Ninja Theory may have been able to snag Hollywood-caliber talent for Enslaved (including writer Alex Garland and Ten Things I Hate About You actress Lindsay Shaw as Trip), but that’s where the Hollywood connection ends.
When Ninja Theory pitched the idea of an Enslaved computer-generated movie, rendered using the Unreal Engine 3 (which powers the game), Hollywood studios simply weren’t interested.
“We actually really went for that,” Ninja Theory’s Tameem Antoniades says of the film, which co-founder Nina Kristensen mentioned back in 2008, before Enslaved was announced as the project. “We were serious about it. We went to all the big studios in Hollywood and pitched the idea.”
As Antoniades put it, the studios simply couldn’t understand the concept of rendering the movie’s scenes in real time.
“They have no idea of what real time means,” he explains. “They just care about how good it looks.”
“Then, the fact that you say you can do this for cheap has no interest to studios whatsoever,” he continues, “because they don’t want to do it for cheap. They want Pixar and the other higher end [studios] to do it for 100 million dollars or 60 million dollars.”
“To do it any other way is considered a huge risk, so it just didn’t wash,” he says. “It just didn’t go with the model that’s established in movies.”
Don’t expect Ninja Theory to be releasing an Enslaved film anytime soon though, even as a bonus feature. The idea from the start was always to do it with high profile support and the budget to back it.
“It’s hard enough doing a new IP from scratch, and doing it in an industry you’re not familiar with with no supporters, it’s too much.”
Contest:
5:00 PM on 09.23.2010 | 
In terms of the plot and the script though, I can certainly see Enslaved being a film. The animation, script and quality of the voice acting already makes it more "acted" rather than "animated".
The gameplay reminded me of a faster paced Uncharted.
The graphics might not look as clean as Heavenly Sword, the demo still had the same great cinematic feel they produced in HS. That's what really has me sold on the game. A movie created using the game engine would probably be a great bonus feature.
But the advantage is - it's cheap compared to traditional animation! I think straight to Hollywood is actually "doing it wrong," in this case. If they're serious about using their technology in this way, then they should start by using it to make some original shorts and content of their own, and spreading it around the internet.
If they can do it this way, and prove that they can tell good stories that are worth watching on their own merits, all in realtime, then they'll get popular, and when the buzz is big enough, THEN maybe your Hollywood studios will begin to take notice.
Realtime graphics are nearly on par with being as good as CGI graphics. The animations in Starcraft2 were amazingly detailed and rendered beautifully!
And to those who are laughing about the Unreal Engine. I guess you don't know what this engine is really capable of. It all comes down to the lighting engine in renderers and since the Unreal has Lightmass they have a really good Global Illumination system. Yes, it doesn't look as good as Pixar's Renderman but it does the job quite decently and you get all sorts of Ambient Occlusion and even Light Bleeding.
Realtime graphics can be watched on the big screen but I guess Studios are too afraid of doing it. Let's fund some sequels and if we run out with that we make prequels. No time for innovation.
Watch some damn machinimas and then decide!
Two completely different games. And God of War 3 sucked. Horrible story, shitty combat, etc. At least the game looked good. It made some people drop their jaws when they saw it on my HD set. However, watching the story chunks and playing it gave the feeling of deja vu, but it was like a shittier version of the first two games. Chains of Olympus is still the best.
Two completely different games??? You know we're talking about the Enslaved demo right???
If you can't see the similarities between these God of War and Enslaved I have to question whether or not you've ever played a game of this type in your life.
That coming from the man that thinks GOW3 sucked? lol.
was it supposed to be interactive or something like that?
Preach on brother.
if you think God of War 3 sucked then you should bang your head not in a door but in a cement floor.Gow3 has set the standards for all action/adventure games even destructoid said it in their review.
As far as Enslaved goes i was very disappointed by the demo it felt like a washed up version of Uncharted2 and GoW3 but then again maybe ill change my mind after i see some reviews but in till then Vanquish is the game I'm planning on buying for sure next month.
Except for them having Andy Serkis play Monkey, which, you know, is kind of a nice big connection.
And I'd much rather they did just make a movie, since they're so hung up on the fucking story to attempt to make competent, fun gameplay.
Just out of curiousity, why do you consider Chains of Olympus the best one?
It's my favorite PSP game but I don't think I could say it's the best of the series was just wondering.
Yeah sequels have a funny way of having the same gameplay as the previous games. What were those crazy bastards thinking with the whole continuing of a storyline throughout the entire trilogy too???
Are these really the same guys we're supposed to trust with Gameplay of DMC.
That and their Love Affair with UE3.
Things don't look good.
I can't help buy think the same thing my friend. It's not that I hated the way this game played, but it's not up to par with the original DMC games.
Enslaved doesn't suck.
Fact.
Also, they have no comparisons. The combat and platforming suck in God of War 3, so it's best not to compare it to better games. Bayonetta slapped Kratos' bitch ass back to Hades.
Truth spoken. Amen brotha, amen.
I loved heavenly sword and that's why i'm buying Enslaved.
But the gameplay in HS and enslaved ( DEMO ), is lacking compared to GOW, which in turn is lacking compared to DMC.
so I don't know we'll see.
Look up the word FACT, it might surprise you.
Also, Realize that your opinion, is just that an OPINION.
FACT.
You don't capitalize "realize" after a comma.
Fact.
I can't believe they thought they could make a feature film using the Unreal Engine.
"i dont understand what is the point of being able to render the film in real time when it comes to cinema...was it supposed to be interactive or something like that?"
using the engine in real time means they wont have to animate each frame individually. This cutting time and cost. It will not be interactive, but is still the same engine used to play the game.
If anyone hasnt noticed, but Pixar is basically become what gamers like to complain about with constant sequels/no originality. It is pretty bad to see comments like "R U serious Unreal Engine!?"
Graphics > Gameplay and in this case Graphics > Story
Fact....you're a putz. I would confidently that you haven't played Bayonetta either. There are more climbing and platforming elements in the demos for either Enslaved, or GOW3 than there are in the entirety of Bayonetta.
Also, way to sidestep everything.
Stay classy. Friend
i mad.
It's one thing for a sequel to have the same gameplay elements and expand on them or improve them and another to have the exact same gameplay/combos/animations/whatever for four freakin' games.
And also the story didn't actually develop. The 2nd and 3rd games practically had the same story.
That's what I would've thought if NT pitched me a movie, anyways.
You know a guy on my friends list says the same thing. He plays nothing but MW2, and he hasn't played GOW3, but that's what he says. I'm pretty sure that's the case here too.
Ahh. Inaccurate assumptions are my favorite. Because only someone like that could not like the masterpiece of our times that is GoW. Listen to yourself man.
And actually I don't play MW or any other FPS for that matter and I have finished all the GoW games including Chains of Olympus. So how about you start presenting your arguments with facts instead of pointless accusations.
Well here let me have a look at the evidence you brought to the table. I hear it's overwhelming. Let's see you say you've played all 4 games, they have the exact same animations, and the exact same story.
Well that settles it........you're a moron. I rest my case.
Give it a rest putz. I could drag you to my house, and I could play all 4 games in front of you, and you still have the same opinion.
It doesn't matter if you hate the story from the GOW series, or if you think the character has had the same set of moves for 4 games. Judging from the demo Enslaved is obviously targeted towards fans of games like God of War. The fact is GOW has set the standard for how action games should play. Every character in an action game should handle as well as Kratos does. And that's where the Enslaved demo came up a little short.