience from start to finish, and I’m inclined to agree with it, if only partially… The combat in Enslaved was very engaging, but it definitely had an air of repetition about it. There wasn’t a great deal of variety in the kinds of enemies you had to fight – robots, robots, and more robots – but there was certainly a good enough variety in the kinds of fighting you had to do to take them all down. Also, if you actually take the decision to upgrade Monkey’s combat techniques, you will find yourself using a wider range of attack moves and take-downs against your enemies. I can see why people could find it repetitive, but it all comes down to the perception and attitude of the individuals playing the game.
There really is a lot of fun to be had with Enslaved, and if you can appreciate just how much effort has been put into the 12 chapters of design, story, characters, visuals, and animation, then you should find yourself having a great time with a game that isn’t too difficult, but offers a great deal of entertainment, and hopefully keeps you coming back for more.
I recently played through Cult of the Lamb, a satirical take on the concept of running a demonic cult. It turns horrific things like sacrificial rituals, cannibalism and straight up gaslighting abuse into hilarious amusements by filtering everything through its cartoonish lens. You are a sheep, after all, and all your followers are sycophantic anthropomorphic […]
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I’ve been pretty absent from PC gaming for some time, since moving to Canada in early 2017, because I haven’t had a proper computer to play games on. That has recently changed, since I got myself set up with a new gaming rig that can handle pretty much anything that’s out at the moment. I […]
I recently played through Cult of the Lamb, a satirical take on the concept of running a demonic cult. It turns horrific things like sacrificial rituals, cannibalism and straight up gaslighting abuse into hilarious amusements by filtering everything through its cartoonish lens. You are a sheep, after all, and all your followers are sycophantic anthropomorphic […]
I don’t get on with the Souls games at all, but I really wish that I did. For me, the combat was just a little too clunky and, oh, you know, fucking difficult.
Format: Sega Mega Drive
Year: 1992
Another rare game in my long list of memories that include my brother, Sam, is Streets of Rage 2. It was the best in a trilogy of side scrolling beat-em-ups on the Sega Mega Drive. (Genesis in America). We would always play as the same 2 characters: I was Axel, and my brother would be Skate. He loved the agility and bombastic acrobatics that the tiny skater dude could pull off. Many of the boss fights would end with Sam leaping onto their necks and pummelling them in the back of the head. I liked Axel’s swinging flaming punch, and his multi-hit special combo. It’s a simple but satisfying game built around stylised hand to hand violence.
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