Mark your calendars for this one, people (assuming you haven't already). On October 5, 2010. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West will hit the United States. On September 3rd, Namco Bandai Games announced that Enslaved has gone gold and is set for an October release. The developer, Ninja Theory, Ltd., based out of England, was also responsible for the 2007 hit (and PS3 exclusive) Heavenly Sword.

For those of you that haven't seen Enslaved: Odyssey to the West yet, you're in for what appears to be a VERY colorful and engrossing ride. Enslaved is set 150 years in the future in a barely recognizable America. Clearly the landscape has been ravaged by war, destruction, and who knows what else, leaving a scant few human survivors. Producer Tameem Antoniades describes it as "post-, post-apocalyptic, as the Apocalypse has already happened." To make matters worse, mysterious slave ships roam the skies and nasty-looking mechs roam the land, killing and capturing what people are left. Those "lucky" enough to survive are taken "out west," where they are never seen or heard from again.

Enter the main characters: Trip and Monkey. Both have been caught by the aforementioned slave ships and desperately want to be free. Using Trip's technological savvy and Monkey's brute strength, the two are able to escape. Here's the catch, though: Trip knows that she's not strong enough to make it on her own (girlfriend needs some confidence) so she hacks into a "slave headband" and fits it on Monkey. This successfully links the two of them together - if she dies, he dies. That's called motivation boys and girls! And as a fun little sidenote, the dialog between Trip and Monkey (and the other bit characters) was written by Alex Garland (The Beach, 28 Days Later, Halo movie screenplay).

Screenshots and gameplay videos have A LOT to say for the upcoming release. Enslaved is already gearing up to be a thought provoking title. The graphics (as we've seen thus far) are beautiful and attention grabbing as we gaze upon an American city utterly destroyed. Maybe I just have a weakness for the post-apocalyptic concept, but the visuals of jungle mixed with downtown New York are intriguing to say the least. Soundtrack and soundeffects proved a little harder to sample at this time, but the voice acting seems pretty solid. The actor voicing Monkey (Andy Serkis) comes across as a gruff ex-marine, while the actress paying Trip (Lindsay Shaw from 10 Things I Hate About You) has just enough youth to match the characters look, but enough maturity to make the epic journey sound believable.



Gameplay can be seen in various trailers as well as recordings from this year's E3. First impressions are that it looks like a cross between Turok and Uncharted with some old school Dynasty Warriors thrown in during battle. Monkey is outfitted with a large staff weapon that can shrink to a carry-on size and grow to what would appear to be well over 7 feet in length. In addition to being a nifty melee weapon, said staff also appears to have some kind of firearm function as well making it the perfect accessory to have with you when bump into an angry robot. And Monkey really does his namesake justice whether it's acrobatics in battle or traversing large gaps and obstacles in the city/jungle. Trip doesn't appear to have any direct weapons to employ against the machines, but instead has a variety of little techie gadgets to use in her own defense and to assist Monkey.

Exploring the wilderness itself even appears to be fun based on what gameplay we've seen so far. The camera is generally focused over Monkey's shoulder, giving you a great view of what's happening around you. Running and jumping, dodging and distracting all appear to happen in very fluid motion that makes the game look more like an action movie. And whilst exploring this wilderness it is your job, as Monkey, to guide Trip without getting her killed (remember - she kicks it and you kick it too). This includes needing to carry her through rouge terrain, attract the fire of rampaging kill-bots and actually picking her up and throwing her distances (and now she's a javelin!).

Another check mark for the "pro" column is that Namco Bandai is already talking about the variety of DLC (downloadable content) that will be available for Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. These DLC goodies will range from an optional sidequest that won't effect the final story to exclusive "content" that becomes available if you purchase the game from various retailers. Ninja Theory Ltd also promises to be waiting in the wings to develop more DLC should their newest game prove to be a success.

Again, boys and girls -- mark your calendars for the release of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. The big day is October 5, 2010, and I, for one, will be eagerly awaiting it!