Enslaved

Sent to manufacturing ahead of Oct. 8 release.

News by GamesIndustry International Contributor

Published on Sept. 3, 2010

CERGY-PONTOISE, FRANCE – 3 September 2010 – Leading video game publisher NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe S.A.S. today announced that ENSLAVED ^TM: Odyssey to the West ^TM has gone gold for the PlayStation ^®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 ^® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Featuring influences and contributions from top music and film industry talent, ENSLAVED combines beautifully rendered graphics and captivating music with seamless animation and engrossing gameplay. Developed by Ninja Theory Ltd., the post-apocalyptic action-adventure will be released throughout Europe and Australasia on October 8, 2010.

Set 150 years in the future, ENSLAVED takes place in an unrecognizable America, where war and destruction have ravaged the population leaving few human survivors and a world reclaimed by nature. Mysterious slave ships roam the land, capturing the dwindling population for unknown purposes and taking them out west, never to return. Technologically savvy young Trip and strong brutish Monkey are two survivors who have both been imprisoned by one of these slave ships. Trip manages to escape by using her mental prowess while Monkey, uses his raw physical power to tear through his confines. Trip knows that she can not make it safely back home on her own, but believes that Monkey is her only chance to survive. She hacks into a slave headband and fits it on Monkey to link them together – if she dies, he dies… Her journey has now become his.

Together Monkey and Trip form an unlikely, but complementary team whose respective strengths will be critical in their journey. In ENSLAVED, players take direct control of Monkey, with gameplay revolving around combat, strategy and environmental traversal. Monkey attacks and defends using his trusty staff weapon to deliver punishing melee attacks and combos, ranged stun and plasma blasts, blocks, and intense finishing takedowns. Players must survey each environment and work closely with AI partner Trip to ensure both make it through each area’s dangers and progress safely onwards. Trip provides vital support with her cerebral talents, offering Monkey invaluable intel on enemies, identifying optimal routes, upgrading Monkey’s abilities and more.

A selection of exclusive incentive items is available to customers who purchase the game from several participating retailers, ranging from downloadable content (DLC) to limited quantity retail packs that come bundled with the game and bonus item. Additional premium post-launch DLC will also be available and details will be released in the coming months.

For more information about ENSLAVED, please visit www.enslaved-thegame.com or www.namcobandaigames.eu and become a fan on Facebook.

About NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe

NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe S.A.S. is a leading software publisher producing a broad catalogue of high quality interactive entertainment for console and PC gaming platforms and online which is marketed and sold in 50 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australasia. The company is a part of the NAMCO BANDAI group of companies known for creating and publishing many of the industry's top video game franchises including Tekken ^TM, Dragon Ball ^®, Naruto ^TM, SOULCALIBUR ^TM, One Piece ^TM, RidgeRacer ^TM, Ace Combat ^TM and Tamagotchi ^TM.

About Ninja Theory Ltd

Ninja Theory was formed in Cambridge England, in November of 2004, by Nina Kristensen (Chief Development Ninja), Mike Ball (Chief Technology Ninja), Tameem Antoniades (Chief Creative Ninja) and Non-Executive Ninja, Jez San OBE. Ninja Theory is a development studio that focuses on multiple high-end cinematic action games for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 including the upcoming ENSLAVED: Odyssey to the West, for NAMCO BANDAI Games. Ninja Theory was one of the first studios in the world to focus exclusively on next generation gaming, creating the flagship title Heavenly Sword for PlayStation 3, published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe in 2007. Ninja Theory is renowned for its high-production values in art, animation, sound and combat. They pioneered the use of performance capture in games, and have long-standing collaborations with talent from the movie and music industries. www.ninjatheory.com

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