Just got these games and started playing them. Both for $5 and on the 360. Enslave on Xbox Live and MorphX at $5 and Below.
Enslaved:
Kind of meh on it at first, but I'm really getting into it. Especially the gameplay. There's a lot more puzzles and legit platforming than I though there would be in this game. My favorite part is harnessing the power of the Cloud. It's just such a fun part of the game, I wish Ninja Theory would make a hoverboard type of game. I feel like there's some untapped potential for an unexplored genre. Graphics are awesome though. Gorgeous landscapes, great use of moss and foliage, and the whole world just feels connected. Combat is very fun. I love it when I beat the final mech and they do a close-up of his O-face.
Platforming is alright. It's not really platforming to as it is just making you run to the spot and press the right buttons. There isn't any sense of danger in the platforming because it's literally impossible to fall in this game unless you fail to rescue your love interest in time after a botched jump on her behalf. Speaking of Trip, she's a nice character, if a bit too quick to fall head over heels for someone like Monkey. Still, we all know that's where the story is headed and she's a good character for it. All that said, gotta say, I'm so-so on the fashion choices for Trip and Monkey. It feels like they're trying to go their own version of Mad Max or something, but it just asks more questions than it answers. Especially Monkey's wardrobe. It's easy to forgive the pants, even if they look overly tight, but why on Earth would his character dress his hair up in that fashion? It makes no sense for a world where you're trying to not become a slave. Last thing you wanna do is stand out in all this foilage. His mini-Super Saiyan hair-do just stands out so much. It just seems like an odd fit for a storyline like this one where things are so bleak. The most fitting character is Pigsy, who has an interesting design to himself. Trip is fine. She dresses like I would expect and she has tears in her clothing that are completely understandable given all that her character goes through. Ditto for the scars on Monkey.
MorphX:
Let me start out by saying I'm a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to strange and/or bad video games. These type of games can offer a unique spin that you won't get anywhere else. With that said, this is some mid-life PS2/orignal xbox/gamecube style of gaming going on. It just unfolds like a game of that era. Graphics, especially the environments, are the same way. Designs are cool for the enemies though, which are alien space bugs. Plus, it's good and gory. My favorite part about this game is the upgrading. The people who make this game decided to make the upgrading of your character a game in and of itself. Think of Pipe Dreams where you connect multiple pipes. It's like that, but int he form of cellular organisms. You're connect these strands of DNA I believe to evolve yourself. Connect the red cells to the green cells. You can make separate connections or go with one big connection. Personally, I love it when devs take a pretty dull part of the game and make it fun like that. Plus, you can customize it all at any point to fit your needs. For me, it works.
Combat is awkward in it's animation and a little bit in actual execution, but I find that it works but there's such a stiffness to the way your character fights. It's essentially a generic PS2 game if you will. Now, with that said, I do enjoy the combat because it offers a bit of challenge, even if generic, and enough variety to keep things interesting where I can approach most enemies in more ways than one. There are certain specific gameplay moments, one of which turned out to be very difficult for me to figure out. I had to beat an enemy by using my energy shield to bounce of it's projectiles onto a switch that turned off a wall of light that I was unable to pass through. Problem is that it's hard to figure out where the thing was and how to bounce off my shield just so. I had to upgrade my shield and take away bits from certain other powers I maxed out so I could survive the blast, have the shield last long enough to hit the right sport, and then kill the enemy.
Storyline is garbage. There's not much to laugh at either. It's just boring besides a few odd English translations from what I think is Russian. You'll be seeing plenty of it too on the walls because they never bothered to translate any of that in any way. Music is kind of cool here and there for anyone who enjoys a nice little sci-fi sounding tune, but it's hardly grammy winning stuff either.
One last item I like are some of the cool features you get as a character transforming into an alien. Which is what the game is all about. You're ultimate transformation.You can obviously used a shield to defend yourself, when enemies die, their bodies can be absorbed for health and power, alien view is essentially night vision which is what you'll only be using since the whole game is darker than goth kid at prom, and rage is just you turning into the hulk and smashing everything you can.
Overall, I can't deny that it's a bad game. Too obvious to see it, but I enjoy it for what it is and I come away from what I've played so far feeling like the devs have a good idea or two that I wouldn't mind seeing some other devs copy. Especially when it comes to upgrading.
