Today at GamesCom I witnessed a monkey touching a pig's penis. Perhaps I should explain.
Most of what we've seen of Enslaved so far has taken place in the ruins of New York. Today the nice folks at Ninja Theory should me a new level, the Titan Graveyard, and introduced me to a third member of Monkey and Trip's party, Pigsy.
The Titan Graveyard is where giant mechs go to die, a twisting maze of rusting metallic husks, slowly being overtaken by vegetation. It's ancient and ruined, yet still colorful and green. I'm told the game's art direction was inspired by the Discovery documentary Life After People and Requiem for Detroit, both of which depict what the world will look like long after humanity has died out.
We join heroes Monkey and Trip on a skiff driven by a grossly overweight man with a metallic snout grafted to his face. His name is Pigsy, and he's here to help, but first the group is going to need a power cell for his airship, and the only way to find that is by journeying deep into the heart of the Titan Graveyard.
Inspired by a character in Journey to the West, Pigsy knew Trip when she was just a young girl, and now that she's reappeared in his life as a fine young woman, he's got a bit of a crush. With that crush comes a rivalry with our hero Monkey, as Pigsy assumes the two are an item. Hilarity ensues.
Seriously, hilarity does ensue. We didn't know Enslaved was a game filled with so much tongue-in-cheek humor, so Pigsy's lines take us completely off guard. "Tell me Monkey, how much hair product do you use," he quips, as the trio makes their way through hordes of mechanical enemies. Pigsy isn't just set decoration. Acting completely independently of Monkey, he'll throw bombs, swing across branches and outcroppings using his grappling hook, or take out foes from afar with his rifle.
So that's two characters that pretty much just tag along with Monkey, though you can issue orders to Trip. At one point in the demo Monkey nearly dies, and the demonstrator has Trip send out a decoy to distract his enemies while he heals.
All of this leads to a bridge spanning a gorgeous waterfall chasm, lined with green vines and rusted metal. As the camera pans, we see the bridge is actually the wrist of a giant mech, and the power cell our heroes need rests in its palm.
Pigsy urges Monkey into the palm-pit to grab the power cell. That's when Pigsy tells him about the Rhino.
The Rhino is an animal-shaped mech, covered in rusted metal plating and impervious to anything Monkey can throw at him. Monkey can only avoid the creature using his glowing blue hover board, at least until Pigsy starts helping.
Pigsy launches bombs into the arena. Monkey has to get the rhino to charge him, shooting the bombs to detonate them as the creature passes over them.
It works, but it isn't powerful enough. Pigsy, an engineer of sorts, suggests Monkey guide the Rhino into the giant hand's fingers, which are reactors for some strange reason.
Once the Rhino is dispatched, a very angry Monkey approaches Pigsy and Trip, telling the girl to turn around and put her fingers in her ears. The ensuing epic argument is interrupted as the Rhino wakes up and runs off, with Trip stuck on top.
Monkey gives chase on his hover board, picking up speed boosts as he goes. Eventually he catches up, and Tips is safe once more.
So where's the penis? After find the power cell, Pigsy takes trip on a ride in his flying recreational vehicle. Following a brief fade to black and a caption that reads "500 Miles Later," Pigsy declares that by his estimates they've travelled 1200 miles.
That's when the enemy shows up.
Monkey and Trip try to coach Pigsy how to lie to the authorities, but he fails miserably. Following a failed request for landing codes ("One?" "One what?" "One…Two?"), Pigsy, Trip, and Monkey find themselves in a small escape pod, where things are a bit…intimate.
They're crammed in there like sardines.
"Um, Monkey, would you mind moving your arm a little bit to the left?" asks Pigsy.
"I'm not sure if I can," says Monkey.
"It's just that your hand is right on top of my penis."
And that's how I witnessed a monkey touching a pig's penis. Thanks, Ninja Theory!