A few days ago,we caught windof a new game fromHeavenly Sword developer Ninja Theory,Enslaved. Unfortunately, the name was all we knew. Now thatGame Informerhas been stuffed into our mailboxes by careless USPS workers, we have the full story, which we shall now kindly relate to you.
Enslavedtakes place decades and decades after the third and fourth world wars have ravaged the world. Players take on the role of Monkey (voiced and mo-capped by Andy Serkis), a man who has lived a solitary life on the run from nihilistic machines — remnants of a forgotten war who continue to carry out their objectives, even though most of the human race is now dead.
Unfortunately, Monkey gets captured and ends up on an airship with a young woman called Trip. The two escape from the airship, but Monkey is knocked unconcious and awakes to find a headband stuck to his face. The band was placed there by Trip who needs Monkey to help her return home, but is aware that he’s misanthropic and solitary. So, she threatens him with a headband that will crush his skull if he doesn’t do as she says. This naturally leads to a very tense relationship between two people who are prepared to kill each other, but need to work together to survive.
The story is written by Alex Garland of28 Days Laterfame, and is very loosely based on the ancient Chinese novel,Journey to the West. Combat will be similar toHeavenly Sword, but there will be a greater focus on tactical play, with Monkey able to use a dragonfly-esque camera to scout out enemies and detect weak points. For example, Monkey can learn that a particular robot’s machine gun attachments are weak, then pull the guns off and use them for himself.
From reading theGame Informerarticle, I must say I am very eager to learn more about this game. The setting is familiar but unique, and I am sure that Ninja Theory’s commitment to storytelling and movie-quality videogame exposition will make for a great tale. If they can just improve uponHeavenly Sword‘s less-than-stellar combat, I am going to be very excited for this new game.
