Ninja Theory's new game: Enslaved

Press release:

PRESS RELEASE: NAMCO BANDAI Games Announces Enslaved™ for the PlayStation®3 System and Xbox 360®
Epic New Action-Adventure from Ninja Theory Combines Cinematic Visuals and Combat, Rich Character and Story Development, and Top-Notch Entertainment Talent

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leading video game publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. announced today Enslaved™ for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Developed by Ninja Theory Ltd., Enslaved takes players on a gripping, surprise-filled journey as two dissimilar characters form an uneasy union in order to survive their way through a perilous, post-apocalyptic America. A tactical action-adventure game, Enslaved centers on the complex relationship between the two main characters and challenges players to employ a mix of combat, strategy and environment traversal. With influences and contributions from top music and film industry talent, Enslaved combines beautifully rendered graphics and captivating music with seamless animation and engrossing gameplay. Enslaved is planned for release in 2010.

More than 150 years in the future, the world has transformed into an unrecognizable state where all that remains are a dwindling human population and merciless robots left over from wars long past. In Enslaved, players take on the role of Monkey, a strong and brutish loner, and his AI partner Trip, a technologically savvy but sheltered young woman from a peaceful community. Both become captured by a mysterious slave ship, which are rumored to harvest people and take them out west never to return. As they each attempt to escape, Trip realizes quickly that Monkey, with his raw strength and power, is the only hope she has of making the perilous journey back home. She hacks into a slave headband to enslave Monkey and link them together – if she dies, he dies. Her journey has now become his.

Players must make sure both Monkey and Trip work together as they skillfully navigate through the world and survive against the dangerous enemy obstacles that lie in wait. Monkey will deftly wield his trusty staff weapon to attack and defend against enemies, using a combination of melee attacks, blocks and counters. He will also be able to perform spectacular takedown moves, allowing him to rip an enemy apart piece by piece, take its weapon for his own use or destroy it in one final blow.

Ninja Theory has raised the standards for video game development by enlisting highly talented professionals from other entertainment industries. Emmy, Golden Globe and Bafta nominee actor and director Andy Serkis, renowned for his roles in film as “Gollum” in The Lord of the Rings and the title role “Kong” in King Kong, and villain King Bohan in Heavenly Sword has been tapped to not only direct, but portray the lead character of Monkey. Considered to be the “go-to” talent for performance capture acting, Serkis continues his work with Ninja Theory for Enslaved. As with Heavenly Sword, Serkis is a major contributor to the character and script development, casting and directing for the title. Likewise, world-class musician and composer Nitin Sawhney, whose versatility and talent have helped him score more than 40 films and release eight studio albums, has returned to create the riveting score for Enslaved. Adding to the cavalcade of talented professionals is Alex Garland, novelist and screenwriter who has penned works including the novel The Beach and the movie screenplay for 28 Days Later. Enslaved is Garland’s first video game specific project. He serves as a co-writer and has been heavily involved with creating the script and in-game dialogue.

Sounds interesting.
 
For as little as I've seen, I'm not sure I like the art style in this one, it's a little generic compared to HS to be honest, let's wait for more media.
 
Seriously underwhelming pics. Looks way worse than HS.

Unreal Engine, rather than their amazing PS3 engine with 4xAA, 8xAF and HDR :( Why Ninja Theory? :'(

Nothing wrong with the artstyle, just the engine.

Oh and they have some great talent behind it - great to see Serkis and Nitin back!
 
The texture res looks very very low and I also think I see a very low res billboard in the first pic.
 
I guess the reason for not using their awesome HS engine is because that may have been made specifically for PS3 in mind [& it was indeed the case] & this game on the other hand is a multi plat.
 
Unreal Engine, rather than their amazing PS3 engine with 4xAA, 8xAF and HDR :( Why Ninja Theory? :'(

Nothing wrong with the artstyle, just the engine.

Oh and they have some great talent behind it - great to see Serkis and Nitin back!
I mean with the talents behind Ninja Theory and an updated HS engine, you would expect nothing short of eye candies. It's a shame they're sticking to an ever aging UE3 for a multiplatform now.
 
I think a lot of people are "mis-remembering" the quality of the HS graphics. Sure, the animation was good and the cutscenes/facial animation better than pretty much anything seen before or since, but actual in-game textures were generally pretty low-res and the game suffered an awful lot of repeating textures.
 
How much did HS sell ? I guess that may be a reason for their multi plat move.

I think a lot of people are "mis-remembering" the quality of the HS graphics. Sure, the animation was good and the cutscenes/facial animation better than pretty much anything seen before or since, but actual in-game textures were generally pretty low-res and the game suffered an awful lot of repeating textures.

It really wasnt as low res as you are making it out.
Also it was Nao32 + 4*MSAA + 8*AF ....where do you find that in console games these days ?

And this was while being a first generation PS3 game & Ninja Theory's first attempt...they would've certainly improved upon that by now if they used it.
 
I think a lot of people are "mis-remembering" the quality of the HS graphics. Sure, the animation was good and the cutscenes/facial animation better than pretty much anything seen before or since, but actual in-game textures were generally pretty low-res and the game suffered an awful lot of repeating textures.

Nah, HS has some of the best floor textures around and the 8XAF helped with that immensely. Lighting was incredible too.
 
Those pics make it seem pretty bad, but it might look better in motion. It's no Uncharted 2 of course, but I want to see more in depth look and in motion before pass the final judgement.
 
Even after 2 years, HS looks amazing, still one of the best looking game out there, and that was when PS3 OS blatantly stole 32MB of VRAM.

I'd love to see HS in tear free enviroment with triple buffering.

I'm extremely disappointed that they're now going with UE3 :cry:
 
It looks like theyve taken the lady from HS and stuck her in a colored gears of war scenerio
Like others have mentioned unreal engine based games are starting to look very dated
 
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