Overall, I've enjoyed my $10 so far and intend to finish both games.
Enslaved:
Kind of meh on it at first, but I'm really getting into it. Especially the gameplay. There's a lot more puzzles and legit platforming than I though there would be in this game. My favorite part is harnessing the power of the Cloud. It's just such a fun part of the game, I wish Ninja Theory would make a hoverboard type of game. I feel like there's some untapped potential for an unexplored genre. Graphics are awesome though. Gorgeous landscapes, great use of moss and foliage, and the whole world just feels connected. Combat is very fun. I love it when I beat the final mech and they do a close-up of his O-face.
Platforming is alright. It's not really platforming to as it is just making you run to the spot and press the right buttons. There isn't any sense of danger in the platforming because it's literally impossible to fall in this game unless you fail to rescue your love interest in time after a botched jump on her behalf. Speaking of Trip, she's a nice character, if a bit too quick to fall head over heels for someone like Monkey. Still, we all know that's where the story is headed and she's a good character for it. All that said, gotta say, I'm so-so on the fashion choices for Trip and Monkey. It feels like they're trying to go their own version of Mad Max or something, but it just asks more questions than it answers. Especially Monkey's wardrobe. It's easy to forgive the pants, even if they look overly tight, but why on Earth would his character dress his hair up in that fashion? It makes no sense for a world where you're trying to not become a slave. Last thing you wanna do is stand out in all this foilage. His mini-Super Saiyan hair-do just stands out so much. It just seems like an odd fit for a storyline like this one where things are so bleak. The most fitting character is Pigsy, who has an interesting design to himself. Trip is fine. She dresses like I would expect and she has tears in her clothing that are completely understandable given all that her character goes through. Ditto for the scars on Monkey.
MorphX:
Let me start out by saying I'm a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to strange and/or bad video games. These type of games can offer a unique spin that you won't get anywhere else. With that said, this is some mid-life PS2/orignal xbox/gamecube style of gaming going on. It just unfolds like a game of that era. Graphics, especially the environments, are the same way. Designs are cool for the enemies though, which are alien space bugs. Plus, it's good and gory. My favorite part about this game is the upgrading. The people who make this game decided to make the upgrading of your character a game in and of itself. Think of Pipe Dreams where you connect multiple pipes. It's like that, but int he form of cellular organisms. You're connect these strands of DNA I believe to evolve yourself. Connect the red cells to the green cells. You can make separate connections or go with one big connection. Personally, I love it when devs take a pretty dull part of the game and make it fun like that. Plus, you can customize it all at any point to fit your needs. For me, it works.
Combat is awkward in it's animation and a little bit in actual execution, but I find that it works but there's such a stiffness to the way your character fights. It's essentially a generic PS2 game if you will. Now, with that said, I do enjoy the combat because it offers a bit of challenge, even if generic, and enough variety to keep things interesting where I can approach most enemies in more ways than one. There are certain specific gameplay moments, one of which turned out to be very difficult for me to figure out. I had to beat an enemy by using my energy shield to bounce of it's projectiles onto a switch that turned off a wall of light that I was unable to pass through. Problem is that it's hard to figure out where the thing was and how to bounce off my shield just so. I had to upgrade my shield and take away bits from certain other powers I maxed out so I could survive the blast, have the shield last long enough to hit the right sport, and then kill the enemy.
Storyline is garbage. There's not much to laugh at either. It's just boring besides a few odd English translations from what I think is Russian. You'll be seeing plenty of it too on the walls because they never bothered to translate any of that in any way. Music is kind of cool here and there for anyone who enjoys a nice little sci-fi sounding tune, but it's hardly grammy winning stuff either.
One last item I like are some of the cool features you get as a character transforming into an alien. Which is what the game is all about. You're ultimate transformation.You can obviously used a shield to defend yourself, when enemies die, their bodies can be absorbed for health and power, alien view is essentially night vision which is what you'll only be using since the whole game is darker than goth kid at prom, and rage is just you turning into the hulk and smashing everything you can.
Overall, I can't deny that it's a bad game. Too obvious to see it, but I enjoy it for what it is and I come away from what I've played so far feeling like the devs have a good idea or two that I wouldn't mind seeing some other devs copy. Especially when it comes to upgrading.
Overall, I've enjoyed my $10 so far and intend to finish both games.
