Enslaved: remembering Andy Serkis and Alex Garland’s stunning, criminally overlooked video game This week sees the debut of The New Legends of Monkey on Netflix, an Australian series that follows a young […]

This week sees the debut of The New Legends of Monkey on Netflix, an Australian series that follows a young monk on a journey across an ancient land – on a quest to collect lost scrolls of wisdom.

Inspired by Wu Cheng’en’s 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West, this fresh version of a legendary tale may seem an interesting one. But it’s an oft-forgotten 2010 video game that lays claim to perhaps the most surprising adaptation.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West arrived in a year packed full of big name gaming releases. Mass Effect 2. God Of War 3. Red Dead Redemption.

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And though its platforming, combat and puzzle-solving failed to find a major, mainstream audience, its narrative and delivery really made a mark on those who played it.

That’s thanks in no small part to the two now-very-respected-figures from the movie world who spearheaded these elements: actor Andy Serkis, and writer Alex Garland.

Performance capture – and a rather meta story

In Enslaved, the player takes on the role of Monkey, a strong, brutish loner forced to partner with the tech-savvy Tripitaka on a journey to freedom.

What starts off as a tale of two mis-matched companions stranded in a post-apocalyptic world quickly turns surreal when players find their first floating, glowing mask.

Monkey is apparently the only one who can see them, and picking them up reveals a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it look through the holiday snaps of motion capture pioneer Andy Serkis.

That’s just the tip of the meta iceberg: Serkis gave his voice and likeness to the main character, and supplied motion capture performances during the development of the game.

Given that this is the man who played Gollum, and who has delivered astonishing performance-capture turns in the new Planet Of The Apes trilogy, it’s fair to say his involvement marked Enslaved out from the crowd.

Here he plays not just Monkey, but a malevolent overlord called Pyramid, the individual controlling a race of humanoid slaves in a post-apocalyptic world.

Pyramid explains that he lived before the war, and that he offers the slaves solace from the cruel world by sharing with them his memories of a happier era.

It’s these memories – real photos of the real Serkis’ life – that the player has been glimpsing with every glowing mask collected throughout the game.

Sci-fi royalty

Serkis was also credited as co-director in a move that many hoped would signal a heavier involvement in games for the motion capture star, who had already turned his hand to the medium in 2007’s Heavenly Sword – a title Rhianna Pratchett believes had a “very cinematic impact on gaming”.

Because he was so heavily involved, animations throughout the experience are predictably smooth.

This is most apparent during the cutscenes, which could pass for any number of big budget action spectaculars, and drive the narrative forward without ever feeling over long or unnecessary.

But the cult appeal of the game doesn’t end there.

The reason the game’s twisty sci-fi meta story is so involving? Alex Garland is behind it all.

The man who brought us such movies as Sunshine and 28 Days Later as a screenwriter, as well as Ex Machina and the recent word-of-mouth sensation Annihilation as a director, turned his hand to video game writing for the first time for Enslaved.

The results are spectacular. If you’re in any way a fan of Garland’s work, you should check it out.

According to the game’s creative director Tameem Antionades, Garland “worked for us for 3 years, not only writing the script but working with the designers to make sure that the story transferred across cut-scenes and into gameplay so the whole thing was seamless”.

A forward thinking game

The game itself is a melting pot of ideas, and you never really spend too long doing one thing.

One minute you are beating down robotic goons with a magic staff, the next you’re using said staff to swing yourself across otherwise impossible gaps to pass obstacles, and the next you may have to solve an elaborate puzzle.

Certain sections of the game have you freely zipping around on the ‘Cloud’, a device which allows Monkey to float on a small cloud of light, much faster than he is able to travel on foot.

Add in chase sequence set-pieces with giant robotic dog-like creatures, and you’ll likely never get bored of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West.

Disappointing sales

Unfortunately, despite all of this, Enslaved failed to meet sales targets.

In a year crowded with big name sequels like Bioshock 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops, it was always going to be hard for any new IPs to grab themselves an audience.

It’s a shame, because the developers had high hopes, with Serkis telling The Telegraph that he wanted to see the worlds of film and games converge even further.

“I think games are going to be very interesting,” he said. “I see that as a common ground and this is a new way of expressing storytelling.”

Enslaved may not quite have made the waves it deserved to upon release. But eight years on, it’s well worth revisiting.

The New Legends of Monkey debuts in full on Netflix on April 27

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