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First Impressions: Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
The concept of Ninja Theory's Enslaved: Odyssey to the West has been turning heads ever since it was announced: it's an action-adventure game based on an old Chinese folktale. The tale tells of a monkey and a sage tasked with finding wisdom in the course of their journey. The game updates that story to a woman and a brute, Trip and Monkey, wandering a post-apocalyptic New York. The twist: the player-controlled Monkey is under the influence of a slaver's headband, re-appropriated by the clever Trip. While Enslaved's platforming and action definitely seem serviceable, the game's real depth comes from its characters and story. Not only is its world full of beauty and spectacle, but there's a solid literary foundation underneath. %Gallery-91853%
Our Enslaved: Odyssey to the West trailer is your trailer
The most recent episode of GameTrailers TV brought with it the first moving pictures associated with Ninja Theory's upcoming Chinese fable-turned-video game, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. Our initial thoughts on the trailer is that it loses a significant amount of points for sheer bossiness ("My something is your something," the video frequently informs us), but regains said points for the protagonist's creative methods of ladder navigation. Update: Trailer embedded above.
Released: New shots of Ninja Theory's Enslaved
Click to free this screen from its 580-pixel-wide constraints Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you the latest batch of screenshots from Enslaved, developed by Heavenly Sword's Ninja Theory. The year is far from over, but we're already donning the game with an award (albeit a made-up one) for "Most Copious Use of Post-Processing 2010" because we can't fathom another game having more of the stuff. Don't take this as a slight against the game by any means -- we think the post-apocalyptic retelling of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West looks just super. Plus, this round of shots seems to include a few that look like actual gameplay, which is always, y'know, good -- with or without fancy-schmancy shader effects. %Gallery-91853%
Ninja Theory co-founder explains studio's move to multiplatform development
With the release of Heavenly Sword, Ninja Theory had seemingly established itself as a high-profile, PS3-exclusive developer. However, the studio's next game, Enslaved, a gritty action version of the same classical Chinese story Journey to the West from which Dragon Ball originates, is going to be multiplatform. "Heavenly Sword came out pretty early on the PS3," Ninja Theory co-founder Tameem Antoniades explained to CVG, "and we sold, I think, a million and a half copies, and that's still not enough as an independent studio to break even. The publisher potentially breaks even at that point, but the developers don't. It's just that when so many people have Xbox -- I mean over half the market or more has Xbox 360s -- why limit yourself to one platform?" Without a clearly dominant platform like the PlayStation 1 or 2, he said, it's difficult to profit from console-exclusive games. "I think people are going to hold off for a long time before getting on to the next generation," Antoniades added. "I think everyone's licking their wounds and releasing new games to try and keep this current generation going. I'm hoping it doesn't come too soon either because we want to make at least a couple more games in this generation." Squeezing in a few more current-gen releases sounds like a good plan -- it'd be tough to be totally broke and have to start developing on new hardware again.
Ninja Theory's 'Enslaved' promises a mix of brains and brawn
It's been a while since we last heard about Enslaved, the brand new IP coming from Heavenly Sword developer Ninja Theory and partner Namco Bandai, but IGN has broken the silence with a preview. The game sounds intriguing: Players control an Andy Serkis-modeled brawler named Monkey, who's neurologically tied to a techno-chick named Trip as they roam from a New York 150 years from now and out into a post-apocalyptic America. The game is actually based on an old Chinese tale named Journey to the West, in which a sage and a powerful monkey go on a quest to find Buddhist wisdom, with the sage getting in all sorts of dangerous traps that the monkey (controlled via headband, just like the game) has to help him out with. Likewise, the game offers up a set of challenges that will require Monkey to work with and defend Trip, who offers tools and advice all along. The third-person combat (against various robots and post-human bad guys) is supposed to be tough at first, but much easier with a little strategy and help from Trip. We'll keep an eye out for it at E3 -- the saga of Monkey and Trip could turn out to be one of 2010's more original endeavors.
First details, screenshots of Ninja Theory's Enslaved
Click to enlarge After teasing the partnership a little over a month ago at Germany's Gamescom, publisher Namco Bandai and UK-based developer Ninja Theory are ready to finally reveal some details of their upcoming "original, new IP" for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3: Enslaved. The game takes place in a "perilous, post-apocalyptic America" and centers on protagonists Monkey and Trip. That's right, protagonists, plural. You'll control the musclebound Monkey, while Trip -- a "technologically savvy but sheltered young woman" -- remains AI-controlled. Think: Half-Life 2's Alyx ... except considerably more manipulative. Recognizing her need for Monkey's "raw strength and power," Trip has linked their slave headbands so "if she dies, he dies." Uh, thanks partner? Helping Ninja Theory along its quest is Andy "Gollum" Serkis who is lending his considerable motion-capture acting abilities to the developer once more, following his work on the PS3-exclusive Heavenly Sword. Also joining the project is novelist, screenwriter, and video game newcomer Alex Garland, who you may recognize from his work on the novel The Beach and the screenplay for 28 Days Later. Enslaved is "planned for release in 2010," which we'll unofficially translate as "late 2010." Since you've got some waiting to do, why not take a peek at the first screenshots from the game? %Gallery-74258%
Ninja Theory's new game is 'Enslaved'
The information about Ninja Theory's next game is trickling out at an agonizingly slow rate. We know that Namco Bandai is signed on to publish it -- and now, by revealing the cover of its October issue, Game Informer has let out the title of the next game: Enslaved. Sounds like fun. The only other detail about the game comes from the teaser text about the issue. GI says that the game is multiplatform this time -- which means it might be the new IP the Heavenly Sword dev started in early 2008. The good news is that we'll be able to find out more as soon as we can look at the rest of the magazine.
Namco Bandai to publish Heavenly Sword-dev Ninja Theory's next IP
While light on details, Namco Bandai just used its GamesCom press conference to announce a partnership with Ninja Theory, the developer of the PS3 exclusive Heavenly Sword. Namco Bandai will publish "an original, new IP" from the UK-based developer for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles. Though they're not sharing any information on the new project (not even a name, fellas?) they did say it would be "released in 2010" with "more details" being "divulged in the coming months." Makoto Iwai, executive veep and COO at Namco Bandai Games America, said of the parnership, "With producers from our North American office working closely with such a strong European development studio, we will be able to create a blockbuster title with strong pan-Western sensibilities and appeal for a global gaming audience." Of course, Namco Bandai's focus on Western-developed titles "with strong pan-Western sensibilities" isn't new ... but let's hope development of the as-yet-unnamed Ninja Theory title goes more smoothly than Splatterhouse.
