A Bright Apocalypse

A Bright Apocalypse
The World In Transition

We're used to seeing the end of the world depicted in video games. The post-apocalyptic landscapes of games like Fallout, Borderlands, and Rage (among others) have been thoroughly traversed by millions of gamers, but seldom do we see alternatives to the windswept deserts of so many games. The recent release from Ninja-Theory, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, shows us another take on the classic “after the end” scenario.

The game follows two human characters who have been captured by the mechanized creations of mankind. These automatons are still acting on the orders given to them during a worldwide war that exterminated most of mankind over one-hundred-fifty years ago, and while rusting robots and crumbling cities may be familiar, what's striking about Enslaved is the brilliant color that saturates the game. Instead of dull and subdued cityscapes and slowly decaying buildings, the world of Enslaved is bursting with new life. In contrast to the desolation that we normally experience, Enslaved is a celebration of life.

That said, the life that is thriving isn't human. Perhaps that's why Enslaved is still unsettling: while not showing the end of all life, that's not really what humans are interested in. Humanity is intrinsically selfish, as are all species: we don't fundamentally care about the well-being of other animals except where it influences ourselves. The world of Enslaved may be thriving with life, but it's all life that has moved into the niche where we once lived. In a sense, we have been defeated in the fight for survival, humanity has not turned out to be a successful model for life. A world that has moved on is almost more affecting than an empty world: if we're the only ones unsuited for the world, there's no one else to blame.

There too are the mechanical creations of humanity that haunt the future that Enslaved portrays. Our civilization is not entirely forgotten, but it might have been better it it had. The only thing left for the world to remember us by is a legacy of war and destruction. The machines of our hate remain and continue to kill; threatening our future by continuing to follow the orders that we gave them. The game shines a light on the absurdity of war by taking it to the extreme. The petty hatred that we could once afford has backfired and now holds the possibility to cause our ultimate defeat.

In initial reviews for Enslaved have been positive, and sales numbers aren't in yet, but even if Enslaved isn't commercially successful, it may still have an influence on the way future video games portray the end of the world. Instead of fitting into the mold of other post-apocalyptic games, Ninja-Theory took a chance by making a colorful and visually interesting game. Whether or not they are rewarded for their experiment is yet to be determined, but it is already an important entry in the genre. Innovation is driven by experimentation, and a healthy genre will grow from creative inputs of different types. Don't be surprised if aesthetic and conceptual elements from Enslaved start showing up in the some of the grimmer games that are set after the end of the world.

--Tom