Pinning down a title like Enslaved is hard. It’s a good game. I would go so far as to say that it’s an amazing game. With big names like Alex Garland pitching in on the script and Andy Serkis co-directing the cutscenes, I wouldn’t really expect anything less. It’s a behemoth of a title, with only a few nagging flaws scratching at its flanks. It’s a ten hour escort mission and by no accounts should that ever have worked, but it does. It’s a platformer that proves even more rigorous than Tomb Raider, it’s a third person duck and cover shooter that outshines the dull palette of Gears of War by a mile. It’s visually bright and jolly, but atmospherically dark, uncertain and intense. Enslaved is a creature with its claws digging into several typical video game pigeon holes, refusing to back itself into one corner.

The player takes on the role of Monkey, an escaped captive of the shady Pyramid organisation who quickly finds himself re-enslaved by another escapee – the resourceful and suspiciously intelligent Tripica, or Trip, who fits him with a Battle Royale style headband. Terrified and yet stubborn, Trip demands he help her get home. Given that if Trip comes to any harm, the headband will kill Monkey, he has no choice but to agree, and so begins their journey back to Trip’s village. They are aided by the help of an electronic dragonfly, who scouts the route and identifies mines, traps, and most importantly Mechs,the game’s main antagonists, who have to be dealt with in the usual manner – violent bashing, preferably in the head.

Gameplay consists of two key elements which are built upon as the game progresses with increasingly complex mechanics: platforming, and combat. Leaping from strange shiny handhold to strange shiny metal pole, the player acrobats across the screen in a fluid and fearless manner. Strangely, there is no danger of falling or missing a leap – if Monkey thinks he can’t make a jump, he’ll refuse, leaving the player immune to harm unless they linger too long on a crumbling ledge. While this takes some of the expected tension away from play, there is still a constant sense of urgency – Monkey is frequently chased by enemies, or finds himself climbing unstable constructions at high speed with only seconds to find safety. Not only this, but the player has to make sure Trip comes with them – whether it be through a lever based puzzle or by throwing her across gaps and up onto ledges. The player has plenty to keep them occupied without the threat of a misjudged jump causing them a death fall hanging over their head.

Combat comes in many forms, especially with the assistance of Trip’s decoy device. For a limited time Trip can cause a distraction to surrounding Mechs to allow the player to sneak up on them, performing special moves and takedowns or simply battering them to death with Monkey’s magic staff (no really, he has one). Monkey can return the favour, distracting Mechs while Trip runs for cover, as well as taking control of enemy turrets in order to shoot down an incoming horde that will inevitably make a beeline for the defenceless young maiden. Rather than acting as a one-off tutorial technique, these elements come into play over and over throughout the game, and act as helpful tools rather than distracting UI clutter. There is little skill to close combat, however; mash X, Y, A and B in any order you fancy and you’re bound to eventually hit something enough times to kill it. Shooting enemies from afar proves more tactical and makes for far less stiffness in the thumb.

Boss battles are exactly what they should be – a chance to put into practice the skills you’ve learned throughout a level, pitting them against a challenger which requires patience and attentiveness. No boss battle proves too tricky, though, and none outstay their welcome. Even the final showdown, though drawn out, poses little of a threat. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing depends on how you value your boss battles – ramping up the game’s difficulty will no doubt give more veteran players the ball ache of an opponent they so crave, but I was happy as a clam to take them out in two or so tries.

The player finds themselves manning boat guns, skating across the surface of the Hudson river and clambering cranes and constructs of all shapes and sizing. Pulling these different scenarios together is the game’s rather disappointing story line. Though it does have its saving graces, the overall narrative arc is weak. While environmental narrative is a great story telling technique, Enslaved relies on it far too heavily and there are huge gaps in the game world’s history, which leaves the player somewhat detached from the current events held in their hands. Occasionally huge billboards appear with the faces of electoral candidates promising peace and freedom, long graffitied with the tag of “LIAR” in huge, ten foot lettering. It is clear that a war has ravaged the West and left an army of mechanical monstrosities in its wake – what isn’t clear is the how, or the why, or even the when. The game’s ending salvages much of this, being an incredibly poignant, moving and morally ambiguous scene, but a stronger narrational backbone would have made all the difference.

The tight, witty dialogue also aids the game’s thin-on-the-ground story, with the back-and-forth between Trip and Monkey providing character insight and the odd spark of humour. The development of their relationship, from forced slavery to mutual understanding and eventually trust, is an inevitable but well paced progression that rarely slips into saccharine moments or stereotyped Beauty and the Beast style revelations. At no point does their relationship feel forced, and at no point does it fall into the pitfall of Soppy Stockholm Syndrome. Trip never loses her panic-prone demeanor and Monkey never really sheds his Tough Guy skin, but beneath the surface growth is definitely taking place in the characters’ initially rather limited emotional spectrum. Trip grows significantly more confident and Monkey’s humanity is revealed through his sense of humour, but they never really betray their core identities.

The game’s humour is another point worth touching on. Enslaved has some truly off the wall moments, from observational touches such as Trip walking into a room filled with boxes of what she describes as “ancient, redundant technology.” On closer inspection, the boxes are emblazoned with “HD 3DTV”, which deserves at least a wry grin if not a chuckle. A more bizarre experience takes place in the middle of an abandoned theatre, where Monkey is beset by a mini-boss – a giant robot Dog (capital intended). Thrown into a brief hallucination by one of the game’s collectables, Monkey snaps back to reality only to find a ghostly rendition of the infamous balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet taking place before him. As the Dog approaches, it is distracted by the phantom of Romeo, and the player has until the end of the balcony scene to make their way up into the lighting rigs of the room, where the Dog cannot reach them.

This surrealism, however, was nothing compared to a brief but electric experience found close to the end of the game, where the player finds themselves walking the body of what you are told is an inactive titan Mech. Walking across, no attention is drawn to the Mech’s single eye tracking you across its arm, but spotting it is enough to send your stomach rocketing into your mouth. As you make your way towards the target destination – the palm of the Mech’s hand – the fear begins to build, and no one else says a word. No sly camera work, no shiny bits, and no mention from any of the other characters – just the tiniest of movements, enough to shake the player to their core.

Finally, Enslaved is a beautiful game. From overwhelming panoramas of mountains and shattered skylines, to the intricate beauty of jungle flora creeping through an abandoned world. Everything is bright, and luscious. While later levels see you descend into the dank bowels of the machine world, colours remain vibrant and there is definitely no gunmetal grey and stodgy brown to be found here. Environments are well designed, wonderfully varied and simply brilliant to behold. Stopping and looking around is a well placed pastime in the so called “wastelands” of Enslaved’s world. Looking at the game world is like staring at a really tasty salad – full of bright red plum tomatoes and overflowing with rich green foliage. It’s all eye candy, and it complements every other element of the game perfectly.

With the potential exception of Epic Mickey, Enslaved has been my favourite game of 2010. I can not enthuse enough about it and for the first time I find myself hoping and praying that a sequel is released – I want to experience more of this world, and I want the story to be given a chance to emerge and truly shine. I wouldn’t go so far as to call Enslaved a masterpiece – it is, after all, pitted with the inevitable flaws of a new IP establishing itself – but it has wedged itself firmly into the video game section of my heart. Right above the salad.